Rising misconceptions about Muslims one year after 'China's 9/11': Imam

One year after armed assailants killed more than 30 people in a stabbing rampage in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, there has been been rising public misconceptions about Muslims in China, said the imam of Yunnan’s oldest mosque.

Sunday (Mar 1) marks a year since eight armed assailants stormed the Kunming train station in southwestern China, killing nearly 30 people and injuring more than a hundred.

Officials called the tragedy an act of terrorism by Uyghur separatists from Xinjiang, while Chinese media dubbed the incident as "China's 9/11".

Liu Chunxiang has been inconsolable since her husband Zu Chaowen died on that fateful day. The 52-year-old was as a security guard at Kunming Train station.

“My husband didn't hide,” said Madam Liu. “He called passengers to go into the locker room. He told them he would stand watch outside. Then he tried to fend off the terrorists, but sacrificed himself instead.”

Witnesses told Madam Liu that her husband’s bravery saved dozens of lives that night and for that, officials awarded him a posthumous gold medal.

“He was a simple man,” recalled Madam Liu. “Whether the job is dirty, tiring, taxing or light, he would do it as long as he earned enough to help treat my illnesses and we didn’t starve.” With her husband gone, Madam Liu, an amputee who lives alone, says she now survives on handouts.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MUSLIMS

But it is not just Madam Liu’s life that has been affected by the attack. The imam of Yunnan’s oldest mosque told Channel NewsAsia the incident has resulted in an increase in public misconceptions about Muslims.

“Previously, Muslims and non-Muslims all over China mutually respected each other,” said Kunming Islamic Association Vice-President Ma Yong. “But since the attack last year, non-Muslims have misunderstandings about us Muslims. They think Islam encourages violence. Some develop a fear of Muslims who wear black robes and headscarves. This could be due to misleading media messages.”

Muslims, made up mainly of the ethnic Hui minority, accounts for just slightly over one per cent of Yunnan’s overall population. Unlike the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, Hui Muslims in Yunnan have long assimilated with the Han Chinese and enjoy less-restrictive policies on religious freedom.

But after the attacks, several religious schools were forced to shut after officials ordered non-Yunnan religious teachers to leave the province. “Terrorism is to be reined in by the law. But peace-loving Muslims and mainstream Islam should be encouraged,” said Ma.

Security forces have been on high alert in Kunming since the attacks one year ago. The Chinese government has also been on a crackdown on what it says are Islamic terrorists, making the situation all the more nervous for the Muslim minorities in China.