Identifying the “Red Cloth Cross”
"Red Cloth Cross" or also known as "San Su Khe To", appeared in Bao Lam district around 1996 by some religious propagandists in the Mong ethnic minority area in Ha Giang province to Quang Lam, Thach Lam, Yen Tho, Nam Cao, Mong An communes of Bao Lam district, Cao Bang to propagate and attract illegal participants. By 1997, the key leaders had attracted some groups of people from Tong Dun, Lung Ria, Phieng Roong, Nam Tau, Sac Nga, Khau Noong hamlets of Thach Lam commune to believe. As of January 2023, in Bao Lam district, there were 96 households, 573 people of Mong ethnic minority following "Red Cloth Cross" in 12 hamlets of Thach Lam and Quang Lam communes.
According to Captain Nong Tuan Anh, Head of the Security Team of Bao Lam District Police, Cao Bang Province, the nature of the "Red Cloth Cross" has not been recognized by the State as a legal religion because it does not have a clear doctrine, canon law and organizational structure. The people's belief in the "Red Cloth Cross" also comes from propaganda cases from neighboring provinces, thereby influencing a part of the Mong ethnic group in the area. For households that believe in the "Red Cloth Cross", the most obvious manifestation is that their houses are decorated with a red cross symbol on a white cloth background, and every week people gather in front of the cross, that symbol.
With its spontaneous formation and development, the "Red Cloth Cross" is not a traditional custom of the Mong people. When practicing this illegal religion, people will pray to God for what they want. When a family member is sick, they will organize a prayer ceremony for the patient to recover soon. Due to limited understanding, many people who follow this strange religious phenomenon only stay at home to pray, no longer work hard as before, and stay away from the community, making their already difficult lives even poorer. This is a superstitious and heretical activity, going against the laws of nature and the good traditions of the Mong people.
Resolutely fight and completely eliminate illegal religions
During the peak of the struggle to completely eliminate the “Red Cloth Cross”, the people of the two communes of Quang Lam and Thach Lam were familiar with the image of the working group of the Commune Religious Affairs Steering Committee, with the core being the police force present in the hamlets. The roads were long, the terrain was rugged, the households lived separately, scattered, not concentrated, combined with the low level of education, poor and backward life, making the deployment of forces encounter many difficulties. However, the commune cadres and commune police officers still worked hard to stay in the hamlets with the spirit of 4 together with the people to propagate and mobilize the masses to understand the superstitious and heretical nature of the “Red Cloth Cross”, encouraging them to abandon this illegal form of religion and return to traditional customs.
“During the campaign, we carried out extensive propaganda work from concentrated campaigning to individual campaigning for each household, organized neighborhood meetings to grasp the aspirations of the masses and also deployed to each household to propagate and mobilize people to voluntarily remove the symbol of the “Red Cloth Cross” and voluntarily sign a commitment to give up following this illegal religion,” Captain Ha Duong Ai, Deputy Head of Quang Lam Commune Police, Bao Lam District shared.
Talking to reporters, Comrade Nong Ich Cau - Head of the District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee, Chairman of the District Fatherland Front Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Bao Lam District Religious Affairs Steering Committee added that in 2023, the work of propagating and mobilizing people to abandon the "Red Cloth Cross" has been included in the annual religious work program by the Bao Lam District Religious Affairs Steering Committee, and at the same time assigned the police force to develop a plan and assign specific tasks to relevant agencies, departments, and the authorities of Quang Lam and Thach Lam communes to implement, in which the police are the core and advisory force.
No one is left behind
Identifying religious work as the responsibility of the entire political system and the focus is on mass mobilization work, the coordination and active participation of the Party Committee, the government, and local departments, organizations, and functional forces are important factors for the propaganda and mobilization work for households in the two communes of Quang Lam and Thach Lam to abandon the "Red Cloth Cross" to achieve the current results. With the spirit of not leaving people behind, the commune authorities have continued to pay attention and focus on effectively implementing social security policies so that the Mong ethnic people can stabilize their lives and work with peace of mind, thereby contributing to maintaining political security and social order and safety at the grassroots level. Up to now, 100% of households have realized that believing in and practicing the "Red Cloth Cross" is illegal, voluntarily signed a commitment and abandoned related activities.
“My family and I learned about the Red Cloth Cross because some of our neighbors believed in and practiced this religion, so my family and I followed it. After being informed and explained by the local government, my family and I voluntarily signed a commitment to abandon the Red Cloth Cross and strictly comply with the policies and regulations of the Party, State and locality,” said Mr. Ly Van Hong, residing in Na Luong hamlet, Quang Lam commune, Bao Lam district.
Ms. Duong Thi Hoa, Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Thach Lam Commune, Bao Lam District, affirmed that currently, there are many policies of the Party and State deployed to mountainous areas, especially support policies on national target programs for hunger eradication and poverty reduction and programs for ethnic minority and mountainous areas. The Party Committee and local authorities have organized meetings to disseminate and evaluate... beneficiaries according to the policies, with priority given to households with limited awareness, in order to create conditions for people to develop the economy, gradually eliminate hunger and reduce poverty.
From the results achieved in completely eliminating the "Red Cloth Cross" in the area, in the coming time, the Security force of Bao Lam District Police will continue to advise and coordinate with relevant units to research and guide households that have abandoned the "Red Cloth Cross" to follow beliefs or religions recognized by the State; carry out the work of keeping abreast of the local situation; maintain determination and efforts to prevent hostile forces from taking advantage of the Mong people's religious and belief needs to complicate the security and order situation and negatively affect the great national unity bloc; accompany and help people stabilize their lives, focus on doing business and developing the economy, contributing to building an increasingly prosperous homeland.
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