Chinese Crack Down on Muslims, Ramadan, and Religious Schools

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Andrew Jacobs

CHINA---The blood has long since been hosed away, but weeks after Chinese security forces opened fire on a crowd of Muslim protesters, killing scores of young men, there is a palpable fear on the streets of this dusty farming township in Xinjiang, the restive borderland region in China’s far west. But tighter religious restrictions have incited much of the violence since 2009, analysts say. Civil servants may not fast during the holy month of Ramadan; college students must attend weekly political education classes; and armed police officers frequently raid unauthorized religious schools. The central government has become increasingly alarmed by its inability to stanch the unrest. [link]

Comments

How does the government know that a Muslim is fasting during Ramadan? How is such a private experience monitored? It doesn't make sense to me.