Exposing the nature of the 'organization'

The so-called "Duong Van Minh religion" is an illegal organization disguised as a religion for personal gain, dividing national unity, and causing a complicated situation regarding security and order in the Mong ethnic minority region.

Editor's note: The illegal organization Duong Van Minh, a "religious-clad" organization, has existed for more than 34 years in the Mong ethnic minority areas in some areas of Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen and Lao Cai provinces, causing many consequences for security, order and the cultural and spiritual life of the people. And for all those years, the tireless footsteps of the police force have been persistent, resourceful and creative in bringing more than 8,000 Mong people who were deluded and deceived by this organization, who took actions against the government and gave up their sacred civil rights, back to reality, taking care of business, developing the economy, building a prosperous and happy life in the fields and villages.

The illegal organization Duong Van Minh (the “organization”) founded by Duong Van Minh (1961-2021) is an organization that uses the guise of beliefs and religions to gather forces, seek connections, and seek support from hostile and reactionary forces to form and publicize an opposition political organization, establish a “Mong State”, and carry out the intention of “declaring king”, “secession, and autonomy”.

The activities of the "organization" go against the guidelines, policies, laws of the Party, State and the traditions of the Mong ethnic group.

The delegation of the Department of Internal Security worked with local authorities and Party committees on the violations of the "Duong Van Minh illegal organization". (Source: cand.com.vn)

Hiding behind beliefs and religions

At the end of 1989, a part of the Mong ethnic group (mainly the White Mong branch) in some northern provinces such as Ha Giang , Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen believed and followed the so-called "Duong Van Minh belief", "Duong Van Minh religion".

In fact, the so-called "Duong Van Minh religion" is an illegal organization disguised as a religion, established by Duong Van Minh and other leaders and key members to make personal gains, disrupt the lives of a part of the Mong ethnic group, divide the national solidarity bloc, and cause a complicated situation regarding security and order in the Mong ethnic group area.

This is not a religious or belief organization because it has no doctrine or canon law; no charter, regulations, principles, or guidelines for religious practice; no clergy or officials have been formed; no facilities for worship, practice, or training of religious workers; and no inheritance of the fine traditions of the Mong ethnic group in our country.

From its founding until its complete elimination in 2023, the nature of this organization can be recognized through some basic characteristics such as:

The so-called “doctrines” and “canon laws” that Duong Van Minh actively propagated were copied and borrowed from the doctrines and laws of Protestantism. However, due to limited awareness, the orthodox doctrines and laws of Protestantism that Duong Van Minh heard were almost “in one ear and out the other” and were very distorted.

This organization propagated absurd arguments such as: no work is enough to eat, no study is enough to know how to read and write, people will never age, sickness will heal itself, money will automatically fall from the sky, just need to take the dead to the "funeral home", pray for 24 hours, the dead will be able to come back to life... to propagate to deceive the people.

With the plot to establish a new religion, the subject has modified and transformed these doctrines and laws into his own. The so-called convention of "Organizing the new life of the Mong people" of this organization is based on the provisions in implementing the new cultural life proposed by the local Party Committee and government...

This has caused misunderstanding among the people, who worship Duong Van Minh as the "religious leader" of the Mong people; they believe that Duong Van Minh's words are doctrines and canon laws and consider "Duong Van Minh religion" as a new type of belief to replace the traditional belief of the Mong people.

Regarding the organization of worship : Duong Van Minh guided everyone to remove the ancestral altar, stop worshiping polytheists according to the customs and practices of the Mong ethnic group in the past; learn the "Vang Chu" prayers, use tobacco instead of burning incense. Duong Van Minh also organized a soul-calling ceremony, praying for believers to be free from illness, when they died, it was organized according to the collective prayer ritual at the "funeral home", using cicadas, toads, swallows, crosses... to perform the ceremony very simply, without having to slaughter buffaloes or cows to make offerings as in the old customs and practices, reducing the economic burden.

A part of the people who believe in Duong Van Minh have abandoned their traditional customs and practices, abandoned their ancestral altars, and when they are sick, they do not go to the hospital but ask Duong Van Minh to perform rituals to call the spirit, to pray for the soul...

Regarding the organizational system: The system of the "organization" established by Duong Van Minh was built from top to bottom, in which there was a division of leaders, core members, active in general charge in the provinces, in charge of each province down to each village, hamlet, there were members in charge of the elderly, women's groups, youth groups, children's groups... to separate from society, gradually forming a separate community to challenge the government. Duong Van Minh considered himself the "Cult Leader", the "General Manager".

In general, the “organization” has an unclear structure and organization, the leaders, key members, and active members are often brothers and close associates of Duong Van Minh. However, the subjects operate under unified and close direction.

Through the system of this organization, Duong Van Minh and a number of key, active cadres propagated, attracted, and controlled a part of the Mong ethnic group, gathered and developed forces, and gradually attracted those who believed and followed the "organization" to participate in secession and autonomy activities.

Police of Yen Lam commune, Ham Yen district, Tuyen Quang province and their teammates went to people's houses to persuade them not to believe in the illegal organization Duong Van Minh. (Source: congan.sonla.gov.vn)

Deceiving compatriots for personal gain, spreading the idea of ​​"secession and autonomy"

The purpose of the "organization's" activities is mainly to serve the personal interests of Duong Van Minh and his henchmen and key members (mainly his relatives) to gain economic benefits through activities such as: paying funds, donating, and worshiping.

With the propaganda arguments of Duong Van Minh and his accomplices saying: "In the year 2000, the earth will explode, all humans will die, whoever believes in Duong Van Minh will be welcomed by Jesus to heaven to live happily, the Mong people will have their own homeland, they will have food without working, the dead will be resurrected, the elderly will be rejuvenated, the sick will be cured, there will be abundant wealth, just take food and drink without having to do anything."

Some Mong people were gullible, selling all their rice, corn, buffaloes and cows to pay Duong Van Minh under the name of donating to the so-called “Golden Fund” to buy offerings for worship. However, in reality, the money was actively used by Duong Van Minh and other leaders and key members for personal purposes such as buying land, houses, medical treatment, buying buffaloes, cows, televisions, bicycles, radios, etc.

In addition to material benefits, the main object is to promote prestige, consider themselves the "leader" of the Mong ethnic group, and wish to gather Mong people to believe in them under the guise and rhetoric of "reforming the lifestyle and customs of the Mong people".

The "organization's" method of operation is often clandestine, therefore, they frequently change their locations of operation to avoid detection and handling by the authorities. They take advantage of loopholes in the law and the management of local authorities to propagate and develop the organization; take advantage of the limited level of awareness, living conditions, and health care of the Mong people to lure, deceive, control, and entice.

The activities of the organization, established by Duong Van Minh and a number of key members, actively aimed to establish a separate "organization" for the Mong people to follow. This is the activity of an organization hiding under the guise of beliefs and religions, contrary to the Party's and State's guidelines and policies and the provisions of the law; contrary to the customs and traditions of the Mong people, anti-culture, anti-science (advising sick people not to take medicine and just pray to be cured...), affecting the economic, cultural and social development process in many localities for a long time.

To direct the organization's activities, the subjects often pay attention to probing the reaction of local authorities, the level of opposition from low to high: demanding that local authorities recognize "Duong Van Minh's belief", organizing birthday parties, organizing New Year's art performances to building a "funeral house" to file complaints to all levels... Duong Van Minh and a number of leading and key subjects also connect, contact and provide information to individuals and organizations against the country and abroad to distort "democracy" and "human rights" in Vietnam; send people to participate in training courses of terrorist organizations "Board for Rescue of People Crossing the Sea - BPSOS" and terrorist "Viet Tan".

Organizations and individuals at home and abroad have taken advantage of these subjects by providing guidance and direction via the Internet (email, Facebook, Skype, Zalo...), providing legal advice, ways to oppose the government, writing petitions; arranging and registering for online training courses on reporting skills, journalism training, ways to oppose... for civil society activists in Vietnam.

Through the organization of implementation of this convention, the subjects attracted, gathered forces, strengthened the belief of the Mong ethnic people to believe, formed an organization, the core force proposed and carried out the organization's opposition activities, and moved towards establishing a separate organization of the Mong people with Duong Van Minh as the head.

They operate under binding regulations, regularly organize dance and singing lessons every Sunday at the homes of a number of key, active members (the dance and singing lessons all have content praising Duong Van Minh, encouraging people to believe in the "path" they have chosen), conduct meetings, organize birthdays, and "common Tet" according to the conventions set by Duong Van Minh.

Notably, before the election of deputies to the 13th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2011-2016 term, a number of key members of the "organization" in the provinces of Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, and Bac Kan discussed and agreed to simultaneously rebuild the "funeral home", send petitions and complaints close to the election day; create reasons to attract and incite people to boycott, not go to the polls, and write petitions demanding that the government recognize the "Duong Van Minh religion".

Unlike traditional religions, the "organization" worshiped the leader, deified the leader, "religion leader" Duong Van Minh (who is present every day beside the followers with full secular humanity like everyone else), they believed that Duong Van Minh is Jesus in flesh and blood to guide the masses to believe. With traditional religions, the object of worship is always a saint, transcendent, transcendent, promoting the effect of good, thereby supporting people's lives in terms of ideology.

(to be continued)

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/bai-1-vach-tran-ban-chat-cua-to-chuc-308018.html