How China's cracking down on its Muslim minority in Xinjiang province

Thousands belonging to a minority Muslim community in China's Xinjiang province have allegedly been whisked off to and detained in state-owned "political indoctrination centers" as the government cracks down on growing "Islamic terrorism" in the country, the Associated Press (AP) said in a report.

Over the past year, mass disappearance of Uighur Muslims has instilled fear in the hearts of the marginalised ethnic community, which has been influenced by 'radical Islamic extremism', claims the government. Inhabited by 10 million Turkic speaking Uighurs, Xinjiang's Uighur Autonomous Region now resembles a police state, with foot patrols, armored vehicles and round-the-clock surveillance tracking their every move.

Under the pretext of rooting out terrorism, the Chinese government has adopted a "strike hard" campaign following a series of attacks in 2013 and 2014 carried out by Uighur separatists. The Communist party has banned fasting during Ramzan, forbidden Azaan in state-sanctioned mosques, prohibited long beards and Islamic headwear and restricted use of the Turkic language. Harsh punishments are imposed for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes.

The government has also adopted sophisticated surveillance systems, including a biometric data collection program which collates "three-dimensional portraits, voiceprints, DNA and fingerprints", the AP report said.

"If we don't do this, it will be like several years ago -- hundreds will die," propaganda official Bao Changhui told AP.

Earlier in April, the Human Rights Watch condemned the move to ban dozens of Muslim names like 'Saddam' and 'Jihad' on the grounds that they could "exaggerate religious fervour". Children with banned names will not have access to public schools and other social benefits.

The Communist Party has denied allegations of religious discrimination, instead pointing to decades of economic investment in Xinjiang and concerted efforts, such as preferential college admissions, to bring the Uighur population into the mainstream.

It is a well-documented fact that Uighur Muslims have been fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and also joined ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria and Iraq. However, Beijing has not offered any concrete evidence of a foreign-directed terrorist organization working against the Chinese state that would warrant the crackdown on ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang.

Uighur Muslims continue to live in the shadow of fear in Xinjiang, under a government that all but views them as the enemy. Big Brother is watching.