It was an April 2011 afternoon. That day, the Lao wind blew like a storm, and it was sweltering hot. Lieutenant Colonel Trang A Tua, Head of the Department of Counter-Reactionary and Counter-Terrorism, now the Department of Internal Security, Dien Bien Provincial Police (Mr. Tua is currently a Major General, Director of the Department of Building the Movement to Protect National Security, Ministry of Public Security ) had just returned from a business trip and had not yet had time to eat when he received a phone call. Looking at the number, he knew it was the phone of a person who was a base...
Secret phone call
From the other end of the line, there was an urgent voice: “Brother Tua, Va and Ia are about to rebel. They established a Mong Kingdom in Nam Ke - Muong Nhe”. Brother Tua asked again: “When will they start?”. “I don’t know what day, but today they have started to bring people to Huoi Khon village”. Trang A Tua asked again: “Do they have weapons?”. “I don’t know”. Trang A Tua hurriedly asked again: “Are you going with them?”. The voice on the other end of the line sounded fearful: “I will go, but I heard they will take all the phones and I can’t go near Va. Oh, whoever holds the flag with the 6-pointed star is them”.
Mr. Tua hastily added: “Try to keep an eye on it and let me know in time. I will send someone to contact you and protect you.” The person on the other end of the line panicked: “Oh no, that’s not possible,” then hung up…
Immediately, Trang A Tua reported to the Director and soon after, an urgent meeting of the Board of Directors and professional departments of Dien Bien Provincial Police was held.
At the meeting, all information was checked and the Chief of Muong Nhe District Police reported by phone that there was indeed a phenomenon of Mong people from various places flocking to Muong Nhe area. Traffic police also reported that there was a phenomenon of many Mong people traveling on other buses from Son La, Lao Cai to Dien Bien.
For the leaders of Dien Bien Provincial Police, the plot of some Mong people to establish the Mong Kingdom is something they have known for a long time and the Provincial Police have also established a special project. The development of the project is relatively favorable. The number of leaders as well as their backgrounds are complete in the project file. Among them, there are those who are abroad. There are also subjects in Hoa Binh, Son La, Lao Cai, even in the western region of Nghe An and Xieng Khouang (Laos). For a long time, the Internal Security force of Dien Bien Provincial Police has had documents about the "6-star" group, with the plot to establish the Mong Kingdom. The reason this is called the "6-star" group is because they use a flag with a 6-pointed star as a symbol. They explain: "The flag of Vietnam is a 5-pointed yellow star, so our flag must be... 6-pointed". But then there was a group that split off, making a flag with a 7-pointed star to be "more impressive" than the 6-pointed star flag.
After listening to reports from professional units, the Provincial Police Department's Board of Directors gave drastic and specific instructions and urgently reported to the Ministry.
The date was April 20, 2011.
Muong Nhe Hot Spot
In the following days, Nam Ke commune of Muong Nhe district suddenly became unusually hot. Mong people from everywhere flocked to the area. They went wherever they could ride motorbikes, but when they encountered traffic police checkpoints, they abandoned their motorbikes and walked through the forest.
Nam Ke commune is located more than 30 kilometers from Muong Nhe district town; there are 12 villages and the current population is about 4,700 people, mainly Mong and San Chi ethnic groups. In addition to the Mong people who make up the majority, the commune also has Thai, Dao; Si La; San Chi; Pu Peo people... The Mong people in 8 villages of Nam Ke live almost isolated from the community, even the commune government has "difficulty managing" them. Some people use the reason: "The state said this land belongs to all the people, so I can live wherever I want, do whatever I want". From such a "reason", the Mong people in Huoi Khon spread out everywhere to cultivate and live nomadically, they even went to the Golden Triangle area in Bo Keo province in Laos to "do business".
At the end of April 2011, Mong people flocked to Nam Ke. They set up tents with all kinds of plastic cloth, sacks... On the low hills in the Huoi Khon area, about a kilometer from the commune center, it was impossible to count how many people and how many tents there were. The leaders who chose Huoi Khon were quite smart because there was a mountain road to Pa Mi commune, a road connecting to Nam Vy commune, Ta Tong commune of Muong Te district, Lai Chau province. But the road to Ta Tong could only be traveled on foot, no vehicle could pass. From Nam Ke to Ta Tong, one had to cross and climb slopes like Nam Xa slope, 7 km long, and Ta Tong slope, as long as Pha Din pass.
On roads that are accessible to cars, the Traffic Police and Mobile Police set up barriers and check people. If they are Mong people, they check their identification papers and advise them to return home. But this measure is not very effective; if they are not allowed to leave, they immediately carry their pots, pans, and other necessary items and walk back to Huoi Khon. For Mong people, walking about 50 to 60 kilometers a day is normal.
At the same time, some key officials of Muong Nhe district continuously received messages from strange numbers that the Mong people had risen up to establish the Mong Kingdom. Then people spread rumors and information that after establishing the Mong Kingdom, they would receive assistance from Mong people in the US, Thailand, Myanmar and even China. The Mong Kingdom would take Muong Nhe as its capital and this new Mong Kingdom would have an area spanning from a part of Hoa Binh province, all of Son La province, the entire Dien Bien province and about half of Lai Chau province, but no one knew who the new Mong King was.
In just three days, more than ten thousand Mong people poured into Nam Ke commune and caused an unprecedented chaos. That many people crammed onto a few hills far from a water source was truly terrifying.
A series of meetings chaired by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the People's Committee of Dien Bien Province were held. Many solutions were discussed thoroughly. However, while the province had not yet decided on a solution, the ringleader spoke up and requested to meet directly with the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Mua A Son...
(To be continued)
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