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Writer's pictureBahram Sintash

China Might Tear Down The Tallest Minar in the Uyghur Homeland

Updated: Jul 1, 2019


The tallest minar (Islamic tower) in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China was confirmed to be teared down in June. This video was spread over the internet since yesterday. The Uyghur man states in the video, "look! this minar is here for today only but not tomorrow. Be aware of this and look at it one last time." As seen in the video, the statue attached to the base of the tower is already teared town and it seems to be prepared for dynamite demolition.

Before-After satellite imagery of Hotan Grand Bazaar published on Uyghurism.com last month. It shows the domes of the building were removed in 2017.

On June 2nd 2019, AFP reporter Pak Yiu who was visiting Hotan city with a crew for their report about Ramadan in Xinjiang; also informed me that the local people have told him that the Minar will be knocked down.


Rendering of Grand Bazar Hotan during its design process in 2006

The Grand Bazaar AKA Gulbag Bazaar was built by a Uyghur real estate investor Kudirat Hajim. According to an Uyghur architect I know, who designed this building; the Building was stated to be constructed in 2007 and completed in 2010. The center tower (minar) of the building was designed to be 99 meters high. The top of the tower had a 360 degree view cafe. The Grand Bazaar of Hotan was a department store for electronics and appliance.


This is not the only Islamic structure that china has destroyed in XUAR. Based on my investigation and research, China has demolished 10,000-15,000 mosques, religious sites, domes and towers of buildings with Islamic architecture style. Please also see these reports for more information about my research.







 

To the reporters who are interested in putting this in the news, please feel free to shoot me an email to my email address listed under contact on Uyghurism.com.

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