China equates preacher of “distorted Islamic ideas” with terrorists

BEIJING: China’s disturbed Xinjiang province has adopted a new counterterrorism law that targets not just those who commit terrorist activities but also those who preach religious extremism. Among other things, the new law prohibits spread of “distorted Islamic ideas”.

The government is planning a large scale crackdown on a section of Islamic preachers who are spreading extremist ideas. China’s Communist Party often emphasizes the importance of partriotism in the practice of religion.

The new law will make it possible for local officials to take action against religious leaders suspected of being unpatriotic, observers said.

“Acts such as encouraging others to resist national policies, destroying identification cards, household registration and marriage certificates are also made illegal,” the state media said about the new law.

The local legislative council the new law regards “religious extremism is the ideological basis of terrorism” and makes it punishible. Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan, is the main battle field in the war against terrorism, and has garnered a lot of experience in combating the menace in recent years, Nayim Yasen, head of the standing committee of the regional legislature, said.

The announcement comes soon after Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif recently assured China that his troops will crack down on militant outfits who are suspected of committing terror acts in the bordering Chinese province of Xinjiang.

China’s state media quoted Sharif saying that Pakistan will curb terrorist forces in the “East Turkestan Islamic Movement” (ETIM), which is sprearheading a separatist movement in Xinjiang.

The new rules makes it illegal for anyone to intervene in others’ marriages, funerals, inheritance issues for religious reasons. This stipulation may restrict the influence that Islamic religious leaders have on the lives of ordinary Muslims in Xinjiang.

The new law is based on the Counterterrorism Law, which was adopted by the central government in December 2015.