Xinjiang underground preaching sites shut down: Islamic leader

One of the top Islamic leaders in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region said they closed all underground preaching sites, as schools have been established to educate clerics on government policies on religion, and have stamped out terrorism-related material.

There is at least one official preaching site or class in almost all of Xinjiang's 14 prefectures, each of which train at least 50 people, said Abudulrekep Tumniyaz, deputy director of the Xinjiang Islamic Association. He said that in the city of Hotan, preaching classes have been set up to educate 150 people. The clerics are not only taught the Koran but government policies on religion as well, said Tumniyaz, who is also dean of the Xinjiang Islamic Institute, a Urumqi-based college that offers bachelor's degrees and short-term courses. China has 10 Islamic institutes including one in Beijing. Tumniyaz noted that his college began to enroll more high school graduates in recent years and they have decided to further expand enrollment. The institute's five-year course is made up of 70 percent religious studies and 30 percent general knowledge, including studies on political affairs, Tumniyaz added. Since the graduates eventually become Islamic clerics, Tumniyaz stressed that political studies weigh less but remain a crucial part. He called for local religious leaders to serve as good examples for followers in religious, political and legal affairs, especially as the nation strives to eliminate poverty in the next five years. "As a patriotic religious leader, I have been thinking about how to unite religious people under the guidance of the regional government and Party committee, and how to upgrade their professional skills in religious, political and legal affairs," Tumniyaz said. Tumniyaz added that some of the 29,000 religious leaders in Xinjiang have made achievements in their respective fields and should be adopted as role models for their followers, not only in religious guidance but also in secular life. Xinjiang launched a campaign to promote correct Islamic religion culture in 2014 by educating believers every Djumah Day, "so that [believers] can form one head with one heart," Tumniyaz said. "Xinjiang residents are now fully aware that terrorism, separatism and extremism do not involve religion nor ethnicity. Terrorism-related videos are long gone under our strict crackdown. It is time to gradually work to remove them from the people's mind," he said. As a deputy of the 12th National People's Congress, Tumniyaz said he proposed over a dozen of bank branches in Xinjiang as some local residents have complained about the scarcity of banks and the inconvenience of traveling to neighboring counties.