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Many
Muslims Killed in Chinese Ethnic Clashes
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Chinese Muslims number nearly 24 million
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ZHENGZHOU,
China, November 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Ethnic
clashes between the Muslim Hui minority and the Han majority in
central China's Henan province left several Muslims killed and many
others wounded, prompting local authorities to declare martial law.
The
New York Times on Monday, November 1,
put the number of those killed at 148, citing local journalists
witnesses.
Agence
France-Presse (AFP) and other media, however, put the number at 20 ten
of each ethnicity, amid a local media blackout.
Nanren
village, near the southern bank of the Yellow River in Zhongmou
county, was one of the flashpoints of the confrontation, according to
the imam of the village mosque.
He
said at least six people died in Nanren and the unrest had yet to be
quelled.
"Two
Huis died here, and four or five members of the Han nationality,"
the imam, surnamed Hu, told AFP by telephone.
He
said the clashes erupted late last week when Hui truck drivers from
Nanren tried to pass through a village mostly inhabited by Han Chinese
and one of them got beaten up over a traffic dispute.
Soon
after that incident, thousands of Han Chinese surrounded Nanren
village, and a confrontation developed in which a number of houses
were burnt down and a brick factory was destroyed, Hu said.
The
fatalities that Hu was informed about happened during this clash,
which was only put down when troops from the regular and paramilitary
People's Armed Police arrived, he said.
He
said he had heard vague reports of a similar clash in another nearby
village Sunday, although he had no details.
However,
the NY Times gave a different version of the events.
It
said, quoting local sources, that the clashes flared Friday, October
29, and continued into the weekend after a Hui taxi driver's car hit
and killed a 6-year-old Han girl, prompting recriminations among
different ethnic groups.
Worst
Ever
An
employee surnamed Wang from the Zhongmou county taxi company told AFP
that the recent clashes between the Hui and Han are the worst ever.
"Clashes
have happened frequently before but this is the worst," he said.
"The
two groups used farm tools to fight each other. Martial law has been
declared in the village, people are prevented from getting in or
out."
Another
indication on the gravity of the situation is the reported heavy
security deployment in the area.
A
female officer in the area's main police station told AFP she was one
of the only ones left as her colleagues were out trying to control the
disturbances.
"Normally,
there are several hundred police here, but they have all gone to the
scene," she said.
"The
People's Armed Police has also gone to the scene."
According
to AFP, however, locals played down The New York Times report
that almost 150 people died in the clashes.
"Nearly
150 dead sounds like too much," said a local reporter.
"Maybe it's the number of casualties, dead and injured put
together."
Media
Blackout
There
was no word on the clashes or the casualties carried by Chinese state
media Monday, and local journalists in the region said a news blackout
was in force.
"We
want to report about it, but the central government doesn't want us
to," a journalist with Henan Daily told AFP.
"They
are afraid to trigger conflict among the ethnic groups."
Police
lined the main road into the village Monday and prevented journalists
from entering, according to AFP.
China's
Huis are descendants of Arab and Persian traders who have over the
centuries mixed so thoroughly with the Han Chinese that they are
virtually indistinguishable from each other, apart from different
customs and dress codes.
The
Huis are generally considered among China's best assimilated
minorities, although occasional clashes with other groups are known to
occur, according to Aljazeera Web site.
All
in all, two
percent of China’s population is Muslim;
a deceptively small statistic until one realizes the reference is to a
country with a population of 1.2 billion, leading to a total of 24
million.
Han
Chinese make up more than 90% of the population. The country has 55
officially recognized ethnic groups.
China
suffers occasional tensions between ethnic groups, but the extent of
any violent clashes is unclear because the communist government
suppresses information about social conflict.
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