Chinese take scissors to Muslims’ tunics

UIGHUR women in China have reportedly had their long tunics cut short by the authorities, in what appears to be the latest attempt to suppress the minority’s Muslim identity.

A series of pictures, which could not be independently verified by The Daily Telegraph, show women in China’s western Xinjiang province being accosted by scissor-wielding officials who cut off their dress-like garments, worn over trousers, at the waist.

The photos issued by Radio Free Asia (RFA), a Us-government funded outlet, show women apparently being stopped in the street by officials in plain clothes. In one image, a female scooter rider has been pulled over to have her clothing adjusted.

Activists claim the policy is another move to “Sinicise” the 15-million strong minority, which Beijing has long been accused of repressing.

The bizarre move follows previous restrictions prohibiting “abnormal” beards, the wearing of veils in public places and the refusal to watch state television. Surveillance is pervasive, with residents being monitored by a multitude of facial recognition cameras and biometric data.

According to RFA, Uighurs have claimed that the tunics are worn for comfort and not religious reasons, although similar garments are worn sometimes in Muslim cultures as a sign of modesty.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the World Uighur Congress, a coalition of exiled Uighur groups, told The Telegraph that the act of slashing their clothes was an “insult” to local women.

The Chinese government strongly denies committing any abuses and insists the legal, cultural and religious rights of Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group, are fully protected. But it argues that strict policies introduced in recent years are an attempt to counter a rise in religious extremism.