“We Uyghur people don’t like to see women wear such kinds of clothes either, and by covering the eyes, the burqa represents some kind of backwardness,” <g data-gr-id="22">Shewket</g> Imin, a Muslim official of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee of the ruling Communist Party of China, was quoted as saying by state-run Global Times.
<g data-gr-id="17">Shewket</g> lamented the problems when people misuse burqas to hide their identities. He said some men wear burqas to abduct children.
Burqa is the “garment of extremism,” not ethnic minority costume nor a Muslim cloth, <g data-gr-id="23">Shewket</g> said after the release of a government “white paper” on Xinjiang yesterday, outlining the government policies in the Uyghur Muslim majority province which is restive over an increasing settlement of Hans from mainland China.
The document defended China’s crackdown on Islamic militants in Xinjiang, saying <g data-gr-id="59">suppression</g> of religious extremism is a “just move” to protect all people including Muslims.