from the plateau to beijing’s “people’s defender” bayika’s lovely journey to receive the award
2024-09-29
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true love flows through the years; tears rush through the brightest moments.
on september 26, an excited bayika kelidibek took his wife on their way to beijing to receive the award. they took a bus to kashgar to meet their granddaughter, who was in her third year of high school. they flew to urumqi together the next day, and then flew to beijing, the city they cherished.
it is not the first time for bayika to go to beijing to receive the award and express his voice in the attention of the whole country. however, his eyes were still moist when he said goodbye to the folks in taxkorgan tajik autonomous county on the border plateau.
these are tears of excitement, tears of pride, tears of joy, and tears of happiness.
on the evening of september 26, bayika kelidibek (right), who was on his way to beijing to receive the award, took a group photo with his escort elieziz shilawal when passing through kashgar. picture/provided by interviewee
"i just did what i was supposed to do."
during this period, bayika, who had led patrols on the uninhabited snowy plateau for nearly 40 years, sat down and chatted with countless guests.
since receiving the news that he won the national honorary title of "people's defender" on september 13, bayika has never been idle at home. at his home in tizinafu village, tizinafu township, taxkorgan tajik autonomous county, kashgar prefecture, grassroots cadres or border guards came to visit him every day. some relatives and friends came to see him off after learning that he was going to beijing to receive an award. friends and media reporters who interviewed him.
"i just did what a border citizen should do, but the party and the country have given me a lot of honors. now that they have given me such a high honor, how can i do better in the future?" when talking about the emotional part, bayi ka said with tears in his eyes to the guests who congratulated him. after embarking on the road to receive the award, he said the same thing when he met old friends and leaders in kashgar, urumqi, and beijing.
bayika's simple words deeply moved ali aizizi hilawal, deputy secretary of the party committee and head of tizinap township who accompanied him to beijing to receive the award. ali aizizi told reporters: "i admire uncle bayika very much. he has led patrols for nearly 40 years and has never changed his original intention. he has won high honors time and time again and remains honest."
the last time aili aiziz accompanied bayika to receive an award was in early march 2021, when the warmth turned cold. at that time, at the china central radio and television station's "model of the times" press conference, bayika received the "model of the times" medal on behalf of his son razini bayika, who died heroically to save a child from drowning two months ago. bayika, who looked sad and determined, said: "i am really sad to lose my beloved son. but if it happens again, i believe he will still save the child without hesitation. when i was a border guard, i also lazini bayka knew this story after saving a military doctor who fell into the glacier at the risk of his life. we are communists. when others need help, we must rush forward without hesitation. this is what i have taught him since he was a child. ”
in early march 2021, bayka kelidibek (first from right) went to beijing to receive the "model of the times" medal on behalf of her son razini bayka, who died heroically to save a child from drowning, and was with her relatives in tiananmen square. group photo. the figure of razini bayka on the left in the picture is spliced to "make up" for the family's regret of not having a family photo. the picture is reproduced by tianshan net-xinjiang daily reporter zhang zhili
at that moment, the host and the audience in front of the national television were in tears; at that moment, the heroic nature of three generations of the bayika family who protected the border left a deep impression in the hearts of the audience.
the years pass by, and the seasons flow by. this time, he still repeated the same sentence to the villagers who came to visit and see him off: "border protection is a matter of the country and the herdsmen. without national boundary markers, how can we have our cattle and sheep? mine dad, my son and i, and a lot of you, just did what we had to do."
"this is not my honor alone"
on the occasion of celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china, 72-year-old bayika was awarded the national honorary title of "guardian of the people". not only was he and his family extremely excited, but the entire snowy plateau of taxkorgan was filled with joy.
"only 15 people in the country have been awarded national medals and national honorary titles this time, and you are among them. this honor has a high 'gold content'!" those who congratulated said so.
"this is not an honor for me alone, but for the tens of thousands of cadres, masses and border guards who guard the borders of the motherland. this is due to everyone's contribution, as well as the contribution of my son razini." he had previously won the "national unity and progress of nationalities" award. "a model individual" and "a national model of patriotism and military support", said bayika, who has received many honors.
the cadres, masses, border officers and soldiers of taxkorgan tajik autonomous county, which lives at an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters and borders three countries, also feel the heavy weight of this honor. in the past few days, many people have been making various preparations for bayika to go to beijing to receive the award.
from when he was 20 years old, he took over the "baton" from his father who patrolled the border and passed it to his son razini when his head was full of white hair. in the past 40 years, he braved wind and snow, crossed daban, forded glaciers, and crossed rivers. bayika was in danger and fell ill from exhaustion.
medical staff came to baika kelidibek’s home for a physical examination. tianshan net - photo by xinjiang daily reporter zhang zhili
he is old and sick, and has lived on the snowy plateau for most of his life. will bayika feel uncomfortable in life when he travels far away? in the suitcase ali aizizi carried, there were taxkorgan naan and ingredients for making milk tea, as well as his cotton-padded clothes, suits and national costumes.
"uncle bayika said that the national honorary title of 'people's defender' is an honor for taxkorgan tajik autonomous county, the kashgar region, and the people of all ethnic groups in xinjiang. as an escort, i feel very honored to serve him well. he is our escort a glorious mission,” eli aizizi said.
bayika, on the other hand, was more energetic than when he was telling the story of protecting the border to groups of guests at home. after staying at the kashgar hotel on the evening of september 26 and the jingxi hotel on the evening of september 27, he solemnly put on the tajik costume specially customized for receiving the award. he said seriously: "in such a at this important moment, by receiving such a high honor, i represent more than just myself.”
“i can’t thank you enough”
going down the plateau, out of the tianshan mountains, over the gobi desert, and across the yellow river, the road under your feet is getting closer and closer to beijing. during the more than 4,000-kilometer journey from his remote hometown to the capital of his motherland, countless scenes emerged in bayika's mind.
before setting off, he imagined again and again how excited he would be when he saw general secretary xi jinping.
"i want to say 'thank you' to the general secretary, thank him for awarding me such a high honor, thank him for his concern for xinjiang, and thank him for making the lives of our border farmers and herdsmen better and better. if time permits, i would also like to express one of my wishes," bayika said.
this desire buried deep in bayika's heart was something the reporter heard from him when he visited taxkorgan for an interview. he said that on february 11, 2015, at the military-civilian spring festival tea party held in beijing, razini had a wish to invite general secretary xi jinping to inspect taxkorgan tajik autonomous county. now, he wants to continue to invite the general secretary to have the opportunity to see the greater changes in taxkorgan.
in the early morning of september 26, villagers bid farewell to bayika kelidibike (front center) who was about to go to beijing to receive the award. picture/provided by interviewee
"in the past, you could visit the county bazaar in a short time, but now you can't finish it in three days. in the past, herdsmen mostly went out on horses and yaks, but now they mostly drive or ride motorcycles..." some old border guards went to visit and were preparing to arrive. bayika in beijing, bayika chatted with them, detailing the great changes in the towns and villages of taxkorgan tajik autonomous county.
after setting off, his hometown was getting further and further away. bayika couldn't help but recall the lively scenes at home during this period: someone wanted to express his gratitude to general secretary xi jinping, just like when he saw off razini, a representative of the national people's congress. he thanked the party central committee for bringing his words to beijing; someone asked him if he would go to tiananmen this time and see the national flag being raised...
mirkamili lalibik, secretary of the party branch of tizinafu village, visited bayika several times to have a deep chat with bayika, but saw that bayika was very busy as he was always surrounded by guests, so he was unable to talk to bayika. say a lot of things from your heart. he told reporters that in the taxkorgan pastoral area, the party and the state have shown care and concern to every herdsman. the herdsmen said from the bottom of their hearts that the party and the state have cared for the border people from childhood to old age. the combination of good policies such as subsidies for border guards and subsidies for pastures has brought about earth-shaking changes in the living standards of herdsmen.
"the honor is given by the party and the people. i will definitely live up to the party and the country, and live up to the high expectations of the people in my hometown. i will bring the voices of the folks to beijing, and i will also bring the insights and gains from receiving the award back to my hometown. ” said bayika, who attended the rehearsal of the awards ceremony on september 28.
