AFP
China has employed a heavy-handed campaign this week to co-opt a Muslim holiday celebrated by Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, with staged displays of happy, dancing ethnic minorities and interviews to counter accusations of widespread rights abuses in the region, Uyghur exiles said.
Many of the 12 million Muslims in the XUAR this week are celebrating Eid al-Adha, also known as Qurban Eid (in Chinese, Gurban), that honors the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son. Muslims mark the period with prayers and dancing and by slaughtering goats, sheep, cows, or camels.
On Tuesday, Chinese officials organized a Qurban Eid news conference in the XUAR’s capital Urumqi featuring five Uyghurs from Urumchi (Wulumuqi) and the cities of Turpan (Tulufan), Aksu (Akesu), and Kashgar (Kashi), to talk about the Eid holidays and their purportedly happy lives.