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outlawed Islamic veils from all public spaces (From News) Regional authorities have now outlawed Islamic veils from all public spaces in Urumqi, the regional capital of China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The Urumqi ban, which went into effect on Feb. 1 (coincidentally the third annual “World Hijab Day”), empowers Chinese police to punish violators and dole out fines of up to $800 for those who fail to abide by the prohibition. In recent years, the veil has emerged as a key battleground in the struggle to regain stability in Xinjiang. Stripping women of their head and body coverings provides the Chinese Communist Party with a rare measure of what it sees as progress in the struggle against what it calls “Islamic extremism” in this far western region. However, as officials seek to eliminate veiling, they risk further straining an already fragile relationship between the Uighur ethnic minority, a predominantly Muslim group for whom Xinjiang is their homeland, and a party machine dominated by the Han ethnic majority and its cultural values. With hundreds killed in violent attacks in Xinjiang since 2012, the party has ramped up its efforts to eradicate a range of veiling practices among Uighur women. The new rules (translated here) emerged in January when the Xinjiang legislature ratified a local regulation banning women from donning full-face veils and body coverings in public spaces in Urumqi. According to officials, this attire “prevents security personnel from knowing the identity of veiled individuals,” and therefore poses a threat to public security. Yet there is a lack of clarity over the precise styles of head and body covering the rules prohibit. The term used in the regulation to describe prohibited conduct, mengmian zhaopao — literally, “to mask the face and/or cover the body with a robe” — is vague and imprecise given the wide variety of veiling practices popular in Xinjiang. The regulation also prohibits other symbols of “religious extremism.” The ban comes amid a marked increase in veiling among Uighur women since the early 2000s. Party officials have become especially concerned by the popularization of the niqab, jilbab, and heavy-netted veils that cover the entire head (known as tor romal in Uighur), but have also deemed the now highly fashionable hijab — which covers the entire head and shoulders but not the face — as “abnormal” attire. These styles of Islamic veiling, Chinese authorities (and some Uighurs) insist, are alien to Uighur culture. |
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Interesting move by China, actually a step forward in dismantling the habit and practice of ancient customs that no longer fit within society and cetainly not when people immigrate to societies which does not support this habit and custom in their general public presentation of person. More so, to promote more concern for self presentation in the arena of safety observations of individual for the benefit of all persons.
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