Located entirely in the Cho Don Safety Area (ATK Cho Don), Nghia Ta Commune meets all conditions to be selected by the Party Central Committee as a base during the resistance war against French colonialism. Also, not far from the residence of Uncle Ho and Party General Secretary Truong Chinh, Su That (Truth) Newspaper (the forerunner of today’s Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper) was located and active in difficult days.
Returning to Khuoi Dam
91-year-old Ngon Van Vang still remembers the days when he and the young people in the village went to pick up Su That Newspaper's cadres to set up a printing house, accommodations and workplace in Khuoi Dam, Na Khan Village, in 1947.
At that time in the Khuoi Dam area, there was a small stream flowing through, leaning against the mountain and dense forest; movement is very difficult, so this area is very secret and safe. Like reliving the young days, Vang excitedly said: "That year, I was nearly 17 years old. I was thoroughly grasped by commune and village officials, so I understood the importance of Na Khan Village being chosen to welcome a central agency to be stationed. When the Su That Newspaper was put into operation, many officials and young people in the village were very happy and often came in to help. They also grew vegetables to supply to the Newspaper's staff".
According to the History of the Party Committee of Nghia Ta Commune (period 1948 - 2016), in 1946, implementing the call for the national resistance by the President Ho Chi Minh, the Party Central Committee and the Government chose the Viet Bac base (including Cho Don district) as the Resistance Capital. In order to ensure safety and secrecy, central agencies had in turn left Hanoi capital to live and work at the ATK. A number of central offices were stationed in Cho Don District, including Su That Newspaper.
According to local witnesses, around 1947, the Su That Newspaper agency evacuated to Nghia Ta Commune. The delegation had many people carrying a lot of bulky machinery, including a machine that took about 18 to 20 people to carry. Initially, the delegation stayed in local people's houses, then the local authorities and people found a place to help build shelters for workshop, house, and working house. At Khuoi Dam, the Su That Newspaper Agency was divided into three zones, including: The workshop area, the area for workers, and the area for leaders. The agency operated regularly, with charcoal as the fuel used to power the machinery.
During the time in Khuoi Dam, the Su That Newspaper printed and published many books and newspapers about Vietnamese people's resistance war against French colonialism. The Newspaper's articles were reports sent from the Front, theoretical articles contributing to improving the level of reasoning for cadres and soldiers to believe in the leadership of the Party and Government and enthusiastically emulate and kill the invaders, and, especially, the articles by Uncle Ho were published in the newspaper under the pseudonym X.Y.Z, A.G, L.T, Le Nhan.
The Su That Newspaper is the forerunner of Nhan Dan Newspaper, the first issue from December 5, 1945, as the communication agency of the Marxist Research Association in Indochina, but in essence Su That Newspaper was the Party's newspaper. The birth of the Su That Newspaper contributed significantly to the national liberation revolution, strengthened the great national unity bloc, fighting for the independence and freedom of the country, inspiring the people's confidence in the Party's leadership. On December 21, 1950, the last issue of the Su That Newspaper completed its historic role and gave way to the birth of the Nhan Dan Newspaper in 1951.
With Su That Newspaper (the forerunner of today’s Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper)’s stationing at Cho Don ATK during the resistance war against French colonialism, the People's Committee of Bac Kan Province ranked Khuoi Dam relic as a historical site at the provincial level in 2011.
In 2011, a memorial stele dedicated to Su That (Truth) Newspaper, the forerunner of today’s Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper, has been unveiled Khuoi Dam site in the northern province of Bac Kan by the Editorial Board of Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper.
According to Hoang Van Vu, Deputy Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Ta Commune, the relic is a “red address” for educating the young generations. The people of Nghia Ta Commune are always proud to have been the venue of central agencies’ stationing, including Su That Newspaper.
Confidence in Party’s leadership
Despite many difficulties, but following the revolutionary tradition, Nghia Ta Commune is now flourishing. In March, cars crowded to the commune to get bamboo shoots for consumption. Bamboo forests previously helped revolutionary-era cadres hide, and have now become forests that bringing economic efficiency.
According to calculations of the Cho Don District's agricultural sector, the communes in ATK area, including Nghia Ta Commune, earn about VND40 billion for each case of bamboo shoots. In the forests of Nghia Ta Commune the golden camellia stumps have proliferated and blossomed for a long time. This precious tree has now become an enrichment tree for local people.
The Tay ethnic woman Duong Khanh Ly, who is the Deputy Director of the Hoa Thinh Cooperative, shared that realising the economic value of the golden camellia tree, the local people have cultivated and concentrated this plant.
Up to now, the cooperative has planted more than 5,000 golden camellia trees across an area of six hectares, of which nearly 2,000 have harvested flowers. The time when the golden camellia flowers begin to bloom and are harvested from the tenth lunar month to second lunar month of the following year. The picker must choose the time when the flowers are about to bloom.
After purchasing, the cooperative will select, classify, and then steam for about five minutes. After steaming, the petals are separated, then put in the oven. Splitting the petals is a meticulous part of the process that requires the most time. Each petal is gently separated skilfully so as not to tear nor affect the pistil, and to ensure aesthetics. With the selling price of VND12 million per kilogramme, golden camellia tea has become the main tree to earn a profit and build Nghia Ta Commune into a new-style rural. Cooperative's products are recognised with OCOP product rated three-star and are sold to major cities.
In the first days of March, Nghia Ta Commune was officially recognised as meeting the standards to be declared as a "new-style rural" by the Provincial People's Committee. The commune has deployed many production models on a large scale, including: breeding buffalo, growing golden camellia tea, growing watermelon in the field, deploying the field model of VND 100 million per hectare, and planting ginger in a chain of price values associated with product consumption. As a result, the average income per capita of the commune reaches VND36 million per year. All 32 kilometres of communal roads, commune centres to district have been asphalted; over 82% of inter-village roads are hardened ; solidification of irrigation canals and ditches, ensuring irrigation for 100% of the area. At the same time, more than 98% of the population now has access to the national grid; rural infrastructure is increasingly perfect; and cultural identity is maintained.
The ancient revolutionary tradition has always been preserved and appreciated by the ethnic minorities in Nghia Ta Commune. Difficult common things are always unanimously resolved by the people. From 2015 up to now, the local people have donated more than 58,000 m2 of field, garden and forest land, materials, more than 1,000 labours and more than VND80 million in cash to build new rural roads.
Nghia Ta Commune has also taken the lead in protecting environmental protection with the model "mass mobilisation activities on joining hands to protect the environment". During each cleaning session, people were instructed to classify garbage, mobilised the construction of a reservoir for livestock wastewater. The commune's environmental protection is in order; the general cleaning is fixed on the 28th of every month with the participation of more than 500 people. The model has been recognised by the Party Committee of Cho Don District as a typical "mass mobilisation" model.
Renovation of Highway 3C connecting ATK Dinh Hoa (Thai Nguyen Province) to Cho Don, the road passing through Nghia Ta, has just been completed. With the new road, more visitors will be able to visit the relics of ATK Cho Don. Many people will come to Khuoi Dam relic to gain greater understanding of how the senior journalists "worked" in order to bring the voice of the Party and the Government to the people, paving the way for the birth of Nhan Dan Newspaper.
