A National Committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister
M.Enkhbold has begun preparations for the observance of the 100^th
anniversary of national independence on December 29, 2011. Speaker D.Demberel,
some MPs, and a number of scholars attended a meeting at the Bogd Khan Palace
Museum on Wednesday to discuss preliminary plans for the event.

Among the proposals being considered are a special
session of Parliament, issue of a commemorative postage stamp, display of seals
used by the Bogd Khan, repairs to the Bogd Khan Palace Museum, an essay contest
on the true meaning and value of independence, and national spread of awareness
of the significance of the anniversary. The Committee also plans to hold, with
help from the Science Academy, the 10^th international Mongolists’ conference
on the occasion, with national independence as the special theme.

At Wednesday’s meeting Enkhbold spoke on “The beginning
of Mongolia’s renaissance and 100 years of the National Revolution”. He
recalled how 99 years ago, patriots and activists had gathered in the Bogd Khan
Palace on December 29, 1911 or the 9^th day of the winter middle
month of the year of the white pig to declare Mongolia’s independence and to put
the Emperor Bogd on the throne. They re-established the Mongolian state and set
up five ministries to run it.

The 100^th anniversary will offer an
opportunity to honor them and their action, to assess the successes and the mistakes
that marked the years that followed to bring home to the present generation the
significance of the historical event that revived the Mongolian system of a
national Government that combined temporal and religious authority.

However, Enkhbold said, while this marked Mongolia’s freedom
from Manchu rule, it was not a social revolution and did not establish a new
social structure. National independence did generate a surge of patriotism, and
revived respect for the Mongolian language and culture, and for Buddhism, and
united all Mongolian aimags in a renewed quest for a national identity, making
it a crucial event in Mongolian history.