The Cham Rebellion: Survivors' Stories from the Villages (Documentation Series 9)

The Khmer Rouge kept constraining religion, bit by bit. First they forbade during work hours, claiming it was a loss of labor. Even when prayer did not impact work hours later in the day, they still would not permit it. They closed the mosque. One day during the Royaveitaros holiday [Raya Idul Fitri], some villagers made the difficult decision to ask for permission to observe morning prayers since this is such an important day in Islam. They were given permission. But that night the Khmer Rouge arrested everyone who had participated in the day?s prayers. That is when our village rose up and rebelled. If we had not rebelled, they would have killed us all [anyway]. Ysa Osman. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 172-173).