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Chinese Muslims have decried the demolition of a century-old mosque in the country\u2019s northwest, warning that the move could fuel ethnic tension in the country. \u201cWe refurbished this mosque with our hard work and blood,\u201d Zhe Tao, the wife of the mosque imam, told the Los Angeles Times.
\u201cIt is so sad to see it demolished.\u201d
Chinese authorities demolished the mosque in Taoshan village in Ningxia region in north-western China earlier this week.
The mosque, which dates back to the Qing dynasty of the 19th century, had been legally registered with Chinese authorities.
But authorities declared the mosque an \u201cillegal religious place\u201d after residents raised 800,000 ($127,000) to renovate it.
The demolition has sparked clashes between residents and security forces, which left at least two people dead.
\u201cWhen the police attempted to knock down the newly built mosque, they were met with vigorous resistance from more than 100 villagers wielding clubs and shovels,\u201d villager Jin Haitao told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
The violence was unusual as Taoshan villagers are Hui, who are more assimilated than other Muslim minorities, like the Uighurs.
Hui Muslims are estimated at nearly 10 million of China’s sizable Muslim minority of 20 millions.
With a heritage traced back to the Middle East and Central Asia, Hui Muslims are enjoying more religious freedom in the atheist country.<\/p>\n