President Sukarno awarded the Guerrilla Medal to
President Ho Chi Minh on March 7th, 1959.
During the visit, Indonesia’s first President Sukarno presented President Ho Chi Minh the honourable doctor certificate when he visited Bandung city, where the famous University of Padjadjaran is located.
Prof. Dr. Rina Indiastuti, Rector of the University of Padjadjaran, said that President Ho Chi Minh visited the university on March 2nd where he had been awarded with an honourable doctorate in law certificate. “It is the special honour of Indonesia in general and the university in particular to award the title for President Ho Chi Minh who struggled for Vietnam's independence and for leading the country to national territorial integrity”, he said.
There remain pictures during the visit of President Ho Chi Minh in the university’s traditional room with full notes of date, location and activities of President Ho Chi Minh here.
During the certificate awarding ceremony, President Ho Chi Minh's speech with Indonesian leaders, professors, intellectuals, scholars, youngsters and students, was warmly welcomed. “This honor is not only for me, but also for the entire Vietnamese intellectual community, for the Vietnamese people as well, as it expressed the close affection of Indonesian intellectuals and people towards Vietnamese people,” said President Ho Chi Minh. He also encouraged students and the young generation in Indonesia to devote their talent to serve the people and peace, and master sciences and knowledge.
Indonesia also presented President Ho Chi Minh the Guerrilla Medal during this historic visit. Expressing his honour to present the medal to the great Vietnamese President, Indonesian President Sukarno stressed that the medal showed Indonesia’s admiration for President Ho Chi Minh. “You are an excellent guerrilla soldier and an excellent guerrilla leader who brought independence for Vietnam,” said the Indonesian President, adding that he hoped President Ho Chi Minh would keep the medal as evidence of the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia and between the two peoples.
Responding to President Sukarno, President Ho Chi Minh said that the medal was an expression of the strong solidarity between Vietnam and Indonesia, the two friends fought successfully in the joint struggle against colonialism for national independence and freedom.
According to President Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and Indonesia could be proud of raising the flag of armed struggle in Southeast Asia and defeated the colonists thanks to the involvement of the whole people, and the clever tactics of guerrilla struggle.
During his 10-day visit to Indonesia, Uncle Ho went through many localities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Bali and even Surabaya, President Sukarno's hometown. Wherever he went, his name was praised in the sentence "Hidup paman Ho, Vietnam-Indonesia", meaning "Long live Uncle Ho, Vietnam-Indonesia".
The noble titles that Indonesia awarded President Ho Chi Minh show its respect and recognition of the great Vietnamese leader’s contributions to the national liberation, for solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and Indonesia, and for world peace./.
Compiled by BTA