Hail and Commemorate the Centenary of Great October Socialist
Revolution!
Lead the New Democratic Revolution in India to Victory!
(This article published in the 'CLASSSTRUGGLE' monthly Organ of CPI(ML) CC.
November 7, 2017 marks the completion of 100 years of the victorious
Great Socialist Revolution in Russia. This revolution had exploded
many prophesies, theories and beliefs of the bourgeois. It brought
earth shaking changes and advances in the world as well as human
life. On the historic eve of the Centenary of this Great Revolution,
it is, therefore, quite natural for the working class, oppressed
nations and people in the world to recollect this Revolution and take
inspiration from it. Our Party CPI (ML) - hails and commemorates the
Hundredth year of this Great Revolution and rededicates itself to the
ideology of Marxism, politics and road this revolution symbolizes.
The revolution in Russia had passed through the democratic and
Socialist stages without any interruption. At the outset, some in
Russia argued that the proletariat must not attempt to lead the
democratic revolution on the plea that it was the job of bourgeoisie.
But Lenin did not agree with this. He asserted that the bourgeois was
incapable of being consistently democratic and, therefore, the
proletariat must lead the revolution as it alone can be consistent
and thorough going. It is not only because the proletariat is a most
advanced and revolutionary class, but also because it is clear that
“more complete, determined and consistent the bourgeois revolution,
the more assured the proletariat’s struggle will be against the
bourgeoisie and for socialism.” Some also argued that a Socialist
Revolution in a backward country like Russia was premature,
adventurous and there fore futile. Lenin agreed that Russia was a
peasant country, “one of the most backward of European Countries.”
But at the same time, he pointed out that “not its special
qualities, but rather the special conjuncture of historical
circumstances that for a certain, perhaps very short time has made
the proletariat of Russia the vanguard of the revolutionary
proletariat of the whole world.” The Russian Proletariat led by
Lenin dared to perform this historic revolutionary role.
Paris Commune
The French Proletariat had overthrown [March 18, 1871] the bourgeois
from power in a massive revolutionary uprising and establi-shed the
Paris Commune— a Proletarian State. Marx had hailed this as “
Storming the Heaven “ This revolution had blasted the theories or
myths spread by the bourgeoisie that the working class can never
dream of coming to power. The Paris Commune had shown what
fundamental change a proletarian rule can bring in the lives of
people. However, the Paris Commune fell in a short time. From this,
the bourgeoisie, again, had revived the talk that the Proletariat can
never dream of again leading a victorious revolution. But this
revolution had taught the world proletariat a fundamental lesson .
Marx and Engels said “ One thing especially proved by the Commune,
viz.,the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made State
machinery and wield it for its own purposes...” It only meant that
the proletariat must be more firm and more thorough-going in its
revolutionary action. This became a principal guide line for the
world proletariat to lead the revolutions.
Dress Rehearsal for October Revolution
The 1905 Revolution in Russia faced a defeat. But, Lenin hailed it as
a revolution of great revolutionary significance. This revolution
taught the proletariat that “no ‘sympathy’ for the workers on
the part of the educated people, no struggle of lone terrorists,
however heroic, could do anything to undermine the tsarist autocracy
and the omnipotence of the capitalists. This could be achieved only
by the struggle of the workers themselves, only by the combined
struggle of the millions ...” Lenin also said that the 1905
revolution had “deeply ploughed the soil, uprooted the age-old
prejudices, awakened millions of workers, tens of millions of
peasants to political life and political struggle and revealed to
each other – and to the world-all classes (all the principal
parties) of Russian society in their true character and in the true
alignment of their interests, their forces, their modes of action,
and their immediate and ultimate aims.” Lenin had emphatically
declared: “Without the ‘dress rehearsal’ of 1905, the victory
of October Revolution would have been impossible.”
The October Socialist Revolution in Russia came forty six years after
the Paris Commune. This time, the idea and practice of revolution and
their achievements had touched new heights. This revolution became
victorious under different historical and concrete international and
internal conditions. Lenin was at the helm of it. He applied Marxism
and the experiences of 1871 Paris Commune and 1905 Revolution to the
concrete conditions and practice of Russian revolution and steered
the Russian revolution.
Diverse Movements Merged into One Common Revolu-tionary Torrent
In 1900s, Russia was under the most oppressive and autocratic tsarist
rule. There existed not even a semblance of bourgeois democracy. The
ideas as well as activities of the parties, organi- zationsand people
opposed to tsarism were restricted, prohibited and penalized by the
State as well as the repressive machinery. At one time and under the
pressure of democratic movement, the tsarist regime had floated a
toothless Duma and held elections in Russia only to throw it soon
into the dust bin. The bourgeois had proved itself too weak,
inconsistent and even farcical in its fight for Bourgeois
democracy.The Russian democratic revolution had emphatically and
repeatedly proved the correctness of Lenin’s warning that the
“bourgeois betrays its own self, that the bourgeois betrays the
cause of liberty. “ Therefore, the proletariat had taken upon
itself the task of leading the Democratic Revolution in Russia. The
proletariat had to work in extremely illegal and repressive
conditions. At the same time, it made use of whatever and whenever
some legal opportunities were available. The semi-feudal land
relations, exploitation and oppression continued to rein the vast
rural Russia. They were in the service and under the protection of
tsarist autocracy. The massive peasant uprisings which had erupted in
the early 19th Century had seriously shaken the feudal oppression.
But they could not bring any fundamental changes in rural Russia.
Towards the end of 19th Century, the petty bourgeoisie
revolutionaries, Narodniks, had raised the banner of revolution
against the tsarist autocracy. But they miserably failed in their
goal as they believed in and practiced individual heroism and
individual terrorism as a method of fighting tsarism. They had
refused to organize and move the millions of peasant masses into
revolutionary action. The bourgeois, on its part, sought to retain
its influence on the peasants by sowing illusions in them as well as
in the tsarist autocracy with empty promises. This situation had
necessitated an advanced class like the proletariat to assume the
leadership of the struggle for Democracy. Lenin had taught that the
working class must organize and move the millions of peasants into
the agrarian revolution to break the fetters of feudalism and tsarist
autocracy. For this, the working class needed to free the toiling
peasants from the influence of bourgeoisie and forge a firm alliance
of workers and peasants under the leadership of working class and
thus lead the democratic revolution decisively and victoriously and
go over to Socialist Revolution.
The tsarist Russia was a prison house of nationalities. Numerous
non-Russian nationalities here were totally devoid of any rights.
They were subjected to discrimination, insult, humiliation of every
kind. The tsarist govt. had deliberately fanned the national discard,
engineered divisions, clashes and massacres between the people of
various nationalities. This policy of national oppression stood as a
serious impediment in the way of uniting the people of various
nationalities in revolution. Therefore, Lenin had formulated a policy
on the national question to oppose the national oppression and ensure
equality, mutual confidence and all round development of all
nationalities and forge unity among all the revolutionary classes and
forces in revolution under the leadership of working class.
Party
Lenin had tirelessly worked to build the party of proletariat which
can lead the Democratic and Socialist Revolutions to victory. He
taught that Marxism is not a dogma, or an ornament or a material just
for an intellectual and academic exercise, but a guide to action. He
said that the Party must “imbue the masses of the proletariat with
the ideas of Socialism and political consciousness, and to organize a
revolutionary party inseparably connected with the spontaneous
working class movement.” He said that “a fusion of Socialism with
the working class movement” alone can create a “durable basis for
both.” Lenin said, facilitating “the political development and
the political organization of the working class is “our principal
and fundamental task.” “Those who push this task into the
background, who refuse to subordinate to it all the special tasks and
particular methods of struggle, are following a false path and
causing serious harm to the movement”. He waged an unrelenting,
uncompromising and organized struggle in the sphere of ideology,
politics, organization and practice of class struggle and
revolutionary movement against all the petty bourgeois revolutionary
ideas, deviations, trends and departures like economism, individual
terrorism, anarchism and liquidationism which had raised their heads
in different forms, in different periods and created countless
hurdles and difficulties in the path of revolutionary move-ment. They
carried their specific names like Menshevism,
Socialist-Revolutionaries and Left Communists in Russia. Lenin viewed
the right as well as left trends in the Communist Movement as wrong
and harmful trends and two sides of the same coin. He fought against
them with equal vehemence and thoroughness and to the end. In this
struggle, the Bolsheviks in Russia had encoun-tered a peculiar
situation. Once a particular wrong trend was inflicted a devastating
blow, it sought to survive by changing itself into another form. At
times, various wrong trends, which outwardly appeared to be opposing
each other, made a common cause against the Marxist trend. Some
die-hard sections of the wrong trends even did not hesitate or feel
shy of turning themselves into traitors of the Party and revolution.
Lenin and the Bolsheviks led by him had to wage a most difficult,
complicated and bitter struggle to defend Marxism and the cause of
revolution. Lenin had witnessed the bourgeois ideologues waging wild
attacks on Marxism when it was struggling to take a foothold in
Russia. He saw some of today’s staunch advocates and defenders of
Marxism turning into its staunchest opponents. He also saw some of
the yesterday’s opponents or critics of Marxism, one fine
morning, taking the incarnation of ‘ staunch defenders of Marxism ‘
when Marxism was found in ascendancy, only with an ulterior intention
of wrecking the ship of Marxism from within. Lenin had staunchly
upheld Marxism as the most scientifically, advanced and revolutionary
ideology and guided the Communist and Revolutionary Movements in
Russia and the world in the light of this ideology.
Bolshevism in
Russia, as Lenin pointed out, “took shape, developed and became
steeled in the long years of struggle against petty bourgeois
revolutionism, which smacks of anarchism”. Bolshevism began as a
Marxist trend and a small force in the Russian Socialist
Revolutionary Movement and had grown into a full -fledged party of
the proletariat and a gigantic force capable of triumphantly leading
millions of workers, peasants, nationalities and other toiling people
in revolution.
The Russian proletariat, led by Lenin swam through a long period of
reaction, all difficulties, impedi-ments and adverse conditions with
marvelous strength of endurance, revolutionary convictions and
determination before bringing a decisive upswing in the revolutionary
movement. Again, on the eve of victory of Democratic Revolution in
February 1917, while the proletariat was waging the struggle to
overthrow the tsarist autocratic rule, the Mensheviks and Socialist
Revolutionaries were busy in stealing the fruits of this struggle.
They sought to grab most of the Soviets that had emerged as part of
revolution and reduce the aim of revolution into a bourgeois
revolution. Lenin and the Bolshevik Party had to, again, make a most
patient, strenuous and unrelenting struggle to foil these attempts
and turn the situation in favour of Socialist Revolution.
First
Imperialist War and Russian Revolution
Lenin said that the October revolution broke out “when
unprecedented disasters involving the destruction of millions of
human beings had overtaken most of the imperialist Countries, when
the unprecedented calamities attending the war had exhausted the
nations, when in the fourth year of the war the belligerent Countries
had reached an impasse, a parting of the ways”; “neither of the
two gigantic groups, of plunderers was in a position immediately
either to hurl itself at the other, or, to unite with the other
against us.” ; “the engine that was supposed to bear on us with
the force of a railway train bearing down on a wheelbarrow and
smashing it into splinters, was temporarily stalled – the engine
was stalled because the two groups of predators had clashed.” [It
was the context of First World War of 1914-18 ] This situation had
created an advantageous situation for the Russian revolution and the
Proletariat had made use of it fully and successfully.
At the time, the tsarist rulers in Russia were in collusion with one
bloc of belligerent imperialist powers (UK, France and US, and
others) against another bloc of belligerent imperialist powers who
were locked in a ferocious war for a re-division of the world. The
tsarist rulers wanted to crush the revolution in Russia and expand
their rule to new areas with the help of this imperialist war. The
Communist International and Lenin had adopted the political position
that the working class of the imperialist Countries as well as that
of Russia must oppose this war as an imperialist and predatory war on
both sides and strive to turn this war into a Civil War to overthrow
the ruling classes from power in their own Countries. Lenin and the
Bolshevik Party had called upon the Russian people to fight for peace
at all costs. The Russian proletariat used this slogan to transform
the pain, exhaustion, starvation, death, despair and anger which had
overtaken the lives of the working class, peasants, oppressed
nationalities and other toiling people owing to the disastrous war
into irrepressible and torrential waves of revolution to end war,
overthrow the tsarist State and win the Socialist Revolution. This
revolutionary policy alone had placed the Russian proletariat and
Russian people in a better position to utilize the enemy’s
situation in the interests of culminating the Revolution in victory.
Thus, as the History of the CPSU (B) has correctly summed up : “Only
a party like the Bolshevik Party, courageous enough to lead the
people in a decisive attack, cautious enough to steer clear all the
submerged rocks in its path to the goal, could so skillfully merge
into one common revolutionary torrent such diverse revolutionary
movements as the general democratic movement for the seizure of
landed estates, the movement of oppressed nationalities for national
liberation and national equality, and the socialist movement of the
proletariat for the overthrow of the bourgeois and the establishment
of the dictatorship of the proletariat. “
Socialist Transformation - Socialist Construction
It is true that the October Revolution was victorious under most
favourable conditions. But, it is also true that this revolution also
faced “unusually difficult condi-tions, such as no other Workers’
Revolution in the world ever have to face. “ The Russian
proletariat was alone when it was leading the revolution. Most of the
Communist Parties in Europe, more particularly, in the imperialist
countries had turned their back to the revolutionary line of the
Communist International. They trailed behind their own imperialist
ruling classes by raising the treacherous flag of ‘defending the
fatherland’.
In the given situation, Lenin had to wage a two-pronged struggle. One
: to lead the Socialist Revolution in Russia to victory while
opposing the imperialist war; Two : to fight opportunism of the
Second International thorough to the end and give shape to the Third
International on the basis of the revolutionary principles of
Marxism. This struggle had given a great impetus to the growth of
Communist Parties as well as the revolutionary movements in various
Countries of the world.
Lenin warned that the Socialist transformation of the society will
“entail many difficulties, sacrifices and mistakes; It is something
new, unprecedented in history and cannot be studied in books. It goes
without saying that this is the greatest and most difficult
transition that has ever occurred in history; but there is no other
way to make this great transition and the fact that the Soviet power
has been established in Russia has shown that it is the revolutionary
people who are richest of all in revolutionary experience—when
millions come to the assistance of a few score of party people-the
people who actually take their exploiters by throat.”
Once the October Revolution was victorious, countless problems as
well as tasks were waiting for the new State and the Bolshevik Party.
The new State had to overcome many hurdles and sabotages from the
enemies as well as forces like Trotsky. The Soviet people had to pay
a heavy price to end the war with the German imperialists. However,
the signing of a Peace Treaty with the German invaders enabled the
new Soviet state to gain a respite and time to consolidate the gains
of revolution and place themselves in a better position to fight the
external as well as internal enemies. The Prole- tariat was required
to take thousand and one steps to establish its complete control over
the state apparatus. The Socialist State- the dictatorship of
proletariat - based on the worker-peasant alliance and supported by
the soldiers and sailors was set up. It had abolished the landlord
ownership of land with no compensation and turned the lands of
landlords, of the tsar's family and monasteries over to the toilers
for their free use. It promulgated all the mineral resources,
forests and waters as the property of the people. It brought all the
key positions of national economy under the control of the State. It
enacted laws, built up necessary institutions, systems to ensure the
protection of the people’s rights, equality between women and men,
rights of nationalities and to supervise their proper implementation.
It had developed the accounting and control of production and
distribution of goods. It solved the problem of food, fuel, housing,
healthcare, education and other basic needs of people.
The imperialist powers, overthrown classes and their collaborators
–separately as well as in a collusion-hatched countless
conspiracies, engineered counter revolutionary armed coups and
rebellions. They sought to plunge Russia’s economy into an anarchy,
They sought to create food and fuel crisis and disrupt the gains of
the socialist plans from reaching the people. They sought to sow
discord, clashes among the people and incite hatred against the Party
and Socialist state. They had done all this as a part of grand
counter – revolutionary design to hurl Socialist Russia back into
the wretched, old, and dark rule of exploitation . The Socialist
Soviet Union and the Party led and guided by Lenin had led glorious
battles on every front and defeated all these attempts. Here, they
had mainly relied on the initiative and inexhaustible revolutionary
potential of millions of people – workers, peasants, young red
guards and Subbotniks, and Red army, etc., who were dedicated to the
cause of socialist transformation and socialist construction. The
Socialist state used innovative and diverse methods to carry out the
Socialist program. It experimented, learnt from mistakes and
improvised its moves. Basing on the intellectuals and specialists
committed to Socialist cause and the creative knowledge and
initiatives of the millions of working and toiling people, the
Socialist State had shown no hesitation what so ever to buy and
utilize the services of specialists groomed and trained by the
capitalists in the old society where ever it was needed to advance
the cause of Socialism. In a difficult period, and for a short time,
it even used the capitalist method to tide over the problems and to
give a momentum to Socialist Construction.
Demise of Lenin at an early age caused an irreparable loss to the
Socialist Russia and the entire World Communist and Revolutionary
Movement. His indelible contributions to the struggle to defend,
apply, practice and enrich Marxism; the fundamental direction and
road set by him for the proletarian revolutions; his guidance for
Socialist transformation and Socialist Construction and for the fight
against imperialism continue to guide the World Communist and
Revolutionary Movement for all the time as Marxism of the era of
imperialism and proletarian revolution. Comrade Stalin, who took the
mantle of leadership from Lenin, had carried on the unfinished tasks
in the subsequent period. He held high the flag of Marxism Leninism
and Proletarian Internationalism.
The emergence of a powerful Socialist country like the Socialist
Soviet Union on the world scene had created a most favourable
situation for the spread of Communist Ideology and Communist Parties
in the world. The Socialist Russia became a most dependable ally and
support to the working class, oppressed nations and people. The
national independence, national liberation movements and people’s
revolu-tions gained strength and tremendously advanced in various
Countries of Asia, Africa and Latin america. In the period of second
world war, the imperialist powers had groomed and abetted the German
Fascism to invade and crush the Socialist Russia and turn the outcome
of the war more advantageous to etain their colonial hold and further
strengthen their domination over the world. Not only the Socialist
Soviet Union and the soviet People led by Stalin had valiantly
defended themselves and evicted the German invaders and occupiers
from the Russian soil, but also inflicted a death blow on Fascism,
headed by Germany and Hitler and heavy blows on colonialism and
imperialism as a whole. The victory of anti- Fascist, democratic,
national, peace loving and revolutionary forces led by the Socialist
Russia in the Second World War gave a powerful impetus to the advance
of the World Communist Movement and to the national independence and
national liberation movements and people’s revolutions in the
world. The unparalleled revolutionary heroism, sacrifices and
endurance exhibited by the Socialist Russia and Soviet people in the
epochal battle to liberate the Stalingrad from German occupation and
in the struggle against imperialism and Fascism are inseparable from
the magnificent achievements and advances won by the Communist and
Revolutionary Movements in the world in the immediate post - Second
World War period.
Revolution in China
The Chinese New Democratic Revolution [1921-1949] occupies a place of
prominence next only to October Revolution. Here, the Chinese
Communist Party (CPC) and the Chinese Revolution had taken shape in
the post-October Revolution period and the Chinese New Democratic
Revolution became victorious after the crushing defeat of Fascism in
the Second World War. This revolution fought not only the internal
enemies-feudalism and Comprador bourgeoisie- but also the external
enemies- the imperialist powers. The imperialist powers, especially,
the British, Japanese and American imperialists, sought to weigh down
the Chinese people under the yoke of feudalism, subjugate indirectly
or by indulging in naked armed invasions or occupation.
Applying Marxism Leninism to the concrete conditions and practice of
Chinese revolution, the CPC and Mao had evolved and practiced a line,
known as the protracted peoples’ war, to lead the Chinese
revolution. The Chinese proletariat had developed a party with
Bolshevik qualities capable of leading the revolution. It developed a
United Front of revolutionary classes in the course of class
struggles and revolutionary movements on the basis of worker-peasant
alliance under the leadership of working class. The CPC and Mao had
considered the peasants as the main revolutionary force and made the
agrarian revolution as the main axis of new democratic revolution by
organizing and moving millions of peasants into agrarian
revolutionary movement against feudalism and imperialism. In the
concrete conditions of Chinese revolution, China had adopted a road
different from that of Russia. But it remains an indisputable
historical truth that both revolutions had consistently and
unwaveringly relied on the single source – invincible revolutionary
potential of the people- to win the revolution. The experience of CPC
and Chinese people had repeatedly proved hat the revolution had
suffered serious losses whenever the Party had deviated either
towards right or left or anarchism. The teachings of Lenin and the
experiences of Russian revolution were of an immense help to the
Chinese proletariat in leading the Chinese revolution to victory. CPC
and Mao had to wage a bitter and unrelenting ideological and
political struggle to keep the revolution on correct track and ensure
victory for the revolution. The journey of China along the road of
socialist transformation and socialist construction too was a
tortuous and bitter struggle in every sphere. Yet, the miraculous
achievements it had won under the leadership of CPC and Mao had set a
model of development for the backward and developing Countries to
emulate. China had come up as a most reliable ally and friend of
people in the Asian, African and Latin American Countries who were
fighting for revolution and against imperialism.
A Socialist Camp composed of Socialist Soviet Union, Peoples’
Republic Of China, Peoples’ Democracies of Europe, North Korea,
Albania and Cuba, etc.; encompassing one third of the world
population had come up in the World. This was backed and associated
by the Communist Parties, working class, oppressed nations and people
fighting for the national independence, national liberation and
peoples’ revolutions and leading the anti-imperialist and
democratic movements in a number of Countries in Asia, Africa and
Latin America. On the other side, the post-Second World War situation
had thrown up the US imperialism as the leader of Capitalist world
and it had set itself with an agenda, design and preparations to reap
the fruits of defeat of Fascism, weakening of old Colonialism and
impose its own domination over the entire world. This has brought a
significant change in the correlation of forces in the world. It led
to further sharpening of the contradictions and struggle between the
opposing class forces. The forces of socialism, democracy,
nationalism, revolution and peace found themselves on a more
confident and sound basis to take on imperialism and the forces of
reaction by their horns.
Setbacks
But this onward march of human history was inflicted a rude shock and
a serious setback. The theories of ‘peaceful coexistence’, ‘
peaceful competition’ and ‘ peaceful transition’ raised by the
Soviet leader Khrushchev had set the Soviet Communist Party on the
road of departure from Marxism Leninism and setting Russia on the
road of capitalist restoration; Most of the then ongoing revolutions took the road of compromise with the exploiting ruling classes
and imperialism. The new theories had set the World Communist
Movement on the road of confusions, deviations and divisions. The
principles of Proletarian Internationalism were thrown to the winds.
The Peoples’ Democracies in Europe had collapsed one after the
other. Going along the road of social imperialism, the Soviet Union
too had finally disintegrated. The CPC, which created hope of
carrying forward the flag of Marxism Leninism, Socialism and
Proletarian Internationalism too, in the course of time and after the
demise of Com. Mao chose to go by a capitalist road. Thus the onward
march of human history had suffered a serious setback.
The imperialists and reactionary classes all over the world had spent
many a sleepless nights, shivered even in their dreams when the Great
revolutions had occurred. Naturally, they are very much relieved by
their setbacks and reversals. They began using best of their brains
and resources in the attempts to prevent the recurrence of similar
revolutions in the world. The imperialists, reactionary classes,
their ideologues and drum-beaters are working overtime to assure
themselves, convince or brainwash the world people with preaching
such as, the great revolutions were nothing but ‘only accidents’,
‘failed experiments ‘and Socialism as an idea as well as practice
had only become ‘obsolete’ for all the time and the Capitalism as
a system is an ‘end of History’ and ever- lasting.
Doubtlessly, the Communists, progressives, millions of the working
class, oppressed and toiling people in the world view the setbacks
suffered by the revolutions as an inestimable and irredeemable loss
and a painful development because they are the fruits of their own
struggles and sacrifices and their own flesh and blood. These
revolutions continue to be dearer and precious for them. We the
Communists today, who are guided by Marxism Leninism, consider
ourselves as the inheritors and torch bearers of these revolutions.
We refuse either to get ourselves swept away by the feelings of gloom
and pessimism or remain as idle day dreamers or empty chatterers.
Marxism Leninism teaches us that we must learn from the rich and
inexhaustible experiences of these great revolutions and utilize them
to find answers to the questions like, how to heal the wounds of
setbacks, set, again, today’s class struggle and the revolutionary
movement on the road of advance and culminate them in a revolution to
end the present exploiting and oppressive system which had grown into
a hydra- headed Monster and herald a new society.
Learn from Great Revolutions
The revolutions that suffered setbacks are consummated revolutions.
Here the people had built up the new societies and enjoyed their
fruits for several decades. The Socialist States stood by the working
class, oppressed nations and peace loving people in the world in
their fight against imperialism, Fascism and the reactionary ruling
classes. The proletariat and the people of the Socialist Countries
made unparalleled sacrifices, displayed unimaginable valor, heroism
and endurance in defending Socialism. How all this was possible? The
answer can be found in the kind of leadership they had and in the
strength of ideology, politics and organization that guided them. We
must grasp how Marxism Leninism was applied to concrete conditions
and the practice of revolution and how the problems that arose in the
course of revolution were overcome by the Party of proletarian.
These Great Revolutions had reaffirmed the teachings of Marxism
Leninism. For the Communists, the revolution means a fundamental
change in the social system. Marxism Leninism teaches us: 1. “The
key question of any revolution is undoubtedly the question of state
power. Which class holds the power decides everything “; 2. The
people are the makers of History. Any deviation from this principle
and any attempt to replace the revolutionary role of the people by
any heroic and adventurous acts of a few or a magical act are bound
to fail; 3. The Proletariat must assume the leadership of the
revolution in order to make the revolution a thorough-going and
culminate it in victory. So, building of a Party of Bolshevik type is
the essential prerequisite for the success of revolution. These are
fundamental for any revolution led by the Communist Party.
At the same time, no revolution can be a carbon copy of another
revolution. So, while studying and learning from the experiences of
other revolutions- their successes as well as failures – the
Communist Party of each Country must study the concrete conditions of
its own Country in the light of Marxism Leninism and formulate the
forms, methods and course of their revolution in accordance with the
concrete conditions and develop the same in the course of practice of
class struggle and revolutionary movement. The Communists also must
diligently study the experiences of setbacks suffered by the Great
Revolutions with a view to understand the causes, learn from and
avoid the mistakes in future, uphold their achievements and carry
forward the Flag of revolution and Socialism.
Hold High the Banner of Great Revolutions and Advance the New
Democratic Revolution in India
The October Socialist Revolution brought the ideas of Communism and
Socialist aims on its wings to India. The first generation of
Communists had taken these ideas to widest masses of the Indian
people. They organized and moved millions of workers, peasants,
adivasis, students, youth, women and other oppressed people into
countless struggles. They had built up the cultural, democratic and
anti-imperialist movements. The tireless and dedicated work carried
on by the Communists had resulted in the formation and development of
Communist Party in India. Significant ideological and political
battles were waged inside and outside the Party. The Communist
Movement had given birth to scores of Communist cadres, leaders and
fighters having the fine Communist qualities of dedication and
sacrifice to the cause of Communism and people.
The October Revolution had boosted the morale of the democratic and
national forces and the people. The ideals of Socialism have had wide
influence on the militant, terrorist and revolutionary streams that
had sprung up in India with the aim of ending the Colonial rule.
Defying the limitations imposed by the Gandhian and bourgeois
leadership of National Movement, the masses of Indian people,
especially the toiling people, rose in waves and adopted, many a
times, the militant and revolutionary forms of struggle. The mass
upsurge had touched new heights during the Quit India Movement of
1942. The people, through their initiative and revolutionary action
had formed “Prati Sarkars “ in several places, like the one in
Peshawar, Sholapur, Satara, Medinipur, and Balia,etc., The people had
sustained their Sarkars for 7 to 10 days and the British Colonial
rulers could pull them down only by using the Army and martial Laws.
The Colonial rulers viewed the Communists as a big threat. The
Communist Party was under a ban till 1942. The Communist cadres,
leaders, and even the sympathizers were implicated, tried and
convicted in countless false and cooked up criminal cases. The
special repressive laws were freely invoked against them. The
Conspiracy cases, like Lahore Conspiracy case, Kanpur Conspiracy
(1924), Meerut Conspiracy case (1929) were foisted against the
prominent Communist and working Class leaders. However, they could
not deter the Communists from leading the people in struggles. The
Communists had organized and led powerful working class movement in
the Country. They organized many a peasant struggles in various
states of the Country. Prominent among them are : The adivasi
revolutionary movement in Worli of Maharashtra in 1939-47; the
peasant revolt in Kayyur of Kerala in 1943; the historic Telangana
peasant armed struggle of 1946-51; the Punnapra- vayalar peasant
struggle in the Princely State of Travancore in 1946; the Tebhaga
peasant struggle in 1946 in Bengal and the adivasi armed resistance
in Moyamensing of East Bengal in 1946. The massive political campaigns
carried on by the Communists in the Country against the Colonialism,
imperialism and Fascism has had strong impact on the conscious-ness
and the struggles of the people.
As a part of the post-Second World War upsurge, the Indian Royal Navy
personnel rose in armed revolt. They raised the Red Flag of the
Communist Party along with the flags of the Indian National Congress
and the Muslim League. The Communist Party had moved lakhs of the
people into the streets in solidarity with the revolting Navy
Personnel. The Communists stood in the forefront of the Country wide
protest movement against the trail of the INA leaders. They also
stood like a powerful bastion of unity among the Hindu-Muslim people
and mobilized the people to foil the dubious game of the Colonial
rulers to divide and divert the people into disastrous communal riots
and mutual killings in a sinister move to stem the tide of mass
upsurge.
The past Communist Movement is rich and inexhaustible treasure house
of experiences. At the same time, we must admit that the Indian
revolution remain unaccomplished owing to the constraints of the
political line pursued by the Communist leadership at different
times. So, some decades back, the Communist Revolutionaries had taken
upon themselves the responsibility of carrying forward the New
Democratic Revolution to successful culmination. Various
revolutionary movements, more particularly the Naxalbari and
Srikakulam Peasant Revolutionary Movements had developed only in this
course. But these movements had suffered serious setbacks. The
Communist Revolutionary Move-ment is struggling to overcome the
setbacks, wrong trends and divisions and lead the people into class
struggles and revolutionary movement.
In the last seven decades period, the Indian ruling classes- the
Comprador bourgeois and landlord classes- had only landed the
Country’s economy into the depths of irretrievable crisis. They had
driven the vast majority of our people into abject poverty, hunger
and trap of suicides. They had deprived the people from the right to
land, other means of livelihood, jobs and the basic needs of life.
They are waging merciless attacks on the democratic rights of people.
They are doing all this under the deceptive slogans like the
liberalization, globalization and development, etc., and in their
shameful attempt to open flood gates for the imperialists and the
Indian Corporate houses to loot and control the lives of Indian
people and the Indian resources. The BJP regime is taking these
policies to dangerous levels. This regime is using its rabid Hindu
Communalism, the slogans of pseudo nationalism and diversionist
methods to push through its policies of sell out and subservience to
imperialism in general and its alliance with US imperialism to serve
the strategic designs of US imperialism for global hegemony. The
attacks of the Hindu communal forces- backed by the BJP and Sangh
Parivar- on the Communist, democratic, rationalist and genuinely
national ideas and forces are only a part of a general onslaught to
sustain the system of exploitation and oppression.
On the one side, the exploiting ruling classes as well as the
imperialists are putting up a brave face, patting their backs when
they cry from the house tops and repeat the worn out slogans such as
“Communism is dead” and ‘Capitalism is the End of History.”
On the other side, They are spending crores of dollars, best of their
brains, tons of paper and weapons to fight the Communist ideas and
forces and prevent the people from falling prey to Communist ideas.
It only means that the imperialists and the reactionary classes are,
in reality, haunted by the ‘ghost of Communism’. They are dreaded
by the very idea of Communism because, it is a real thing. They know
that they are sitting on the power keg of crisis-ridden economies.
They know that their policies only further accentuate inequalities in
the society, alienate the people and raise the people’s anger and
urge to irrepressible levels to get rid of this wretched social
system. The real and lasting solution to the problems of the people
and the ills of the present society lie only in putting an end to
this system and heralding a new society that banishes the
exploitation and oppression from the Human society. Here lies the
historical necessity and the role of Communism.
Let the Great
Revolutions continue to inspire us to hold high the Ideology of
Marxism Leninism Mao’s Thought, the ideals of Socialism and
proletarian Internationalism and defend them from the hidden and open
attacks of the bourgeois and petty bourgeois classes and their
ideologues; Let the eve of the Centenary of the October Socialist
Revolution be an important occasion to study and learn from the
experiences of these revolutions; Let this occasion give an impetus
to our efforts to unite the Communists, create better conditions for
the development of a Proletarian Party in India and lead the New
Democratic Revolution on the road of victory and march towards
Socialism.
With Revolutionary Greetings,
Central Committee
CPI (ML)
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It is worthwhile to look at this question again, because often, depending on the perspective, there is the impression that the number of unemployed (including the dark) is increasing disproportionately, and the workers actually employed in the production process or in other areas of wages depend on services , Organizations, foundations, etc.) has declined significantly as a result of rationalization measures and mass redundancies. Is that correct?
