BEIJING: In another authoritarian move, China will be rewriting the Bible and Quran so they ‘reflect socialist values’. This seems to be in line with the nationwide crackdown on religious groups.
According to Daily Mail, a top official said that the new editions of the Islamic and Christian holy books must not contain content that goes against the beliefs of the communist party. Parts that are deemed unsuitable by the censors will be retranslated or amended.
Allegedly the Bible and Quran were not specifically mentioned but the party did call for a ‘comprehensive evaluation of the existing religious classics aiming at contents which do not conform to the progress of the times.’
The order was passed in November in a meeting held by the Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which oversees the ethnic and religious matters in China.
The meeting was head by Wang Yang, Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who stressed that ‘religious authorities must follow President Xi’s instructions and interpret the ideologies of different religions in accordance with ‘the core values of Socialism’ and ‘the requirements of the era’, reports French newspaper Le Figaro.
The officials were urged to build ‘a religious system with Chinese characteristics’. All this, in order to prevent ‘extreme thoughts’ and ‘heretical ideas’ from eroding China.
Various reports have revealed, and even UN experts and activists claim that at least one million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims are held in the detention centers in the far-western province of Xinjiang. There have been reports of their ill-treatment and merciless killings in the centers.
China calls these camps- ‘vocational education centers’. China has been engaging in massive and systematic repression and subjugation of Muslims in the country.
It is a matter of grave concern, but somehow there has not been a worldwide outrage over it.
(Agencies)
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