Chinese official punished for refusing to ‘hurt feelings’

Beijing, April 11: In an unusual move, China has demoted a ruling Communist party official in the volatile Uygur Muslim majority Xinjiang province for not “daring” to smoke in front of local religious leaders, regarding it as a sign of timidity in fighting against extremism.

Jelil Matniyaz, the party chief of a village in Hotan, Xinjiang was demoted from “senior staff member” to “staff member” on March 25 for his “infirm political stands...And for being afraid to smoke in front of religious figures,” a notice posted on the Hotan Daily’s social media WeChat account said.

“Smoking is a personal choice, and religious and ordinary people should respect each other, but his behaviour of ‘not daring’ to smoke conforms with extreme religious thought in Xinjiang,” the Global Times quoted a Hotan official as saying.

“As a party chief, he should lead the fight against extreme religious thought, otherwise, he would fail to confront the threat of extreme regional forces,” the official said.

“According to local religion customs, smoking is not allowed in front of older or religious people,” Turgunjun Tursun, a professor with the Zhejiang Normal University, said.

However, some religious people force ordinary citizens also to comply with the requirements, a senior official who had been working in Xinjiang for years, told the paper.

The official’s demotion is an isolated case, Tursun said. The move came as authorities intensified their efforts to curb religious extremism.

Earlier, the Chinese security forces enacted a new law banning a wide range of acts, including wearing veils in Xinjiang.

In the Turkic speaking Uygurs are restive for several years over increasing settlements of Han population from other provinces.