Mujahid Slammed For Describing A Xinjiang Uighur Camp As "Training Institution"
The Islamic Affairs Minister also uploaded photos of his visit to the camp.
By Jia Vern Tham — 27 Jun 2019, 01:03 PM
Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Dr. Mujahid Yusof Rawa uploaded photos of his visit to an Uighur concentration camp in Xinjiang, China yesterday, 26 June
In a Facebook post, the minister wrote that he was on a visit to a "vocational and training institution" in Xinjiang, a controversial Chinese autonomous region.
At the time of writing, the post has garnered over 350 shares since yesterday.
Mujahid then described activities that were being held in the camp
"This centre provides industry training for multiple skills including sewing, law classes, art, floristry, and more," the minister wrote in his Facebook post.
Moreover, Mujahid included the hashtag "model Malaysia", signalling that the camps are an example Malaysia should learn from.
Photos of the minister's visit also included him interacting with Uighur Muslims in the camp.
The Islamic Affairs Minister's description of the Uighur camps, which were previously reported as inhumane, has since sparked outrage among netizens
One netizen reminded Mujahid that the concentration camps are not "vocational and training" institutions.
Another netizen criticised the minister for acknowledging the internment camps.
"Did you just legitimise what happened to Uighur Muslims?" one netizen asked.
A local think tank, Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) also hit out at Mujahid for his description of the camps
Free Malaysia Today reported IRF activist Dr. Ahmad Farouk Musa as saying that Mujahid fell victim to the Chinese propaganda.
"Surely Mujahid must have been a victim of the Communist China propaganda," he told Free Malaysia Today.
Ahmad added that the Xinjiang camps are comparable to the Gulag, which were camps set up by the Soviet Union for thousands of political prisoners.