Lutipula Abudureyimu, Imam of Tuofuqia Mosque of Yiliqi township, Hotan city, talks to the media on March 9. [Photo/Tianshannet]

Rumor: Some religious people the government in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region disapproves of have been held in custody.Fact:

China is a country ruled by law. The government cracks down on all kinds of illegal and criminal activities in accordance with the law, and the illegal and criminal activities carried out by using religion are no exception. In the fight against crime, there has never been a specific religion that has been targeted.

"As far as I know, those so-called religious personnel held in custody by the government are not religious faculty staff at all. They are criminals who spread religious extremism and are engaged in separatist, destructive and violent terrorist activities in the name of Islam," said Lutipula Abudureyimu, imam of Tuofuqia Mosque of Yiliqi township, Hotan city.

Taking advantage of the simple religious feelings of Muslims, they spread extreme ideas, wantonly distorted the teachings and rules of Islam, denied all secular ideas and achievements of modern civilization, advocated "going to heaven through jihad martyrdom", and persecuted "heretics" and "traitors", said Lutipula Abudureyimu.

Some religious people of good faith were rejected, persecuted and even murdered by them. For example, under the influence of religious extremism, there were thousands of violent and terrorist cases in Xinjiang for a period of time, causing a large number of innocent people to be killed. Even a group of highly respected Islamic figures, such as Aronghan Aji, Maulvi Younus sidik and Juma Tayi'er, were brutally killed by them. These extreme behaviors have brought great disaster to the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including Muslims, and also greatly damaged the image of Islam.

"We all believe that although religious extremism is holding the banner of Islam, it is totally contrary to religious doctrines. It is not Islam. In fact, it is a tumor of anti-humanity, anti-society, anti-civilization and anti-religion. It is essentially different from the doctrines of patriotism, peace, unity, the middle way, tolerance and goodness advocated by Islam and other religions," said Lutipula Abudureyimu.

"In my opinion, combating religious extremism is to better protect legitimate religions. Now there have been no violent terrorist cases in Xinjiang for more than four consecutive years. We religious people feel very safe and firmly support the measures taken by the government," said Lutipula Abudureyimu.