- Populated by ethnic-Turkic Uighurs, Xinjiang western region was known as independent East Turkestan up to the end of the II World War. On October 1, 1955, Chinese leader Mao Zedong designated Xinjiang an "Uighur Autonomous Region"
- Chinese Communist party's interference in the observance of Ramadan stokes grievances in recent weeks
- Ethnic-Han Chinese have been moving into Xinjiang since the 1950's and they now make up most of its population, mostly in the two largest cities, Kashgar and Urumqi
Kashgar, Aut. 18.─ Idh Kah mosque in Kashgar, said to be the biggest in China, boasts a noticeboard recalling the care lavished on its restoration by the central government. The monument is an emblem, it claims, of "the harmony among China's ethnic groups". However, many of the men idling in the shade of the mosque's leafy grounds on a Saturday in the holy month of Ramadan are in an unharmonious state of mind.
Xinjiang, the vast region in whose west lies the old Silk Road city of Kashgar, has a history of tension between the ethnic-Turkic, mostly Muslim, Uighurs who used to make up most of its population, and the authorities, dominated by ethnic-Han Chinese. During Ramadan, which comes to an end on August 19th, that tension has been exacerbated by the government's intervention in religious practice.
It has been discouraging, and in some places even banning, Communist Party cadres, government officials, students and schoolchildren from fasting and attending mosques during working hours.
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Sevilla, Ago.22.─ Las dos sentencias del Tribunal Supremo en las que se niega la posibilidad de que los colegios que segregan por sexo reciban subvenciones son solo un punto y seguido en la larga guerra entre los defensores de este tipo de educación y los que creen que no deben recibir dinero público. Hay unos 70 centros educativos concertados que segregan en España y cuya financiación está ahora en cuestión. Los fallos del alto tribunal abren la puerta a un posible aluvión de demandas contra los conciertos con esos colegios. Pero, también, a recursos en sentido contrario: una de las patronales de este tipo de enseñanza ha anunciado este miércoles que pedirá el amparo del Tribunal Constitucional.