Protests erupt as China moves to end Mongolian-medium teaching in schools

NEW DELHI

China is slowly trying to wipe out the culture and heritage of the Mongolian people of the Inner Mongolia region.

 China’s policy aimed at replacing Mongolian with Mandarin as the language of instruction in all core subjects.

And for Mongolian families, this policy is a step too far. They consider their language as one of the last surviving markers of their Mongolian identity. They do not want to learn about the world through China's prism but they are being forced to.

In protest, students have started boycotting classes. Police officials are trying to send them back. Parents are clashing with the police, the images are moving — to say the least.

Entire families — out on the streets — fighting the might of the Chinese regime. This is nothing less than a civil disobedience movement.It has spread throughout Inner Mongolia.

Even in Ulaanbaatar — the capital of Mongolia. Hundreds of people are standing in solidarity with their ethnic Mongolian brethren. These are visuals of a demonstration that was held outside the Mongolian foreign ministry yesterday.

These people want their government to speak for the plight of every ethnic Mongolian and they want their voices to be heard internationally. 

"I am proud of our brothers & sisters, who are very few but are fighting hard against a billion. That is why we have to send them our love and support. I am afraid that they might get in danger. And we are here to ensure that it does not happen,” said a school teacher Tseren Tuvshinjargal.

"Our traditional script is registered in the Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage under the name of the Mongolian nation. The inner Mongolians preserve their Mongolian ethnic immunity with its language. That’s why I want their voice is heard to the international community,” said Banzragch Bazarsad, Member of Bosoo Khukh Mongol, a Mongolian nationalist organization.