By Bai Tiantian
Global Times - 2014-5-26
Xinjiang drifts toward Talibanization as dances suppressed, conservative dress imposed
Roxiangul (pseudonym), a Uyghur woman in her 50s, always makes sure she has a veil in her purse whenever she leaves the house.
Not that she wants to wear it all the time.
Five
years ago, during the infamous July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of
Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, some young Uyghur
girls suffered cuts on their arms and thighs because they were wearing
short skirts.
The perpetrators, women in black gowns and black veils, called the girls "bitches" and cursed them to "burn in hell."
If
that wasn't enough to frighten Roxiangul, a year or so later, when she
was shopping near the International Bazaar in Urumqi, a group of random
Uyghur men surrounded her and harshly accused her of debauchery for
disobeying the teachings of the Koran about how women are forbidden to
reveal their faces.
Even as a devout Muslim, Roxiangul was
shaken and scared. After that, she began pulling a veil out of her purse
whenever she sensed looks of disapproval on the street.
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