A public toilet has been built on the site of a mosque that was razed down by Chinese officials in the northwest Xinjiang region.
According to Radio Free Asia, the erection of the toilet was part of what some observers believe is a campaign aimed at breaking the spirit of Uyghur Muslims.
The public toilet was constructed on the former site of the Tokul mosque in Atush’s Suntagh village days after two mosques in the area were brought down.
The demolishing of mosques is part of ‘Mosque Rectification’, a directive launched in 2016 by the Communist Party to destroy Muslim places of worship.
The committee chief, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal, told Radio Free Asia that Tokul mosque was torn down in 2018 and that a lavatory had been built in its place by “Han [Chinese] comrades.”
“It’s a public toilet … they haven’t opened it yet, but it’s built,” he said.
“People have toilets at home, so there weren’t any problems like that,” he added when asked if there had been a need for the public toilet in the local community.
About 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been arrested and sent to internment camps by the Chinese government since April 2017.
