By C. Perera, JadeTimes News
Human Rights Watch reports that China has renamed hundreds of villages in the Xinjiang region in an effort to erase Uyghur Muslim culture. According to HRW, between 2009 and 2023, village names related to Uyghur religion, history, or culture were systematically replaced. Terms like "sultan" and "shrine" have been replaced with words such as "harmony" and "happiness," based on China's own data. The changes in village names are part of broader efforts by Chinese authorities to assimilate the minority Uyghur population into mainstream Chinese culture.
HRW, along with the Norway based organization Uyghur Hjelp, analyzed village names in Xinjiang using data from China's National Bureau of Statistics over a 14 year period. They discovered that out of 25,000 villages, 3,600 had their names changed, with approximately one fifth of these changes erasing references to Uyghur culture, religion, or history. Titles such as Hoja , Sultan, and beg have been replaced with terms reflecting Chinese Communist Party ideology.
One notable example from the report is Aq Meschit in Akto County, which was renamed Unity village in 2018. This renaming is seen as part of systematic human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim population, which Beijing denies.
Most Uyghur Muslims in China reside in regions like Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia. Although China is officially atheist, the authorities claim to be tolerant of religious freedom, but observers have noted a crackdown on organized religion in recent years.
HRW states that the majority of these name changes occurred between 2017 and 2019, coinciding with increased hostility towards the Uyghur population in Xinjiang. China has previously justified its actions against Uyghurs by citing threats of "violent terrorism, radicalization, and separatism."
Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch, stated that the renaming of villages is part of efforts to erase Uyghur cultural and religious expressions. This research follows a previous HRW report accusing China of closing, destroying, and repurposing mosques to suppress Islam.