Reuters reports the outbreak of further unrest in Inner Mongolia, with herders beaten and detained after protesting the expansion of a lead mine.
The New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center said the protest was sparked this month in Inner Mongolia’s Bayannuur after a lead mine expanded onto a piece of grazing land.
“After repeatedly petitioning the (local) governments expressing their concerns regarding the danger to their environment and health with no satisfactory response, on June 24 … frustrated herders marched to the area of the mine and shut down the mine’s water pump,” the group said in an emailed statement.
“On June 25, the (local) government mobilized more than 50 riot police and attacked the protesters. Many herders were beaten severely and taken away by police. Their health condition and status are unknown as of the date of this report,” it added ….
The vast northern region of Inner Mongolia was rocked by protests last month sparked by the death of an ethnic Mongolian herder who was hit and killed by a truck after taking part in protests against pollution caused by a coal mine.
The truck driver was later sentenced to death.
Earlier this month, the SMHRIC reported the banning of a rap song recorded in response to the earlier protests and the death that sparked them:
Reportedly the author and singer of the song is a Mongolian college student from eastern Southern Mongolia’s Tongliao City. Since the publication of his song on the Internet on May 29, he has been repeatedly summoned to the local State Security Bureau and warned not to go online or have any contact with outsiders. Friends have lost contact with him since then.
Yo, I am a Mongol even if I sing my rap in Chinese
No matter what you say I am a Mongol
Mongol blood flows in my veins
The vast Mongolian steppe is my homelandOnce green Mongolian plateau turned to yellow
Beautiful grasslands turning to desert
The government says it is the herders’ fault
Have you ever thought about it carefully?
Whose fault is it really?
Overgrazing is a myth and a lie
We have grazed animals here thousands of years
Why has the desertification started since only a few decades ago?
Listen here.
