Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have banned dozens of baby names with religious meanings that are widely used by Muslims elsewhere in the world, RFA has learned.
\nSources in Hotan, in the southern part of the region, had previously detailed a list of banned names in 2015, but the ban now appears to have been rolled out region-wide.
\nIslam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina are among dozens of baby names banned under ruling Chinese Communist Party\u2019s \u201cNaming Rules For Ethnic Minorities,\u201d an official confirmed on Thursday.
\nAn employee who answered the phone at a police station in the regional capital Urumqi confirmed that \u201coverly religious\u201d names are banned, and that any babies registered with such names would be barred from the \u201chukou\u201d household registration system that gives access to health care and education.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re not allowed to give names with a strong religious flavor, such as Jihad or names like that,\u2019 the official said. \u201cThe most important thing here is the connotations of the name \u2026 [it mustn\u2019t have] connotations of holy war or of splittism [Xinjiang independence].\u201d
\nAsked if names of Islamic scholars were acceptable, the employee replied: \u201cGet him to change it; it\u2019s the sort of thing that [could be regarded as] promoting terror and evil cults.\u201d
\nAsked if Yultuzay, a reference to the star and moon symbol of the Islamic faith, was acceptable, he said: \u201cActually the star and moon are a pagan symbol.\u201d
\n\u201c[Mecca] would be a bit over-the-top \u2026 I don\u2019t think you could call someone Saddam, either,\u201d he said in response to queries on those names.
\n\u201cJust stick to the party line, and you\u2019ll be fine,\u201d he said. \u201c[People with banned names] won\u2019t be able to get a household registration, so they will find out from the hukou office when the time comes.\u201d
\n\u201cThey have received training in this sort of thing over here [in Xinjiang] so they\u2019re the experts [on what is allowed],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mainstream names<\/strong> Strike-hard campaigns<\/strong> Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have banned dozens of baby names with religious meanings that are widely used by Muslims elsewhere in the world, RFA has learned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c102-muslim-minorities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nA source meanwhile told RFA that the safest names for Uyghurs are those that sound more \u201cmainstream.\u201d
\n\u201cI have been talking to friends in Xinjiang about this, and they all say that any with potentially extremist overtones will be banned, but names like Memet \u2026 that you see everywhere are considered more mainstream by the Chinese Communist Party,\u201d the source said.
\nDilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group, said the Chinese government is continuing to suppress traditional Uyghur culture by controlling what Uyghurs can call their children.
\n\u201cIn setting limits on the naming of Uyghurs, the Chinese government is in fact engaging in political persecution under another guise,\u201d Raxit told RFA. \u201cThey are afraid that people with such names will become alienated from Chinese policies in the region.\u201d
\n\u201cYultuzay, for example, is seen by the Chinese government as carrying separatist connotations, to do with religion,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are placing limits on Uyghurs\u2019 religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nChina has vowed to crack down on what it calls religious extremism in Xinjiang, and regularly conducts \u201cstrike hard\u201d campaigns including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material.
\nWhile China blames Uyghur extremists for terrorist attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009.
\nLast month, Xinjiang authorities fired an ethnic Uyghur official for holding her wedding ceremony at home according to Islamic traditions instead of at a government-sanctioned venue.
\nSalamet Memetimin, the communist party secretary for Chaka township\u2019s Bekchan village, in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture\u2019s Chira (Cele) county, was among 97 officials recently charged with disciplinary violations, according to an April 10 report by the state-run Hotan Daily newspaper.
\nLocal residents said the woman was relieved of her duties for taking her marriage vows\u2014known as \u201cnikah\u201d in Muslim culture\u2014in her own home.
\nAn official told RFA\u2019s Uyghur service that home wedding vows could give rise to unsanctioned religious leaders promoting \u201cdeviant views that contradict ethnic unity and the sovereignty of the county.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"