Possessing a deep understanding of local customs and languages, along with high prestige within the community, they have become a vital bridge to convey the guidelines and policies of the Party and the State to the people. Simultaneously, they disseminate and mobilize the masses not to believe or listen to bad elements, while refuting false arguments and evil doctrines, thereby contributing to maintaining solidarity and consolidating the “people’s heart posture” along the borderlands.

The extended arms of the Party

Without military ranks or official power, reputable individuals protect the Party’s ideological foundation using a special weapon, which is a voice that the people trust and obey. Therefore, whenever false, distorted, or subversive information against the Party and the State emerges, they are the first to step forward and explain the issues to the villagers in their native ethnic languages, drawing on daily life stories and the transformations of their own hamlets and villages.

In 2017, Hờ A Tủa from Huổi Thủng 2 village, Quảng Lâm commune, was enticed by bad elements to follow the “Giê sùa” evil doctrine. Believing in blind preachings, he gradually alienated himself from the community, lost faith in the local government, and even abandoned his ethnic group’s traditional customs. Upon learning of the situation, Hờ A Lừ, a reputable individual in the village, visited his home multiple times to mobilize him. Refraining from blame, Hờ A Lừ patiently conversed in the Mông language to analyze right and wrong. On some days, he stayed until late at night just to listen to Hờ A Tủa open his heart, offering gentle advice. This very sincerity helped Hờ A Tủa gradually realize his mistakes, prompting him to abandon the evil doctrine.

Hờ A Lừ stated that to make the villagers listen and believe, one must stay close to the people, understand them, and patiently explain right from wrong so they can see the care of the Party and the State. In his view, many people are enticed not necessarily out of opposition but due to a lack of understanding, difficult livelihoods, and exposure to toxic information. Therefore, effective mobilization requires persistent dissemination alongside helping residents stabilize their lives and develop their economies.

Cà Là Pá 1 village in Sín Thầu commune used to be a complex area regarding free migration, illegal religious dissemination, and distorted rhetoric. During the early days of the village’s establishment in 2015, despite state attention to stabilize livelihoods, some elements took advantage of the residents’ hardships and lack of understanding to conduct false dissemination, make demands, and entice them into evil doctrines. A case in point is Giàng Thị Cú, who was manipulated via social networks in 2022 to join the “Eastern Lightning” evil doctrine, leading her to neglect her work and isolate herself from the community.

Utilizing a voice trusted by the villagers, Hà Giống Chá, a reputable person in Cà Là Pá 1 village, visited her home multiple times to disseminate and analyze the consequences of the evil doctrine, eventually convincing Giàng Thị Cú to abandon it and return to a normal life. According to Hà Giống Chá, there were times in the past when toxic information frequently appeared in the village, distorting the guidelines and policies of the Party and the State and sowing seeds of doubt among the people. Facing that situation, he persistently went to every alley and knocked on every door to explain right from wrong, ensuring the villagers did not listen to false arguments.

The former Nậm Nhừ commune, primarily inhabited by the Mông ethnic minority, used to be a complex area for drugs and social order. However, thanks to the involvement of the entire political system, especially the role of reputable individuals in disseminating and mobilizing the people, the area consistently maintained its “drug-free” status for many years leading up to the merger on July 1, 2025. As a reputable figure in Nậm Nhừ 3 village, Thào A Dùng, born in 1957, has persistently visited every house for years to explain the harmful effects of drugs, urging the villagers not to listen to bad elements. According to Thào A Dùng, once the people clear their minds and understand right from wrong, they will voluntarily stay away from drugs and remind one another to do the same.

During the 2020 - 2022 period, several elements exploited the Covid-19 pandemic to disseminate against vaccination, claiming that merely believing in the “Bà cô Dợ” evil doctrine would prevent infection. These superstitious and false arguments not only caused panic among the populace but also hindered pandemic prevention and control efforts. Local authorities and reputable individuals visited every household to mobilize residents, explaining the benefits of vaccination and warning them against superstitious, distorted rhetoric. Thanks to persistent dissemination, many residents proactively sought vaccination and rejected the false information, even becoming active disseminators themselves.

The stories of Hờ A Lừ, Hà Giống Chá, and Thào A Dùng are just three of hundreds of snapshots demonstrating the role of reputable individuals in the highlands of Điện Biên in protecting the Party’s ideological foundation. Quietly and without pretense, they are daily becoming the extended arms of the Party, contributing to maintaining public trust and consolidating the national great solidarity bloc.

Repelling evil doctrines and distorted arguments

Once considered hotspots for evil doctrines and illegal dissemination activities, areas like the former Nậm Pồ, Mường Nhé, Mường Chà, and Điện Biên Đông districts are gradually returning to peace. This result has been achieved not only through the drastic involvement of party committees, authorities, and functional forces but also from the particularly crucial role played by reputable individuals.

In July 2018, the former Nậm Pồ district had 80 households with 451 people across Na Cô Sa, Vàng Đán, Nậm Nhừ, and Chà Cang communes following the “Giê Sùa” evil doctrine, alongside 2 households with 16 people following the “Bà cô Dợ” evil doctrine. Through synchronous solutions, especially leveraging the role of reputable individuals in dissemination and mobilization, Nậm Pồ successfully eradicated these evil doctrines from the area by November 2023.

According to Giàng Seo Dì, a reputable person in Huổi Dạo village, Nà Bủng commune, many households in the village were enticed and alienated from the community when the evil doctrines infiltrated. During the mobilization process, he and grassroots cadres persistently visited each home to carry out dissemination, with some conversations lasting late into the night, explaining matters in the local dialect to make it easy for the villagers to understand and believe. At the same time, they highlighted the care of the Party and the State, helping the community gradually stabilize their lives and develop their economies.

In the former Mường Nhé district, there were 528 people following evil doctrines from 2015 onwards. However, by 2024, 100% of those followers voluntarily abandoned them, signing commitments not to listen to bad elements, focusing instead on labor, production, and maintaining border security and order. Similarly, in the former Mường Chà district, the “Bà cô Dợ” evil doctrine infiltrated in 2018 with 3 households and 18 people in Co Đứa village, Na Sang commune. After years of persistent mobilization, the locality completely repelled the evil doctrine from the area by July 2023.

According to statistics from the provincial Border Guard Command, over the past decade from 2015 to 2025, reputable individuals have coordinated to mobilize 156 households with 933 people and 5 individuals to sign commitments abandoning evil doctrines and strange religions. They have also partnered in countering 10 cases involving 11 subjects disseminating the “Bà cô Dợ” and “Giê sùa” evil doctrines, while handling 6 cases and 8 subjects related to the dissemination of “Falun Gong.” Furthermore, reputable individuals provided more than 2,000 pieces of information, helping functional agencies detect, investigate, and prosecute 5 cases with 34 defendants related to illegal entry and exit, and exposed 11 subjects who went abroad to participate in training courses organized by exiled reactionary organizations.

A prime example is Case V818, which was successfully dismantled by coordinated forces in Mường Nhé district in March 2019. Through investigation, functional agencies discovered that reactionary subjects were connecting with an aiming plot to establish a so-called “Mông Democratic Republic,” leading toward armed riots and a coup to seize power in Mường Nhé before expanding into the Northwest region. With close coordination among forces and active support from reputable individuals, this plot was neutralized, resulting in the arrest of 15 ringleaders and the mobilization of 8 subjects to surrender.

These positive outcomes in protecting the Party’s ideological foundation highlight the uniquely important role of reputable individuals. Being close to the people, understanding them, and earning their trust, they have become a crucial force in disseminating and refuting false information, mobilizing citizens to reject evil doctrines, and thereby maintaining security and order while consolidating the “people’s heart posture.”

In the battle to protect the Party’s ideological foundation at the grassroots level, reputable individuals in the highlands of Điện Biên are quietly working as special soldiers. Through their closeness to the people, responsibility, and prestige, they contribute to building a solid people’s heart posture, preserving peace along the nation’s borderlands.

(to be continued)