|
Imam Memtimin Mamut from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region, who is currently in Beijing for the upcoming
first session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), still
performs religious service five times a day.
Imam Memtimin Mamut in his early 70s of the Hetkar Mosque, the
largest one in Kashi Prefecture of the autonomous region, who had
made two pilgrimages to Mecca, came to attend the NPC session for
the first time.
"I
care most for things in my hometown, especially the problem of
educating kids for the next generation," said the newly-elected NPC
deputy, who donned a typical Uygur white hat and a long gown of
camel color worn by Uygur people.
In
Kashi Prefecture, Mamut noted, an outlying underdeveloped region in
westernmost Xinjiang, some teenage school dropouts roamed about in
streets, sometimes committed crimes and even a few involved
themselves in separatism activities.
He
appealed for enhanced efforts to crackdown on kidnapping of
children, and called for seeking more investment in vocational
schools in the region.
More than 1,000 Muslims come to practice religious services in the
Hetkar Mosque five times a day. In Corban, Id-al-fitr and other
major Islamic festivals, the number of Muslims attending the ritual
services reached more than 70,000 at times.
The Kashi Prefecture, which shares a 970-km-long border line with
Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has a population of over
three million, 94 percent of whom are Uygurs.
According to him, there are around 10,000 mosques in Kashi
Prefecture and more than 23,000 mosques in the whole autonomous
region.
During his sermon of Alcoran, he often dissuade persuades people
from being involved in separatism activities. "The Alcoran urges us
that we should unite. We cannot get things done unless we are
united," said the Imam.
(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2003)
|
