The Samlaut Rebellion Déjà vu

Fed-up villagers in Kampong Speu fight back against the cops who came to evict them from their land

06/24/11
Op-Ed by Justin C. Sok

Version revised on 6/26/11

During the 60's, there was a popular political slogan, "Tun Saong Ko Prey, Ah Touch C Tam Touch, Ah Tom C Tam Tom, C Kbae Choeung Phnom, Peuk Tiek Doang Ou."* There was widening gap between the urban and the rural people. Many villagers and farmers distrust the wealthy city people and government officials, whom they see as corrupt and often outright hostile toward them and for mistreating the underprivileged and the destitute. The villagers and farmers, for generations, had always been poverty-stricken. The Royal government has not only turned their cheek, but has also abused their power and disenfranchised these people's constitutional rights. If the government officials were to espy any gesture of anger displayed by these people, it was immediately suppressed and frowned upon. The poor peasants were growing increasingly disheartened towards these wealthy city people and corrupt government officials, but it was all internalized.

The Cambodia's leftist, Hou Yuon, wrote, "The tree grows in the rural areas, but the fruit goes to the towns." The villagers and farmers not only got their necks squeezed like a tube of tooth paste by the government officials for taxes, bought their produce at deflated prices, but the percentage of their produce was also illegally confiscated and went to these corrupt officials. Their irresistible of hatred and accumulated discontent towards the government had equated the level of volcanic eruption. In early 1967, an antigovernment rebellion, led by the Cambodian leftists, Hou Yuon, Hu Nim, and the ill-famed, Khieu Samphan, and the poor peasants erupted in Samlaut, Battambang. Khmer historian, Hin Sithan, has cited the testimony of a former villager who was a witness, painted a vivid picture of the uprising event in April 1967 at Samlaut, Battambang, "...they were furious with provincial officials who, allied with local capitalists, had robbed the local people of their land." The insurrection in Samlaut was initially amplified by a growing frustration demonstrated by the people against the Royal government, and eventually spreading ubiquitously and became inferno, causing civil war in many parts of the country. The Khmer Rouge and the Viet Cong (North Vietnamese), Khmer's archenemy, who had already violated Cambodia's sovereignty and used Cambodia as their sanctuary, took the opportunity to exploit this acrimonious relationship. Khmer Slab!

When the Democratic Kampuchea, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan took control of the country in April 1975, their immediate policy was to evacuate the people from their villages, cities, towns, and provinces that they were living in and forced them to settle in different locations around the country. The Khmer Rouge executed the educators, soldiers, government officials, teachers, and the wealthy people. They abolished monetary and market systems, and destroyed and banned all the usage of machinery and technologies. They shut down educational, hospital, and religion institutions. Family members were separated from one another and sent off to live in different villages or communes. The Khmer Rouge implemented a policy called a "red wedding" (inspired by the documentary film, Red Wedding), in which spouses were separated from one another and single adults were forced into marrying to the persons that they had never known before. The Khmer Rouge implemented this communal system, where everyone was to be treated socially equal and forced to do hard labor and with a bowl of rice gruel to eat. After nearly four years under the Democratic Kampuchea, almost 2 millions Khmer had perished. Khmer Slab!

In January 1979, Socialist Vietnam invaded Cambodia. After the Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge, they were trying to justify their invasion and occupation by memorializing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. The Socialist Vietnam seized the opportunity to collaborate and installed a puppet government, the Cambodia's People Party. Under this ruling party, the political slogans that have been popular were, "Bong Tom Bonghath Pa-oun Touch Ouy Jes Rok C"** and "Tiek Teh."*** In past elections, the Cambodian People's Party had won their elections by strategizing their political campaign using a double edge sword. The CPP had been holding the people hostage and had forced the people to vote for them. With the "order" made from Bong Tom, the subordinates paid lip service to the people. Their political message to the people was that if the people would like to have roads and water canals and irrigation systems, schools, temples, and hospitals built, and electricity in their villages, towns, cities, provinces, they must vote for the CPP. On the other hand, those individuals, who had money, bought their positions in the government posts. The only requirement to keep their post was their ability to pay Bong Tom. These CPP officials felt no shame to be a wolf wearing the sheep's skin. It did not make any difference to them, if they had to lie-in-wait by the shoulder of the roads on every block to pull the travelers over, detaining the passengers from boarding a plane or leaving the airport because of the deceptive reasons, or trudging and snaking their way through the crowed market places to harass the merchants and vendors, as long as there was a window of opportunity for them to extort bribes. In addition, during the political campaign trails, the CPP officials had also distributed bags of salt, sugar, msg, bottles of soy sauce, used clothes, offered to buy votes, and so on. On the other edge of the sword, the CPP would threaten to jail and/or cut off of government appropriations if they had found out that the people that were living in a village, town, and city, did not support their party. The CPP had also taken this opportunity to carry out "political assassinations" on the opposition party members. Khmer Slab!

After the CPP celebrated their victories, it was their ritual to expect gratitude of the people to whom they have been entrusted to fulfill their promises made during their campaigns. This is where the rubber meets the rut and quagmire of the meandering road. The CPP unleashed their men, who have appeared to be well-fed and dressed in pristine military uniforms and with new equipment that was obtained as the result of the "diplomatic ties" from a country, which has been regarded around the world as the "birth place of democracy." These armed men are better equipped and prepared than our Khmer troops fighting against the Siamese bandits at the Preah Vihear border. They have shields, helmets, batons, boots, and guns. Unfortunately, these armed men have attacked innocent Khmer people, instead. This is where their batons strike the grandmothers and monks' heads. This is where their military boots stomped on innocent people's scrawny and saggy flesh. These men razed the people's houses, villages, and towns. They brought in their bulldozers, tractors, and with their oversized water cannons, they have submerged whole towns and villages with water, mud, and sand. Khmer Slab!

The recent uprising by these poor peasants against the Hun Sen government at the Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Ratanakiri, and Kratie provinces was the deja vu of the Samlaut rebellion of April 1967. In past elections, the people had cast their votes, hoping that these individual candidates, whom they had elected to office, would roll up their sleeves and carry out their public duties as mandated by law. It is crystal clear that the people now understand the harsh reality of the Hun Sen government. They have been deceived, cheated, and abused by the CPP officials. These officials were not there to represent them, but to benefit themselves and their families. These officials had intentionally misrepresented themselves and failed to either acknowledge or rectify social issues encountered by the people. None of the CPP Members of Parliament had come forth, in public, to offer any explanation about the issues of illegal eviction, land grabbing, land concessions, and other immediate social problems. And despite several attempted made by the SRP Members of Parliament to have a debate on a resolution at the Parliament floor how to handle these issues, the CPP MPs had refused to acknowledge and turned down the debate, which are sensitive to the people and nation at heart. All these CPP Members of Parliament excelled in doing were to raise their hands on the Parliament floor, agree to, even with a bogus legislation proposed by Bong Tom. The people felt hurt and betrayed. They galvanized themselves en mass to protest against the land grabbers and CPP. They had stood up and were willing to sacrifice their lives to defend their ancestral land. Yeah, bravo!

The people are the heart and soul of a nation. They may not have education but they have powerful weapon. Their weapon is their voices. With political cautionary advice, the people should direct their frustration and anger toward the CPP by voting them out of office. With the senatorial elections are coming up, the people should give serious contemplation of having someone new in a driver's seat and put their current government in the passenger seat. Khmer Live!

Thank you.

Justin C. Sok

06/24/11

*A herd of wild oxen grazing the meadow grass. They graze accordingly - the smaller ones graze less and the bigger ones graze more. They graze in the valley and drink water at the river. (Social orders; classism)

**Big brothers train the younger ones how to make money. (corruption and nepotism)

***Tea water (bribery)