A ruling Communist party official in China’s volatile Uygur Muslim majority Xinjiang province was demoted for not “daring” to smoke in front of local religious leaders which is regarded as a sign of timidity in fighting against religious extremism.
Jelil Matniyaz, the party chief of a village in Hotan, Xinjiang was demoted from “senior staff member” to “staff member” on March 25 for his “infirm political stands...And for being afraid to smoke in front of religious figures,” a notice posted on the Hotan Daily’s social media WeChat account said.
“Smoking is a personal choice, and religious and ordinary people should respect each other, but his behaviour of ‘not daring’ to smoke conforms with extreme religious thought in Xinjiang,” the Global Times quoted a Hotan official as saying.
“As a party chief, he should lead the fight against extreme religious thought, otherwise, he would fail to confront the threat of extreme regional forces,” the official said.
“According to local religion customs, smoking is not allowed in front of older or religious people,” Turgunjun Tursun, a professor with the Zhejiang Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday.