Commentary Since 2014, according to a new report released by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) and Justice for All, China’s authorities have arrested at least 1,046 Muslim imams from its Xinjiang (East Turkistan) region. The arrests, according to an email from the UHRP, are “attempts by the Chinese government to cut off the transmission of religious knowledge across generations.” UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat alleged that “the wholesale round-up of imams exposes the Chinese government’s intention: to destroy our faith and traditions, once and for all. Uyghur and other Turkic imams are the custodians of religious scholarship and teaching. Eliminating religious teachers is a weapon for eliminating Islam from our homeland.” Of the 1,046 cases, 428 imams were sent to formal prisons, and 202 were detained in concentration camps, including “reeducation” detention facilities. Eighteen died while in detention, and of those imprisoned, 96 percent were sentenced to five or …