Chapter 2 Chapter two

The petition team that appeared on the streets of Jinghong in November 1978 finally broke the peace and tranquility of the small border town. Just after nine o'clock in the morning on the 18th, thousands of educated youths of both sexes poured into the city from all directions.Although the local government had prepared in advance and deployed a large number of militiamen and military police to stand ready, the group of educated youths still poured into the urban area unstoppably, and marched along the road towards the state party committee and government resident. This is a special event with a rather accidental cause that occurred in the frontier in a specific period and under specific historical conditions.The educated youths who marched did not have radical slogans, generous speeches, or irrational violence.These once high-spirited young Red Guards from the great capital, the banks of the Huangpu River and the Land of Abundance, now hang down their once extremely proud heads scorched by the subtropical sun, and carry their classmates and sisters who unfortunately died on their shoulders, walking heavily. Slowly walking towards the unknown fate, to fight for the basic rights of life for the living and the dead.

At the same time, farms in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, and Lincang, Dehong, Honghe, Wenshan and other reclamation areas were all affected by the olive dam incident.In just a few days, the eight major farms in the Banna Reclamation Area all faced a serious situation where the educated youth's emotions were out of control.The educated youths from all the farms took action one after another, contacted each other, and connected secretly.Or rather, the long-suppressed emotions and desires of the educated youth are a pile of dangerous dry wood, which will automatically ignite a raging fire for various reasons without fanning the flames.

As a result, some educated youths on farms launched the "Ten Thousand Signature Campaign", expressly requesting to return to the city and submit a letter to Chairman Hua of the Party Central Committee; The educated youth went on strike, elected a leading body to coordinate actions, and drafted a draft charter for the action, and so on. In short, perhaps no one would have thought that a small spark, the unfortunate accidental death of a female educated youth, became the fuse that triggered this earth-shattering storm of educated youth returning to the city, and became the cause of hundreds of thousands of educated youths in Yunnan farms and even the whole country. The educated youth finally awakened and bravely resisted the first thunder of their own destiny.

At noon on the 18th, the representative of the petitioned educated youth put forward three demands to the state party committee: 1. Punish the doctor who caused the accident and investigate his legal responsibility. 2. Improve the medical and sanitary conditions of the farm to ensure that similar accidents will not occur in the future. 3. Hold a memorial service for the deceased, recognize the martyrs, and provide special care to the family members of the deceased. From today's perspective, the above three requirements must not be regarded as excessive, and even a little bit of talking about the matter and making a fuss out of a molehill.Because when the petitioners broke through the resistance from themselves and the society with unprecedented courage, and gathered in front of the highest local authority, their purpose of mobilizing them was to raise three rather superficial and insignificant timid demands. It is inevitable to be surprised and disappointed.

However, the request of the educated youth was not answered in time.For leaders, any demands made in the form of blackmail are offensive and therefore unreasonable and unacceptable.To put it another way, authority itself is an integral part of leadership. You can despise responsibility and even truth, but you must never despise authority. The situation is showing a trend of further expansion. On the 21st, the state party committee made the following statement after asking for instructions: 1. The doctor who caused the accident was dealt with seriously and held accountable. 2. The female educated youth enjoys the treatment of death on duty and agrees to hold a memorial service. 3. Further implement the educated youth policy, order the farm to improve the medical and health conditions as soon as possible, and coordinate to solve various problems in the life of the educated youth.etc.

The petition was a big success.