This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

Chinese authorities banned most Uighurs from praying in mosques, and even in their homes, during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marked the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in many parts from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to residents and police.

People aged 60 and above were allowed to pray at a local mosque under heavy police surveillance during Eid, which fell on April 20-21 this year, the sources said.

Since 2017, China has restricted or banned ethnic customs and religious rituals among the mostly Muslim Uighurs in an effort to stamp out “religious extremism”.

During this year’s Eid, the most important Muslim holiday, Xinjiang authorities patrolled city streets and searched houses to prevent people from secretly praying in their homes, the sources said.

An administrative employee in Yarkowruk town in Akesu prefecture said a mosque was open for Eid prayers.

“Our police officers went to the mosque to monitor people,” the employee said. “I don’t know if people needed permission to go to the mosque because I didn’t go there.”

Similarly, only one mosque was open for Eid prayers in the town of Bulung in Bay County, an officer from the local police station said, although only residents over 60 years they could pray if they wanted to.

The government issued a notice that people below the age of 60 could not pray during the Eid holiday, he added.

Only a dozen Uyghur elders in Bulung attended Eid prayers at a mosque while three policemen and several auxiliary police personnel observed and recorded the names of the Uyghurs, the police station official said. the city.

“The mosque was open yesterday and we went there to monitor people,” the police officer said, adding that he told residents under 60 not to go to the mosque.

A local resident, who like others in this report requested anonymity for security reasons, told Radio Free Asia that authorities destroyed almost all mosques in Nilka and Kunes counties, so even if the government allowed for people to pray during Eid, they could not go. to a mosque to do so.

An employee at the Aktope police station in Tokkuztara County told RFA that no permission was granted to residents, including the elderly, to hold holiday prayer meetings at their homes, and that no no exception

A resident of Peyziwat County in Kashgar Prefecture told us that she did not visit anyone for the Eid celebration or prepare sangza, a special fried dough that Uyghurs eat during Eid celebrations.

A woman in a residential area of ​​Maralbexi County in Kashgar Prefecture said none of her neighbors or relatives have performed Eid prayers or celebrations.

“The mosque was not open,” he told RFA. “My husband is a policeman and he went to work on Eid. There was no Eid al-Fitr prayer here. It was quiet.”

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