Picture shows visitors talking at the land reform exhibition inside the National Museum of History, in Hanoi.

DPA /Hanoi

Staring at a photograph of a woman being the first executed during the 1946-57 reform campaign in northern Vietnam, a man tearfully recalled the day his father was killed.

“My father was shot to death exactly like this woman,” said Do Van Quang, 75, of Hai Duong province.

“It was 60 years ago, but looking at the picture, I recall clear images of when they executed my father in front of my eyes.” His reaction was one of a range expressed at the first exhibition of the land reform campaign at the National Museum of History. About 150 original photographs, documents and artefacts were on display, portraying the “smiles and tears” theme of the reform era.

The campaign in rural areas in northern Vietnam during 1946-57 was aimed at eradicating landlords and redistributing land to poor peasants.

Communist authorities seized 800,000 hectares of land and redistributed it to 2.2mn peasants.

Local officials were ordered to find the “landlords and bourgeoisie” in every commune, and classify them into three ranks: cruel, normal, or sympathetic to the government.

The landlords categorised as cruel were executed or jailed. The campaign was carried out in 3,314 communes.

More than 172,000 people were classified as landlords and bourgeoisie, of whom nearly 72% were eventually found innocent of cruelty.

At least 15,000 were executed, including many later found innocent, while thousands more were tortured and starved in prison. “It was a terrible campaign that led to execution of innocent people and spread paranoia among neighbors, who had treated each other well before,” 78-year-old Nguyen Thi Thanh said at the exhibit.

She recalled having witnessed three innocent farmers killed in rural Thai Binh province. She said people in her village were poor and did not own land, but local authorities forced neighbours and relatives to classify some among them as landlords.

“Painfully my mother, under pressure, had to classify her uncle as cruel landlord and witnessed his execution,” she said, in tears. “The land reform was a massacre of innocent, honest people.” “The land reform was a very seriously wrong policy,” said Nguyen Minh Thuyet, former deputy chairman of the National Assembly’s committee for culture, education, youth and children.

“The exhibition brings more sadness than happiness as it recalls a very heart-rending period.

“The government could have many ways to share wealth of the rich to the poor such as taxing the rich, not by seizing their landlord’s property and having them executed,” he added.

President Ho Chi Minh later admitted that the policy was mistaken, and apologised for the government’s wrongdoings. Communist Party chief Truong Chinh, who had led the land reform campaign, resigned.

“The exhibition has declined to highlight gains and achievements of the land reform, causing the unsatisfactory reaction from audiences, especially those who have memories of their relatives who were killed or suffered from the land reform,” prominent historian Duong Trung Quoc said.

“After he was vindicated, I intended to avenge my father who was unjustly accused, but later I understood that (the officials) were more sinned against than sinning,” Quang said.

His father and a close neighbour, also accused, “were only victims of the government’s wrong policy,” he said.

“What a pity, the exhibition is very simple, and does not fully reflect a full and comprehensive picture of the land reform.” “Land is still a problem at the moment, so I expect the government should look back at the mistakes made during the land reform and avoid mistakes in the future.”

 

 

 

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