Land and Conflict: The Struggle Over Pasturelands in Khar Us
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Batbayar, among the Torghut herders in Khar Us, has been embroiled in the most heated discussions regarding disputes over pasturelands. Despite the privatisation policy allocating pasturelands to herders in Khar Us, the recent expansion of Khar Us city has encroached upon lands where herders traditionally grazed their livestock. To meet their development goals, which include landholdings and large-scale factories, government officials are employing various means to expropriate land from herders, offering minimal compensation. Furthermore, this situation has exacerbated tensions between the local government and herders. Ethnic conflicts, particularly involving Kazakhs, Chinese, and Mongols, over land use have also become more noticeable in recent years. This video presents Batbayar’s argument with the Khar Us city government regarding the land confiscation incident. Batbayar possesses 4,700 mu of pasturelands, officially certified in 1983. Regrettably, the Khar Us city government recently initiated a real estate project that enforced land confiscation, plunging herders, including Batbayar, into ongoing disputes.