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[A-List] Proletarian Era THE CENTRAL ORGAN OF S.U.C.I



Title: Great November Revolution

Proletarian Era

 THE CENTRAL ORGAN OF S.U.C.I.Vol. 39  No. 9    December 15, 2005

In this issue

 

·        Comrade Nihar Mukherjee’s ovation to Ramsey Clark

·        SUCI demands exemplary punishment to those involved in Iraq oil scam

·        Lessons of Great November Revolution —beacon to emancipation of humanity

·        Fighting people of South 24 Parganas accord rousing reception to fraternal delegates from abroad

·        Comrade Nina Andreyeva to AIDSO and AIDYO Comrades

·        4th All India Conference of Medical Service Centre

·        West Bengal State Conference of UTUC-Lenin Sarani

 

 

Comrade Nihar Mukherjee’s ovation to Ramsey Clark

 

Dear Mr. Clark,

On behalf of our party, the Socialist Unity Centre of India, and the anti-imperialist people of India, I hail your bold courageous decision to defend Saddam Hussein, President of sovereign Iraq, in the mock trial masterminded by the imperialist Bush regime, the most vile and demonic enemy of the mankind, particularly when the lawyers appearing on the side of Saddam Hussein are being murdered with impunity. It is the US imperialists who invaded and occupied the territory of Iraq under fraudulent pretext, flouting all canons of international law and trampling underfoot the barest precepts of democratic norms, values and practices and barbourously killing thousands of innocent civilians including the old, women and children by indiscriminate bombing, use of internationally prohibited sophisticated chemical and other destructive weapons. It is Bush and his associates who should be tried in the international court for mass murder, illegal occupation of other’s land, loot, arson and marauding with gusto. The gallant resistance of the valiant patriotic Iraqi people against the imperialist aggressors has become a symbol of the anti-imperialist struggle of the democratic minded peace loving people of the world. It is a great inspiration for the brave Iraqi fighters to find an eminent jurist of your stature from the heartland of the occupying imperialists refusing to the red eyes of his own government to stand in support of their struggle, for justice, in defence of mankind and to uphold the cause of humanity. You rightly deserve heart felt ovation from all the anti-imperialist fighters round the globe.

With greetings,

Nihar Mukherjee

Kolkata                                                                                                                     General secretary,

14 December, 2005                                                                               Socialist Unity Centre of India

 

 

SUCI demands exemplary punishment to those involved in Iraq oil scam

In the context of the specific disclosures made by Shri Aniel Matherani, India’s Ambassador to Croatia and a long term party functionary of the Congress attesting the serious charges already lavelled against Shri Natwar Singh, Union Minister and Congress leader, in regard to securing undue favour and benefits from the illegal oil sales by Iraq, Comrade Nihar Mukherjee, General Secretary, SUCI, in a statement issued on 3rd December, 2005 said that, it has now become imperative for Shri Singh to immediately resign from the Central Cabinet and squarely face the enquiry. Comrade Mukherjee also demanded that an independent high level inquiry to look into and comprehensively reveal all aspects of this murky deal be completed with due expediency and exemplary punishment meted out to all those involved in and found guilty of this heinous crime.

 

 

Lessons of Great November Revolution

—beacon to emancipation of humanity

To the people who long to break the shackles of capitalism, bring about emancipation from savage exploitation of man by man, free civilization from the fetters of capitalism, the Great November Revolution of Russia that shook the world 88 years back and ushered in a new era, still is an ever-flowing source of inspiration.  It is an occasion for all genuine communists, the advanced vanguard of  the proletariat, to renew their pledge to close rank and march ahead with yet more grit, determination and valour to bring about world proletarian revolution.  To commemorate this historic event and take a solemn vow to carry forward the historic task of accomplishing anti-capitalist socialist revolution in India, the Central Committee of our party, SUCI, like all previous years, convened a mass meeting at Mahajati Sadan, Calcutta on 25th November, 2005 to discuss the problems of international communist movement in the light of Great November Revolution.

On this occasion our party held an all India gathering at Mahajati Sadan, Calcutta, where, at the invitation of our party, attended and addressed Comrade Nina Andryeva, General Secretary, All Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from Russia, Comrade Heather Cottin, Leader of the Workers’ World Party, which is fighting for the emancipation of the workers inside the imperialist US, Comrade Nisha, representing Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Turkey, Comrade Khalekuzzaman, Convener, Socialist Party of Bangladesh and its Central Committee member Comrade Mobinur    Haider    Chowdhury. The  meeting  was  presided  over by   Comrade   Tapas   Dutta, veteran member of the Central Committee.

Comrade Nihar Mukkherjee, beloved General Secretary of our party, the SUCI, and a life-long comrade-in-arm of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, our leader, teacher and guide and one of the foremost Marxist thinkers of the era, also addressed the meeting ignoring his various ailments.  It was a momentous occasion for all those present to listen to the valuable speeches of the distinguished speakers including eminent foreign dignitaries.

Venue, the huge hall of Mahajati Sadan was already over-packed with the masses spilled over even to the street at the front well before the beginning of the meeting.  On the dais were seated alongwith Comrade Nihar Mukherjee, Comrade Tapas Dutta and the foreign dignitaries, Comrades Anil Sen, Sukomal Dasgupta, Sitesh Dasgupta, Provash Ghosh, Asit Bhattacharya, Krishna Chakraborty (all central committee members) Comrade Ranjit Dhar and Comrade Manik Mukherjee (West Bengal State Secretariat members).

On   this   august   occasion   of the November Revolution Anniversary beloved General Secretary, Comrade Nihar Mukherjee flagged off the release of the Third Volume of the Selected Works of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, one of the foremost Marxist philosophers of the era, with the words that this Works would further illuminate the Communist movement, home and abroad.  He handed over the first copies of this Third Volume to the foreign dignitaries present.

Comrade Nina Andreyeva, holding aloft the noble banner of Lenin and Stalin in the countries of the erstwhile Soviet Union presented amid dinning applause a scarf knitted with portrait of Stalin, the great leader of the international Communist movement and the architect of socialist transformation in the Soviet Union, to our beloved Comrade Nihar Mukherjee.  Comrade Mukherjee reciprocated in promising to preserve the insignia of this great Communist leader with all solemnity and care.

Comrade Andryeva read out to the audience, from her written address  in  Russian.  The  speech was rendered in English simultaneously.

After Comrade Nina Andryeva, Comrade Nihar Mukherjee, beloved General Secretary of our party delivered his address.  With his badly frail health Comrade Mukherjee spoke, being seated on request, at length, taking tremendous strain, on different questions, issues and problems of the international Communist movement in the background of the teachings of the Great November Revolution as taught by Marxism-Leninism and Comrade Shibdas Ghosh’s Thoughts.

After his speech, Comrade Heather Cottin, USA, Comrade Nisha, Turkey and Comrade Khalekuzzaman, Bangladesh, addressed the gathering reposing their unwavered faith and conviction in Marxism-Leninism and Proletarian Revolution and swore to carry forward the message to the culmination. Comrade Tapas Dutta delivered his presidential speech at the end.

The meeting ended with the Internationale.

 

 

Comrade Nihar Mukherjee’s Speech

Comrade President, Comrades from abroad, Comrades and Friends,

You have already heard that the meeting has been convened by the Central Committee of our party to scrutinize in the light of the teachings of great November Revolution, the problems that have cropped up in the international communist movement. At present, the world communist movement is passing through a critical phase with the modern revisionism growing as a distinctly pronounced trend in the mainstream. Advanced cadres and leaders have gathered here to take note of the various developments taking place in the different countries to search out, both from the country and abroad, the correct path to overcome the impasse and successfully carry out the behest of November Revolution. I am sorry because of paucity of time; I shall not be able to dwell at length on the subject. So I shall very briefly, in a pointed manner, place before you certain vital aspects.

 As you know, we are passing through a time when in the absence of mighty socialist camp led by the USSR, the imperialists-capitalists headed by US imperialists, unable to come out of the insoluble crisis they are ridden with, are on a rampage, pursuing their hegemonistic aspirations, overlordism and brigandage with impunity. Alongside military invasion and illegal occupation of others’ territories, they are now conducting their loot and plunder through neo-colonial route of exporting finance capital and ruling either by installing a puppet government or by forcing the governments of the weaker nations to be pliant with and subjugated to their dictates . They are also causing economic blockade or resorting to escalated violence to circumscribe the weaker nations. Indian capitalism has also assumed imperialist character, given rise to a financial oligarchy by merger of industrial capital with banking capital and is exporting finance capital abroad to exploit cheap labour and raw material. Thus, the Indian monopolists have become junior partners of world imperialism.

 In this connection, I would like to draw your attention to the fact Fascism has now become a general feature in every imperialist-capitalist country. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, our leader, teacher and guide, founder General Secretary of the SUCI and one of the foremost Marxist thinkers of the era, taught us that Fascism is not naked military dictatorship. It has a two-fold, two-faced character, a dual policy of suppression and persuasion. Somewhere it adopts the form of individual dictatorship, somewhere the autocratic rule of military junta and yet in some other countries, it takes cover of pseudo-radical slogans to deceive people and carry out its savage exploitation. Fascism is the naked dictatorship of the capitalist class, a historically conditioned form of counter-revolution in which capitalism seeks to stave off revolution by an anticipatory move. And for that matter Fascism needs lackeys. The lessons of November Revolution also show that both Lenin and Stalin had to fight such lackeys lurking in the revisionists and social democrats. In fact, social democracy, as Comrade Ghosh showed, is now “the last prop of Fascism.” Therefore, it is incumbent on the proletarian revolutionaries to fight social democracy, which has appeared as the main danger before anti-capitalist revolutionary movement. For the genuine communists everywhere, it remains now to re-arm themselves, more than ever before, with deeper realization of the lessons of Great November Revolution and act up to the behest of the giant communist authorities starting from Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin-Mao Zedong to Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, responding to the burning needs of humanity.

You know that capitalist-imperialist world has become extremely jubilant after dismantling of the socialist camp and are out to malign communism, calling it obsolete. Is it really so?  Why have we chosen to become communists? Is it out of any fancy? We must understand this first in the light of the lessons of the Great November Revolution. As against all previous revolutions where one set of exploiters was replaced by another set of exploiters and the people continued to remain in the thraldom of exploitation, if not subjected to oppression that is more ruthless, November Revolution, successfully accomplished in 1917, stands out as a historic landmark, seeking to sweep away exploitation of man-by-man altogether. Successful achievement of revolution in a single country, Russia, which incidentally was most backward in Europe, in Lenin’s words, broke open the weakest chain of imperialism and opened the gate of world revolution.

 To make Russian Revolution a success, Lenin had to deeply analyze the particular - specific situation of the then Russia and the basic problems prevailing there by concretely applying the Marxist methodology, i.e. the science of Marxism-Leninism or Dialectical Materialism which was developed as a science of all sciences by dialectically coordinating, integrating and generalizing upon  the particular truths discovered by the  various disciplines of science to fully comprehend  the ever changing material world, grasp the inherent laws of its development and provide direction to act in the process of the inexorable laws of the nature to change the world itself. The Bolshevik Party under Lenin successfully awakened the workers, poor peasants, landless farmers and a good section of the intelligentsia based on Marxism-Leninism to accomplish revolution. The working class provided leadership to the revolution. Earlier nobody could even dream that illiterate workers would succeed in overthrowing the mighty Tsarist regime. How could this be possible? It was possible because of the invincible weapon of Marxism-Leninism handed down to them by Marx-Engels and Lenin to enable them analyze and understand correctly each of the intricate problems and resolve them. In the process of organizing revolution on Russian soil and drawing the workers and peasants           in the vortex of revolutionary struggle, Lenin by his profound wisdom illumined every sphere – economic, political, social, cultural and moral from correct    Marxist outlook and categorically pointed out the hangovers of the old society putting hurdles in the way. It was Lenin who said, “Socialism comes from without”. The spontaneous movements of the workers, the trade union movements centering round economic demands do not automatically generate socialist consciousness            among the workers, steep them into communist ideology. This consciousness comes from outside and is to be acquired through a completely separate struggle. The worker has to acquire the higher thoughts of communism by conducting a powerful life struggle following correct Marxist methodology. That is why Marx said that trade unions should be transformed into schools of communism. Marx was also categorical in saying that “in order to change the world, workers will have to change themselves first.” Simultaneously they should try to change the poor peasants and other section of the toiling masses since the emancipation of the entire toiling people is interwoven with the emancipation     of the working class. Even the middle class intelligentsia, drawn towards the noble ideology of Marxism-Leninism ought to declass themselves through struggle to attain communist character. That is exactly what Lenin did. While correctly applying the general theories of Marxism-Leninism in the concrete situation of Russia, he imbued the working and the toiling masses including the peasants, the closest ally of working class revolution, with the noblest ideal of communism so that they could arm themselves with this invincible weapon to lead the revolution. Marx said long back “Just as philosophy finds its material weapon in the proletariat, the proletariat finds its spiritual weapon in philosophy.” Even if the workers are illiterate, they must be taught to acquire this philosophy through struggle and then and then only as Marx said, they will be free and emerge as real ‘man’. Lenin successfully carried out this essential task of imbibing the illiterate workers the essence of Marxist philosophy and thus roused them to lead November Revolution to victory.

 To overthrow the oppressive bourgeoisie from power in the country, Lenin also had to fight capitalist-imperialists outside Russia. As you know, immediately after establishment of nascent Soviet Socialist state, the imperialist powers connived with the counter revolutionaries within the Soviet Union and tried to nip socialism in the bud. But they did not succeed. The Bolshevik party under Lenin, following correct Marxist approach and methodology, foiled all machinations and conspiracies of the counter revolutionaries and protected socialism. The Great November Revolution revealed the truth, the infallibility and invincibility of Marxism. It showed that Marxism is not a dogma, but guide to action. Like all other philosophies, it just did not interpret the world but as a science of all sciences, empowered the working class, the toiling people to change the world,

I must also mention in this regard that revolutionary movement is no simple a task. It is a complex process, having many twists and turns, ups and downs. Those who engage themselves in the process of becoming communists must understand this and must go deeper into every problem to make way through the zigzag of revolutionary struggle. Marx had said long back that the communists are sure about the future because they are thorough about everything, every aspect of life, society and objective world. Because the communists are endowed with the science of Marxism-Leninism to penetratingly, analyze every problem and issue and resolve them to find the way out.

In course of developing revolutionary movement in Russia, Lenin, analyzing the then  world situation following Marxist methodology, showed that capitalism had by that time reached the stage of imperialism characterized by export of finance capital as against export of commodities. Hence, he called the era, the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution. We are still in that era and hence we the communists in every country consider ourselves the respective contingents of world proletarian revolution. In order to accomplish proletarian revolution in our respective countries as part of the world proletarian revolution, Lenin stipulated three essential pre-requisites:  a correct revolutionary theory; a correct revolutionary party and united front of struggles of the workers, peasants and other sections of the toiling masses for the revolutionary purpose of giving birth to alternative political power of the people crystallized in the Soviets or proletarian democracy.  By correct revolutionary theory, Lenin had not just spoken of strategic correctness. He meant a complete epistemological category developed, as elaborated by Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, by dialectically coordinating the understanding and experiences of different branches of knowledge and science covering all aspects of life, to provide answers to all problems, whether of the Nature, or the Society, or Life, analyze all problems, excavate their roots and indicate the correct course to resolve them. Here lies the importance of correct understanding of the revolutionary theory.

 Secondly, Lenin held that any type of political party could not make revolution a success. He visualized a proletarian revolutionary party to be ideologically and organizationally compact, reflecting a model embodied not only in its leaders but also in the rank-and-file. A proletarian revolutionary party is a cadre-based party meaning thereby that the cadres are developed as efficient organizers by continuously elevating their ideological-political standard and qualities to be able to analyze and judge for themselves the concrete situation obtaining in every sphere, economic, political, social, cultural, and moral. They must also understand what is meant by knowledge. Knowledge is creative. One who has acquired knowledge cannot but be equipped to apply it properly. Some people often argue that though they possess the knowledge, they are unable to act towards its creative application. This is an erroneous argument. By creatively applying the general principles of Marxism to the concrete situation of Russia, Lenin developed and enriched the Marxist philosophy, which also found glaring _expression_ in the party concept that he systematized, and placed on definite principles. But, while integrating all these teachings and concrete experience of Russian revolution and Chinese revolution to delineate concretely the course of Indian revolution in the changed international situation, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh further elaborated, developed and enriched the Marxist-Leninist concept of proletarian party. He showed that “the ideal of surrendering the individual’s interest to social interest, adjustment of individual necessities with those of the society is nothing different from the ideals of bourgeois humanist values. Up till now, the highest standard of communist moral values was considered to have been reflected in this, and only they were considered to be the real communists who were able to surrender unconditionally and happily the individual interest to social interest, place the cause of the class, revolution and party above all and subordinate individual interest to the cause of the class, revolution and party. And in Communist Education by Kalinin, this was considered to be the highest standard of communist consciousness.” In this regard, he showed that though accomplishment of Russian and Chinese revolutions was possible with this standard, it is no more adequate today. “…this cannot be considered as the adequate standard for the leading communists in the context of newer complexities of present- day life. Because, it is found that living under the exploitative capitalist system, the concept of freedom and individualism is being reduced to individual privileges on a wide scale…” “…in proletarian revolutionary politics … if the standard of communist morality is allowed to remain static at this point, then the trend and tendency of individualism would certainly continue to remain within the society..” So from the concept of  “coincidence of interests with those of the whole class” as visualized  by Marx-Engels and the Leninist concept of placing “the cause of revolution and party above all”, Comrade Ghosh brought the understanding of communist ethics and culture to a new height of  “complete identification of the self with the class, the revolution and the party” which is not possible unless one can free himself completely from the “private property mental complex” or the influence of the “thought process of bourgeois individualism”. And this is possible only through a conscious struggle by individuals intending to become communists today under the guidance of the revolutionary leadership of the party, covering all aspects of life. Elaborating this point further, he showed that communist ethics and morality in fact are fundamentally different from and much higher than the humanist moral values both in content and character. To quote his words, “In the annals of human society … march of progress of society… the sense of moral values does not find its zenith in humanism. Communism begins where humanism ends.” Comrade Ghosh thus taught us that one can become a good communist today “only by engaging oneself with one or another of the units of mass and class organizations of the party in the struggle for developing the people’s revolutionary movement through a relentless struggle for identifying one’s individual thinking and interest with the revolutionary thinking and interest of the proletariat, that is, with the interest of revolution, — attaining thereby a higher cultural standard.”  This is a comprehensive socialist struggle covering all aspects of our life to the minutest details including sex to attain higher proletarian ethics and culture. This should be the very mode of our existence. The very cultural base of our character spawning from firm ideological conviction will attract the illiterate people towards us even if they might be unaware of the theoretical formulations. This is also a valuable lesson of November Revolution. The Bolshevik communists could successfully attract the best sons and daughters from the working class and peasant families; forge the desired unity between the workers and peasants based on higher communist ideology and carry out the revolutionary task successfully. But as I have already stated, today we have to elevate ourselves to yet higher standard of proletarian culture through conduction of all-out struggle to completely merge individual interest with social interest.

If you turn to our country, you will find that the party which grew with the name Communist Party of India (CPI), now disintegrated into so many factions, could not grasp these essential aspects of party building, Marxist methodology of analysis, concrete and creative application of the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism in the concrete situation of the country to develop correct revolutionary theory and base political line and above all, the kernel of proletarian ethics, morality and culture. We know from our personal experience that many of the founders of the CPI were big scholars of Marxist classics, excelled in pedantry, made lot of sacrifices, donated family properties to the party, and even gave life for the party. They could write articles, give quotations from Marxist authorities, organize schools of politics and study circles. Yet they could not build up a genuine communist party on the Leninist model because they lacked the proletarian class outlook, methodological approach and cultural-ethical standard in all fields of activities including day-to-day behaviours, habits and practices. They only blindly copied the international communist leadership, had no originality, pursued wrong line and even remained isolated from the mainstream of national liberation struggle. Being convinced that notwithstanding its “Communist” signboard and communist vocabulary, the CPI was no better than a petty- bourgeois party, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh took upon himself the task of fulfilling the historic necessity of building up a genuine working class revolutionary party on the Leninist model on this soil, developing its class and mass fronts, to accomplish Indian revolution and establish socialism. It was an extremely difficult, arduous, painstaking struggle. At the initial stage, our numerical strength was meager. But, the power of Comrade Ghosh’s thoughts was so strong, so penetrating that even big parties could not afford to ignore us. Right from the days of preparations for developing a genuine communist party, Comrade Ghosh repeatedly emphasized on following correct Marxist-Leninist methodology covering all aspects of life.  I remember, in the concluding session of the founding convention of our party way back in 1948, Comrade Ghosh elaborately dwelt on the teachings of Lenin in building up a correct revolutionary working class party and how the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism have to be concretely and creatively applied in the concrete situation of our country.

Comrade Ghosh also, taking lessons from the Great November Revolution, taught us how to imbue the toiling masses of various ethnic, lingual and religious groups of a vast multi-nationality, multi-religious, multi-lingual country like ours with the noble ideology of Marxism-Leninism through tolerant persuasion, education and cautious delicate handling of all sensitive, sentimental, emotional factors linked up with their respective life styles, cultures, social positions and beliefs. Russia was also a vast country, a multi-lingual, multi-nationality country. But before revolution, Stalin, under Lenin’s guidance, chalked out a comprehensive programme based on Marxist approach to resolve ethnic problems, bring all ethnic groups and nationalities in the orbit of socialist construction, give them total right of self determination including the right to secession. In the process, being inspired by the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, scientific socialism, all the ethnic groups were brought into one union, one state, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

After successful accomplishment of revolution, Lenin devoted himself towards establishing socialism and defending nascent socialist state and the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism from all attacks, both from within and outside. I have already mentioned about imperialist encirclement of Soviet Union and the imperialist machination to smash socialism with the help of counter revolutionaries within Russia. In such a hostile encirclement of the imperialist powers, Lenin began the work of building socialism without any help from outside. Over and above this, Lenin had to fight tooth and nail the Trotskyte “Left” deviation and Bukharanite “Right” deviation both having common root in anti-Marxist social democratism, and protect the essence, the inner kernel of Marxism. Prior to revolution also, Lenin had to conduct fierce ideological political battle to defeat the anti-Marxist line of the Mensheviks. Questions were also raised about the justifiability of the dictatorship of the proletariat in socialism as against dictatorship of capital in capitalism. Marx viewed the issue thus, “Between capitalist and communist society lies the period of the revolutionary transformation of the one into the other … in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat.” Explaining further how does the proletariat exercise its power through its class party, Marx stated, “In its struggle against the collective power of the possessing classes the proletariat can act as a class only by constituting itself a distinct political party … this constitution of the proletariat into a political party is indispensable to ensure the triumph of the social Revolution and of its ultimate goal: the abolition of classes.” Lenin not only established these principles, built up the Bolshevik Party as a model on this line, but also theoretically substantiated and actually demonstrated the correct application of the dictatorship of the proletariat in detail, stressing upon conducting intensified protracted class struggle in socialism. Only he is a Marxist, said Lenin, “who extends the recognition of the class struggle to the recognition of the dictatorship of the proletariat. … The transition from capitalism to Communism certainly cannot but yield a tremendous abundance and variety of political forms, but the essence will inevitably be the same: the dictatorship of the proletariat… Simultaneously with an immense expansion of democracy, which for the first time becomes democracy for the poor, democracy for the people, and not democracy for the moneybags, the dictatorship of the proletariat imposes a series of restrictions on the freedom of the oppressors, the exploiters, the capitalists. We must suppress them in order to free humanity from wage slavery, their resistance must be crushed by force; Democracy for the vast majority of the people, and suppression by force, i.e., exclusion from democracy, of the exploiters and oppressors of the people – this is the change democracy undergoes during the transition from capitalism to Communism.”

Lenin also taught us that even after change of the economic base of the society from capitalist to socialist, class struggle changes form and continues in a subtle way in superstructure, that is, in the realm of thought and idea. Hangover and remnants of old society, culture and habit persisting among the people provide sustenance to bourgeois ideology. Lenin was aware that the ousted bourgeois class was coming out with newer dispensations to regain power and endanger socialism. Dwelling on this aspect, Lenin cautioned, “the bourgeoisie in our country has been vanquished but it has not been uprooted, not yet destroyed, not even utterly broken.” …”They still retain a part of certain means of production, they still have money, they still have social connection. Just because they have been defeated, their energy of resistance has increased a hundred and thousand fold… The class struggle waged by the overthrown exploiters against the victorious vanguard of the exploited, that is the proletariat, has become incomparably bitter.” He further showed, “… we have not torn up the roots of capitalism and have not undermined the foundation, the basis, of the internal enemy. The latter depends on small scale production”… “abolition of classes means not only driving out the landlords and capitalists that we have accomplished with comparative ease; it also means abolishing small commodity produces. … The forces of habit of millions and tens of millions are a most tenable force. … It is a thousand times easier to vanquish the centralized big bourgeoisie than to vanquish the millions and millions of small owners, yet they, by their ordinary, everyday, imperceptible, elusive, demoralizing activity achieve the very results which the bourgeoisie need and which tend to restore the bourgeoisie...’’ Clearly, this task is immeasurably more significant than the previous one, and until it is fulfilled there will be no socialism.” Thus, he forewarned that at any opportune moment, the bourgeoisie might stage a comeback; restore capitalism if there was complacency on the part of the Soviet communists and the Soviet people, any lax in class struggle.

After the demise of Lenin, his disciple and worthy continuer, Stalin, took the reins in his hands to carry forward the task of socialist construction, protecting socialist state and fortifying Marxism-Leninism against all attempts of distortion and vulgarization.

In the days of mourning for Lenin, Stalin made a solemn vow in the party and said, inter alia, “Departing from us, Comrade Lenin adjured to us to guard the unity of our party as the apple of our eye. We vow to you, Comrade Lenin, that the behest … we will fulfill with credit.” But the ‘Left’ deviators led by Trotsky and the ‘Right’ deviators under Bukharin, Kamenev, Zinoviev furtively set up their own capitulatory theories against Leninist principles, attempting to demoralize and infect the leaders and the rank and file of the Bolshevik Party with disbelief in the possibility of victory of socialism in the USSR. But Stalin stood firm and through a sustained ideological-political-cultural struggle defeated all of these anti-Bolshevik and anti-Marxist doctrines, both ideologically and organizationally, and held that,  Leninism is “Marxism in the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution… Leninism is the theory and tactics of proletarian revolution in general” and that of “dictatorship of the proletariat in particular.” It was Stalin who explained  foundations of Leninism and in the process emerged as the leader of the international communist movement, a giant communist authority. Following the footsteps of Lenin, Stalin steered the work of socialist construction with exceptional dexterity and protected the Soviet Socialist state from all attempts of counter-revolution, both from within and outside. Within no time, the Soviet Union, once known as the ‘sickest’ nation in Europe, registered mind-boggling progress in every sphere surpassing big imperialist countries of Europe even the USA. Soviet Union appeared as the only country in the world freed from economic crises, stagnation, over production, unemployment, beggary, underworld crimes, anti-social elements and prostitution. Prices were reducing. Real wages were increasing. Health, education, transport and certain other items were made free. The state undertook the responsibility of the old people, mother and child. This is history. The glorious victory of the Soviet Army and the Soviet people led by Stalin over the colossal military might of the Fascist German aggressors, revealed the high socialist morale of the new Soviet citizens; raised the prestige of the Soviet Socialist state to the pinnacle and heightened the regard for communism as the only philosophy capable of solving all problems and which all roads must lead to. The unprecedented speed, with which Stalin rebuilt the war-ravaged country after over 20 million people having laid their life for saving the mankind from the Fascist invasion, stunned everyone.

But history took a different turn after Stalin’s demise when the revisionist Khrushchev leadership, taking advantage of the lowered ideological-political standard of the people and the party, usurped power in the party and the state. Stalin had noticed the lowering of the ideological consciousness way back in 1934 during the 17th Congress of the CPSU and warned, “if the confusion of mind (i.e. survivals of capitalism) and these non-Bolshevik sentiments obtained a hold over the majority of our party, the party would itself be demobilized and disarmed.” Even Report of the 19th Congress of the CPSU in 1952 under Stalin’s guidance called for strengthening ideological organizational work to counter these evils and for waging a determined struggle against the vestiges of bourgeois ideology and private property mentality still present. But his death within a short period prevented him from steering this struggle.

Discerning the documents of the 20th Congress of the CPSU in which revisionist Khrushchev leadership, under the guise of fighting cult of personality trained its gun on Stalin, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh apprehended that “in the name of fighting out the cult of individual … they are in reality directing their fight against an individual … Comrade Stalin”. He also warned that if the defects reflected in the Report were not removed in time, it would open ‘floodgate of revisionism’. When in the 22nd Congress of the CPSU, the revisionist Khrushchev leadership embarked upon a calculated strategy to malign Stalin,  wipe off his memory and teachings from the minds of the people, reject all his formulations and the tested and tried policies as blunders, Comrade Ghosh, following Marxist-Leninist method of analysis, could make out that in order to reverse the process of socialist construction and vulgarize Marxism-Leninism surreptitiously under the garb of socialism, it was imperative for Khrushchev and the ilk to openly denigrate Stalin’s unquestionable image in  the party and among the Soviet people in general. Voicing his concern and serious resentment, Comrade Ghosh said, “The measures adopted by the Twenty Second Congress of the CPSU with regard to Stalin have assumed greater importance because of the fact that firstly, it may have the effect of de-Stalinization which in its wake will challenge the very understanding of Marxism-Leninism…. In fact, the present understanding of Leninism, as distinct from Social- Democracy and Trotskyism, is due to Stalin. … Stalin’s understanding of Leninism is the correct understanding of Marxism-Leninism. This understanding has brought the communist movement to its present stature. … To black out Stalin would … mean invitation to all sorts of counter-revolutionary ideas to pass off as Marxism-Leninism. … In short, it would objectively uncrown Lenin himself.” Earlier also, Comrade Ghosh, way back in 1948, commenting upon the way Cominform handled the issue of Tito’s deviation, noticed “serious shortcomings in the ideological and political fields of activities in the world communist movement” and influence of “mechanical process of thinking”. Incidents that followed thereafter vindicated his apprehensions in toto. After Stalin’s death, Mao Zedong took some initiative to resolve the ideological differences. A great debate ensued between the CPC under Mao and the CPSU controlled by the revisionist Khrushchev leadership. Two international conferences, one of 12 and the other of 81 Communist Parties were convened but nothing tangible emanated. I have no time to deal with all these in details today.

But having drawn lessons from the way Khrushchevite clique had captured power in the USSR and then began to reverse the process of socialism and alarmed at the infiltration of revisionist thoughts in the CPC itself, Mao Zedong launched a historic cultural revolution, courageously involving the entire party, the state and the Chinese people with a view to wiping out, both individually and collectively, all bourgeois thoughts and culture, all reactionary ideas from the thinking process. For about 10 years, it continued in the form of a countrywide movement of criticism and self-criticism on all important economic, political, social and cultural issues including conduct of the leaders. As a result of this unprecedented political upheaval the revisionist line pursued by Liu Shao-chi, Deng Ziaoping and others was defeated and all capitalist roaders were ousted from the party. Hailing this gigantic social experiment, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh said, “I hold that this Cultural Revolution has a sound scientific basis, judged by yardstick of Marxism-Leninism, and the way CPC is conducting this Cultural Revolution is really magnificent and full of great significance. Communists all over the world who have dedicated themselves to the revolutionary movement have a great deal to learn from it.” However, despite such magnificent achievements of great Cultural Revolution, Comrade Mao issued a very serious warning to the communists of the posterity in the following words, “…struggles against the capitalist-roaders in the Party is the principal task, but not the object. The object is to solve the problem of world outlook and eradicate revisionism. … If world outlook is not reformed, then although 2,000 capitalist-roaders are removed in the current great Cultural Revolution 4000 others may appear the next time… The struggle between the two classes and two lines cannot be settled in one, two, three or four Cultural Revolutions... So we must keep in mind the uprooting of revisionism and strengthening our capability to resist revisionism at any time.”

      Here, I like to mention that Comrade Ghosh after highlighting the outstanding features of this historic event, drew attention to two very important issues, the features of a new type of ‘economism’ and a new type of ‘individualism’ appearing in socialist societies. To quote his words, “In the period of socialist economic reconstruction, there is a danger that a tendency of a new type of economism, of hankering for ‘material incentive’ and ‘benefit’ may grow among the common workers.” “The economism, in the period after revolution, obstructs the workers from being conscious of their responsibility as cadres of international proletarian revolution, hinders their sense of obligation to the society and dampens the urge for complete dedication and sacrifice which is essential for the individual’s freedom, growth and development.”… “As a result, behind the urge of a worker to produce more actually works his sense of privilege and material benefit … to reflect a mentality absolutely incompatible with the basic aim and object of socialism. Such a mentality breeds a typical individualistic and opportunistic trend among the workers.” … “In the socialist society of today, it is the old bourgeois concept of individual freedom and mental make-up that stands in the way of conducting a new struggle for the individual’s freedom and emancipation at this new stage”… “This economism-individualism in a socialist system… I have already termed as ‘socialist individualism’ ” … “The Chinese leadership, in my opinion, while fighting individualism, has moved close to grasping the root cause of the problem. But till now, they have not succeeded in providing a clear and precise theoretical basis of the problem.” ‘‘…while conducting the struggle for the complete victory of socialism, the main object of the struggle for emancipation of the individual should be to transform the antagonistic nature of contradiction existing between the individual necessity and social necessity into a non-antagonistic one.” Thus, Comrade Ghosh not only provided us, following correct Marxist methodology, the genesis of the problem but also, as I have mentioned earlier, clearly stipulated that in order to fight out and overcome this problem, “a more intense and arduous struggle is to be conducted for complete identification of the self-interest with the interest of (socialist) society through unflagging dedication and constant vigil.” This was the “new standard of ethics and human values” he set before the proletarian revolutionaries and exhorted to develop a powerful movement centering round this new concept of communist morality. Otherwise, he forewarned that, “apprehension of the reappearance of the trend of individualism in future … will remain.”..it would give birth to revisionism and that would only let in the restoration of capitalism.”

As those who are extremely concerned about my ill health are requesting me not to prolong my speech further, I would like to conclude with the following words :

After dismantling of the USSR and the socialist bloc, the exuberant imperialists-capitalists unleashed a high-pitched propaganda that socialism is outdated, Marxism is outmoded. Completion of counter-revolution in China, of late, has added further dimension to this orchestrated hype. However, as you could see from the discussion, this  temporary set-back is no renunciation of Marxism-Leninism, no rejection of the scientific basis of communist ideology as there can be no obsolescence of science. The demolition is not of scientific socialism but caused by vulgarization, deliberate distortion of time-tested Marxist-Leninist principles and subversion of socialist programmes by the modern revisionists. It is modern revisionism that is the main hurdle before the task of overthrowing capitalism and establishing socialism. So the direction of the main blow must be against modern revisionism of all hues. All the parties, which harbour and nurture Khrushchevite doctrine of revisionism, have degenerated into social-democratic parties working as forces of compromise between labour and capital. Pointing out the dangerous role of social democracy, Stalin made a very important observation that, “Present day social democratism is an ideological support to capitalism… it is impossible to put an end to capitalism without putting an end to social democratism.” So modern revisionism of all shades has to be dealt out a crushing defeat ideologically, politically and organizationally, all its vestiges must be eliminated from the world. Genuine communists should not slacken even for a moment this prime task.

No doubt, in the pervading darkness, in this crisis period of international communist movement, there is a silver lining. Vanguards of proletarian revolutionary movements in various countries are coming forward to set up genuine communist parties on the Leninist model like the All Union Communist Party of Russia (Bolsheviks) in Russia to resurrect the current of world communist movement. All these fraternal communist parties must develop solidarity and close connections among themselves, exchange views and opinions with a view to combining their struggles for bringing about proletarian revolution in their respective countries. As you all know, we are trying to build up such contacts, establish closer ties with the fraternal parties overseas to discharge our international obligation in expediting world revolution. With these words, I conclude.

Long Live Great November Revolution

Long Live Marxism-Leninism

Long Live Proletarian Internationalism!

 

 

Comrade Nina Andreyeva’s Speech

Comrades,

Presently, the international communist movement is passing through a bad time. Beginning from the time of Khrushchev, the party that advocated dictatorship of the proletariat transformed itself into a social democratic one, the party of the whole people. Taking advantage of the fact that the leadership of the communist party, the CPSU, degenerated, became opportunist, and the leaders of the party elite, turned into “influential agents” of imperialism, world imperialist powers, in connivance with the degenerated leadership of CPSU, undermined the Soviet Union and dismantled it. This fact came to light afterwards.

The last general secretary of the Central Committee of CPSU, M. Gorbachev, two years after he was driven out from the post, openly said in 1993, “My aim of life was to destroy communism”. A fellow-campaigner of Gorbachev, ideological frontliner of counter-revolution, Secretary of CC of the CPSU, mentor of Zuganov, Yakovlev in 2002 said in an interview given to central organ, Popular Workers Union (No.11-12, 2000) – “Bolshevism cannot shirk its responsibility. Abolition of the whole communist system is a must.” Under such “communist” leaders as Gorbachev, Yakovlev and the like the CPSU was sure to perish and exactly that happened.

Being undermined from within, the USSR was torn into pieces and the CPSU collapsed – this may be considered as temporary victory of imperialism in its life and death confrontation against socialism. Imperialism in its effort to destroy USSR has left no stone unturned. Moreover, instead of creating a new man with new morals, with political consciousness, a new man ready to fight tooth and nail, to sacrifice his life to defend socialism, as was done at Stalin’s time, in Soviet era of Khrushchev’s leadership, petty-bourgeois mentality, private-property mentality was encouraged and developed ; this happened in the period after 20th Congress of CPSU when the anti-Stalin hysteria was let loose.

The dismantling of the USSR and the socialist camp is no doubt a very painful incident, but there is nothing unhistorical in it. Great Lenin taught us, “Where there is revolution, there is counter- revolution”. He also taught, “As the revolution grows stronger so the bourgeoisie unites and marshals its power.”

The destruction of the ruling CPSU and dismantling of USSR dealt a hard blow to the international communist movement. It opened the scope for imperialism to tighten its deadly grip over the working class, to take measures in order to intensify the labour of hired workers  and bring down their wages, and to do everything to reap maximum profit.

Imperialism got a scope to take more stringent measures with impunity against communists and the anti-imperialist fighters all over the globe.

Fall of CPSU and collapse of the socialist co-operation among the countries of Eastern Europe delivered a powerful blow to the popular attraction to socialist idea and ideology of Marxism-Leninism among it’s former friendly countries.

During the first ten years of bourgeois counter-revolution in USSR the international communist movement suffered a great shock. Many unstable elements left the movement, thus its position was seriously weakened.

In Europe, euro communism-revisionism flourished. Its founders were Maurice Thoraz and Palmiro Togliatti. Jacques Legion, a French communist and Bolshevik, direct descendant of the fighters of Paris Commune, an encyclopedia of communist movement in Europe, a professional translator from Slav languages into French, publisher of the journal “News from USSR”, writes, “Maurice Thoraz is undoubtedly the pioneer of modern revisionism before Khrushchev and Tito. In an interview given to the English magazine, Times on 18.11.1946, he had openly renounced the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism, of socialist revolution by declaring ‘under the present condition of France, it is possible to attain socialism by a way different from that of Russian revolution; i.e. he indicated an electoral or parliamentary way. De Gaulle found it easy to use Maurice Thoraz in the effort f striking an active collaboratorion between the communist party of France and the bourgeois regime after liberating France from German occupation. After being used, Maurice Thoraz was driven out of the government. It was a happy moment for Khrushchev that in the 20th Congress of CPSU, Maurice Thoraz declared again his “new way to fight for socialism”.

In Soviet Union, in the beginning of the so-called ‘perestroika’, when communist activity was prohibited, out of 19 million members of the CPSU only 5 million stuck to the communist movement. This was a clear indication how deeply the ruling party had degenerated from top to bottom. Among the communist parties, our All Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (AUCPB) was the first to declare its strong adherence to the orthodox, to genuine Marxism-Leninism and its belief in Marxist ideology. Our AUCPB is the first to hold high the banner of struggle against counter-revolution, the banner of Great Lenin and Great Stalin. The founding Congress of AUCPB was held on 8 November, 1991 in Leningrad. It firmly declared the pledge to serve the people. The new ascent of BOLSHEVISM struck fear of death within the elite of party-bureaucrats. Now, to the anti-Soviet elements and party-bureaucrats the word Bolshevik evokes horror, as just during the period of Lenin in the 20th century, it did to the bourgeoisie. At that time the counter-revolutionaries, disguising themselves as “democrats” organized meetings to slander and raise the cry, “Kick out the communists”.

When the top party-bureaucrats had come to know about the founding of AUCPB, from fear of Bolshevism they organized a handful party bureaucrats (the top bureaucrats were afraid of showing their faces) and engineered creation of so-called communist parties. The party-bureaucrats knew it well that a significant majority of the people did not accept the official analysis on the change of society and was still strongly adherent to the socialist values.

In March 1988, my article, “I cannot renounce principles” was published in the magazine, “On Soviet Russia” in “Pravda” and in “Soviet Russia”. I received a large number of letters from the masses of the people at Technological Institute of Leningrad University where I worked. 80 per cent of the letters supported my stand on socialism, against anti-Stalin hysteria, against the  present regime’s design to bring into the limelight the symbols of the fascists —  … the insignia  of the Eastern legion of Hitler’s S.S. (Presently this enemy flag is the state flag of Russia) and only 20 per cent of the letters supported “democracy and glasnost and free enterprise” and threatened me with physical assault.

To prevent the growing influence of our party over the masses of people, a handful of party-bureaucrats quickly propped up their communist parties hostile to us, the AUCPB. After the foundation of AUCPB, first came up Communist Workers’ Party, its leader being V. Tiulkin, now a member of state Duma of Russian Federation. In the beginning of 1992, with the aid of old so-called Marxists but actually Trotskyte platforms within the CPSU propped up the Russian Party of Communists, which afterwards split into two parties.

After the adoption of Constitutional Laws, communist activities were prohibited by the Russian Federation in the beginning of 1993. But even after that A. Yakovlev, member of polit-bureau of erstwhile CPSU, attached to the ideological department of Central Committee of the old CPSU, a leader of counter-revolution joined hands with G. Zuganov and through an understanding with him, Zuganov published an article against that very Yakovlev’s ideas and in that way attracted the law-abiding communists and organized them into the CPRF (Communist Party of Russian Federation). Under the advice of that very Yakovlev, they created the party structure of CPRF. After that, O. Shenin, one of the god-like secretaries of Central Committee of CPSU under Gorbachev, raised his head and in collaboration with Zuganov propped up the so-called Unity of Communist Party (UCP-CPSU).

I repeat, the purpose of building up so many parties was to smash the communist movement and to prevent the growth of our Bolshevik party.

Now a days, the word “Bolshevism”, which the bourgeoisie invented out of their hatred, is being used by revisionists to fight that very Bolshevism. In September 2004, presidential administration itself built a party bearing the same abbreviated form of the name AUCPB. It is now well-known that these “new-Bolsheviks” have chosen the name of the party having the same abbreviated form as ours “as recommended by the responsible office-bearers of the ministry of Russia Federation.” Bureaucrats of different level of Putin administration, part and parcel of Putin’s “vertical power” have joined this party. In February 2005, O. Shenin, driven out of the UCP-CPSU, has built his new party CPSU as a party of communist Bolsheviks. Firstly they have plagiarized many of our principles and yet claim to be Bolsheviks; secondly their bolshevism often proclaims anti-bolshevism, revisionism. They have confused “social” with “socialist” revolution and thus basically support half-bourgeois-half-socialist principles. It is clearly evident by their programme that they are sitting on the fence and thereby are confusing the inexperienced members. O. Shenin spews fierce hatred against AUCPB and continuously publishes provocative and false lampooning criticism against us. The CPSU mainly contains persons like old generals of the army and party men of the erstwhile CPSU and who for long years are on pension. They are eager to speak  from the stage but refrain from doing anything. Moreover, O. Shenin is engaged in spreading slander against the AUCPB on the international level by misinforming and confusing the leaders of the communist parties abroad.

Presently, more than 50 so-called communist parties are at work in the territory of erstwhile USSR. Pyotor Simomne of Ukrainian Communist Party is no different from CPRF of Zuganov. These are all social democratic parties, followers of bourgeois parliamentarism.

There are other communist parties in erstwhile USSR, which according to their constitution, “function within the framework of their state”. So they cannot be called communists.

For the last 10 years, CPRF, the social democratic party of Zuganov is participating in the elections to the state Duma where anti-people laws are being adopted; so they are helping  to strengthen bourgeois restoration.

In my speech, I deal at length to bring into light the problems of the communist movement in the territory of erstwhile USSR, because I intend to further clarify my understanding. This requires that I must place the situation of erstwhile USSR and the communist movement there.

The shattered condition of the communist movement in capitalist countries appears to be a general phenomenon and it is the result of the success of the legal organs of the bourgeois states.

Today the communist movement in all capitalist countries faces one and the same question – how to bring back, to attract the wage-earners to the Marxist-Leninist ideology and socialism, how to imbue the working class with confidence in their strength, how to arouse among them the idea that socialism is the only way for liberation. Naturally, this leads to another question – what should the communists of the former USSR and communists of other countries do and how to do it?

We faced these questions when we built our party, and even today they still remain the focus of the AUCPB. We have thrown light on these questions in our theoretical works and in the documents of Plenum and Congress of our party. I have placed and discussed these questions in my speech delivered at the International Forum of communist and workers’ parties held in Smolney, Leningrad on 5 November 1997 on the eve of 80th anniversary of the Great October Revolution. The speech is titled, “Bolshevism — the theory and practice of international communist movement of 20th century”.

In our opinion, today we live in a situation when instability of social organizations accelerates with the passage of time, it has lost the ground of its steady development, we live amidst a systematic crisis of civilization resulting from the world economic crisis, side by side we see global political crisis along with the destruction of world order and social life. We see ecological problem resulted from the technological activity of civilization. Along with these there is the problem of human individuality.

Imperialism transforms human being into a plain and simple commodity, a commodity for buying and selling; it pushes the society to refuse all spiritual creations of civilization, morals, equality and humanism. Finally, it pushes man to refuse all that is humane.

Productive forces of the society have reached a highly socialized character and have grown to such an extent, that individual ownership of production cannot match with it. The way to make these two complimentary is to organize strikes, revolutionary strikes, which has historically become the only process for the development of productive forces. In this regard Lenin said, “This would be utter folly and totally utopian to think that without applying force, without dictatorship transformation from capitalism to socialism, is possible. This petty-bourgeois democratic anarchist rubbish is being preached since long. Russia, in 1917-18, resolutely supported Marxist theory so that only utter fools or diehard schemers could refuse this truth or confuse this point.” Lenin also pointed out – “For the victory of socialism, it is necessary to raise productive forces to a high degree of development and to prepare the proletariat. The present situation of working class movement demands of us, the communists, that we should prepare the proletariat for revolution. Proletariat ready for revolution is ready to fight for his right. “In course of struggle, working class never perishes; it grows, becomes stronger, more courageous, united, dedicated and tempered in the struggle.”

Today history presents the question like this – either imperialism in its frantic and blind attempt to linger its existence will let loose the world war, now, which might be a nuclear war, or revolutionary proletariat will follow the course of history and rout imperialism and save human civilization from being doomed by nuclear catastrophe.

In order to organize its fight for right the proletariat should have a party of its own. “Proletariat needs its party to fight for and to protect dictatorship. Party is the weapon in the hands of the dictatorship of the proletariat” – said Stalin. Stalin also said, “Revolutionary proletariat should have a revolutionary party, which adheres to a revolutionary theory. Today that theory is Bolshevism, that is, the Leninism in the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution.” Bolshevism is, in general, the theory and tactics of proletarian revolution, and the theory and tactics of dictatorship of the proletariat, in particular.”

Contemporary proletariat needs a Bolshevik party. This is why, the communist parties, active in communist movement, should undergo BOLSHEVIZATION. In short, Bolshevization means adoption of Leninism by a communist party; this means a revolutionary transformation of socio-political system; this means, building of the party basing on democratic centralism, criticism-self criticism and strict and conscious adherent to party discipline. This means, resolute stand against opportunism, revisionism and petty-bourgeois romanticism. Bolshevism means the proletarianization of revolutionary movement, freeing it from tailism, parasiticism, compromise and capitulation.

Communist and workers’ movement must adhere to Leninism on bolshevism because, “An idea becomes a power when it is followed by the people”. “To us theory is the basis on which steps of actions are taken, theory is for confidence.”

Bolshevization of communist parties and communist movements has both subjective and objective process. It is objective, means it is independent of our desire, because it is based on law-governed change of class composition; it is based on opposition to opportunist and compromising course of petty-bourgeois romanticism by revolutionary-proletarian wing of the communist movement.

Subjective process of bolshevism means attainment of a standard in ideological political, preparatory and organizational matters of revolutionary classes and the party, its ability to resolutely lead the masses in movements.

It is impossible for us, the Soviet Bolsheviks, to fully settle the accounts with the bourgeois counter-revolution and finally put an end to it without bolshevizing the communist movement on the territory of USSR.

To us, the Soviet communists, Bolshevization means not only fight for socialism but also for revival of Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics.

While talking on the inevitable task of Bolshevization, we must remind ourselves what Lenin taught us. He said, “If the struggle against imperialism is not inseparably connected to struggle against opportunism then it is nothing but an empty phrase.”

In his essay “international character of October Revolution”, V. I. Stalin showed, “We cannot put an end to capitalism, without putting an end to social democracy within workers’ movement.” He also said, “Social democracy is the ideological prop of capitalism.” Stalin also pointed out that before the final victory of the dictatorship of the proletariat, social democracy may hold in its hand the banner of Marxism, may not reject the idea of dictatorship of the proletariat but in reality they do not do anything to hasten the victory over capitalism, never organize anything that poses threat to capitalism. In this way social democracy verbally takes or almost takes a Marxist stance. Since long social democracy dissociated itself from the essence of Marxism and after the victory of dictatorship of the proletariat, openly and undoubtedly it stood against dictatorship of the proletariat, the offspring of Marxism. That is why Stalin said, “There is an abyss between social-democracy and Marxism.”

About the composition of the party, it is known to all, quantitative composition of the party finally leads to quality. But large quantity does not mean high standard. The CPSU serves as a good example of that. The 19 million strong CPSU collapsed within a few days. But in those very days Workers’ Party of Korea and Communist Party of Cuba stood firm against powerful imperialism. Both People’s Democratic Republic of Korea and Cuba are not very large countries and the population there also are not huge. In spite of this, these two countries are in direct opposition to world imperialism for more than fifty years.

V. I. Lenin taught us, “A very small party may be quite capable to lead the masses. In critical moment, existence of a big party is not indispensable. But to achieve victory the party must be able to feel the pulse of the masses.”

“To be successful, revolutionaries must specifically know who may be his ally in struggle, who is a reliable ally and where is the enemy.”

Within the communist movement the so-called popular forces are, in fact, the allies. In anti-imperialist, anti-globalization movements and in peace movement we may take them with us, but still these movements are yet to be integrated. In order to forge unity and for better results in the struggle against world imperialism, it is imperative to develop co-operation among these three forces that oppose imperialist and fascist ruling regimes of the capitalist countries; in general, activities against imperialism must be united.

Unity of activity of all the forces that stand against imperialist politics of war and international gangsterism may be achieved primarily by setting up one centre of unity which may work through internet and the centre should have the ability to circulate the information in various languages. Initially, those may be English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese and Korean languages. Communist Party of Germany had established such a centre in Europe two years back. But what  a pity! Presently the centre is not working due to internal problems of the Communist Party of Germany related to the security activity of the ruling regime.

Thirteen years back, Workers’ Party of Belgium, Ludo Martin being at the top, had set up such a centre and on it we rested our great hope. But now we see apart from gathering information about legal and extra-legal movements of the world, apart from organizing seminars, presence of communist leaders and adopting well-thought out resolutions, mutual discussions, did not advance any further.

I think that considering the position and the activity of Workers’ Party of Belgium, it is the right place — the Centre of Europe and the headquarters of NATO. We suggest, with a little hope of course, that Workers’ Party of Belgium should come forward and co-ordinate the activities of the communists and other protesting forces of the present world, right at the headquarters of NATO.

So, in my opinion, the question awaits quick settlement.

Some anti-globalization movements are in essence petty-bourgeois movement, some are American type of anti-globalization movement, and some are spontaneous. Instead of anarchism and spontaneity, we must instill in these movements socialist ideology.

One of the principal tasks of the communists and workers’ movement is to establish and strengthen the leadership of communist and workers’ parties over these movements.

In March 1919, when Lenin was alive, Communist International was established, which played a very important role in the massive growth and development of international communist movement and proletariat parties in different countries. Ideological and tactical foundation of Comintern was Bolshevism. In the beginning when Comintern started functioning, Stalin placed the question about Bolshevization of the communist parties of the world, which is the foundation of idealogy, tactics and organization of Leninism, which means the quantitative and qualitative growth of the communist party; the party which is uncompromising to the enemies of socialism and eager to fight for social rights of the workers and labouring masses.

Comintern extended all-out support to communist and workers’ parties of the world and national liberation movements in different countries.

After the victory of bourgeois counter-revolution in the USSR and collapse of the Soviet Union, the leaders of different communist parties repeatedly raised the question of revival of Comintern. But the task is yet to be fulfilled because none of the functioning communist parties of the world is capable of fulfilling the task. The question may be solved positively if a ruling communist party of a socialist state shoulders the task. Presently, the Workers’ Party of Korea and Communist Party of Cuba are conducting incredible and protracted struggle against world imperialism, foisting their attacks one after another, for last fifty years. Full strength of these two revolutionary communist parties aims at protecting the achievements of socialism. Our duty is to stand by them.

Communist Party of China is no more in a ‘sitting on the fence’ position. In reality, they are not taking any part in the communist movement. Peoples Republic of China being desirous to be a superpower, has stepped back from socialist principles, has given legal right to private ownership of means of production. Near the capital city and other large cities, five storied buildings for party bureaucrats and business elites have been raised. They just shut their eyes to growing inequality between rich and poor year after year. Due to rise of the cost of medical service, hike in the fees not only of higher education but also of school education, many citizens are deprived of medical treatment or education.

Communist Party of China has already become “party of the whole people”. Businessmen are taken into the party. May we ask: whose interest they are upholding? The process through which China is going is the same counter-revolutionary process followed in the Soviet Union. In any case, China cannot be considered now as a socialist state. The process through which Vietnam is going is similar to that of China.

The communist parties of the capitalist states are working under different material condition and with scanty resource. So, none of those are in a position to revive Comintern, though leaders of some parties pretend to be capable. Recently, the very anti-Stalinist, opportunist O. Shenin who hides his anti-communist character with revolutionary phraseology and posing himself to be a dedicated fighter for Bolshevism, claims that he can revive Comintern. But we think that this is only to invite the ruling regime to further strengthen his CPSU. This is exactly what Shenin wants, that is to undermine the opposition and thereby destroy the world communist movement. These party bureaucrats are habituated to talk tall and thereby mesmerize the audience.

Then comes the question, who is able to lead the world revolutionary process?

Great Lenin taught us, “Our theory is not a dogma but a guide to action.” For this it is necessary “…to apply general and fundamental principles of communism in the particular condition of relations between classes and parties, in the particular and objective stage of development of society towards communism, which varies from country to country which we must work out, grasp and learn.” “… we must be able to find which link of the chain we must catch hold of with all our might at our command and then proceed to hold the next link; thus by catching link after link we shall proceed. We must observe every link, its form, its structure, its particular feature that is different from the other links in the chain of history. This is not an easy task.”

We think that in present Russia there is such a link, which we must hold with all our might. To the Soviet communists it is nothing but the scientific theory of Bolshevism. This means –

   we have experience of preparation and conduction of a successful socialist revolution (surely taking into consideration the reality of present era, availability of high standard of information communicative system, and very powerful oppressive machinery of the state)

   we have rich experience of 70 years of successful socialist construction under the condition of encirclement by the imperialist powers;

   We have analysis of the mistakes committed in the course of building socialism in the USSR. We have the knowledge of the causes which has given scope to the counter-revolution to be temporarily victorious;

   we have political organization, a staunch follower of Bolshevism, that is the All Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks ;

   we have a younger generation, politically conscious, ready to go with us, ready to give shape to the party programme;

   We observe, the citizens who want the revival of socialism are growing in number. Through survey it is found that presently 39% of them support socialist values and only 12% are in opposition (the rest is non-committal);

   Russia is in an extreme of socio-national crisis. Not only destitutes and wage-workers fell victim to it, but the ruling class the “democratic elite” also feels the heat;

   We see, more and greater number of people, part time workers from Soviet Republics are migrating into the cities to earn some money for their family left in their home, in their independent states. They may be our supporters;

   ruling class does not have one and single political party which reflects and protects their class interest. (There is a crowd, almost similar parties with different names having officers and members of the old CPSU, etc.)

According to Lenin, “Revolution cannot be engineered, cannot be lined up through a programme, to issue an order for revolution is futile, revolution grows in a course.”

    “the course of revolution cannot be predetermined… useless to call up a revolution. We can only work for revolution to mature.” “Social confidence in revolution means the revolution has started.”

From the above teachings of Lenin, we may know our task – “ To WORK FOR REVOLUTION.” This is the voice we raised in the 4th Congress of AUCPB held in April, 2005.

We, the Bolsheviks, have faith in Revolution.

 

[Since all quotations of Lenin used in the text are from Collected Works of Lenin in Russian language editions, the references have not been mentioned here ; and free translation from Russian have been made Responsibility of translating the speech in English from Russian is ours. — Ed. Proletarian Era]

 

 

Speech by Comrade Heather Cottin

The world communist movement is at a crossroads.  There is now a clear understanding that Imperialism is both weaker and more dangerous than it has ever been.  Pushed to the wall, the Bush administration is likely to invade Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, or Belarus.

There is a sign on Donald Rumsfeld’s wall, “When faced with an unsolvable problem – expand the problem.”  This war in Iraq is an unsolvable problem; Lt. Gen. William Odom, former director of the National Security Agency, has called this war “the greatest strategic disaster in United States history.”

 

The bourgeoisie is dangerous

Capitalism is both more aggressive and more vulnerable than ever before.  In the United States during the recent oil swindle, the oil companies forced millions to pay so much for petroleum that profits rose 75%!

 

The bourgeoisie is shameless

The cost of the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, and beyond, and the outrageous tax breaks for the bourgeoisie has created a six trillion dollar national debt, with a huge debt service.  US taxes go to banks and the war profiteers.

People don’t understand it very well.  The bourgeois media keep them ignorant.

 

The crisis

In the US the number of people who are hungry rose to 38.2 million in 2004, an increase of 7 million in five years.  This represents nearly 12 per cent of US households.  Close to one billion dollars will be cut this winter from nutrition programs for the poor, and cutbacks are also planned for poor farmers and for conservation projects.

 

The bourgeoisie is heartless

From the scandals of the Bush administration, to the theft of every service that made life possible in the capitalist world, the bourgeoisie is on a path of corruption, war and emiseration.  This is clear in the US, but it is clear too in France and Germany where unemployment remains above 10%.  In Europe, social services have been cut back in favour of more military spending for Imperial designs and tax breaks for the rich.

Refugees from Eastern Europe have entered the Western European job market, and this has enabled the capitalists to lower wages to all workers.  But racists and reactionaries have promoted ethnic strife, as if the cause of the economic downturn in Europe is the number of jobless Turks or North Africans or Poles seeking work.  But it is capitalist control over the means of production that is to blame. 

Imperialism, as Lenin taught us, is the highest stage of capitalism; and it is devouring human beings in every corner of the world. Imperialism, which the capitalists call “globalization” is crushing the working classes everywhere through “free trade,” privatization and de-industrialization.

Conditions are abysmal in the Third World, where hunger, disease, homelessness, landlessness, and illiteracy ravage the poor.

The US-controlled United Nations promised five years to promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), “with a 50 percent reduction in extreme poverty and hunger; universal primary education; reduction of child mortality by two-thirds; cutbacks in maternal mortality’’, and a host of other goals.  But in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, conditions have gone from bad to worse.

Cuba’s U. N. Ambassador Dr. Ricardo Alarcon said recently, “Very little has been done to reach these goals.  In many of these areas there has been outright setback.” (UN: 9/16/05)  He said also, “The new U.S. sponsored “reforms” would have war and hegemony become the norms of the whole world.”

Fidel Castro said recently:

“Hunger continues to be a daily reality for 852 million people while trillions of dollars are spent on weapons that will kill the hungry, not hunger.  Debt services paid in 2004 was five times what the South received as official aid for development, and 13 million children continue to die every year from preventable diseases, while another trillion dollars is misspent on mind-numbing advertising.”

U. S. imperialism wields economic and military control everywhere. It has over 120 military bases around the globe.  New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, pointed out in 2002, “The hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden fist.  McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell-Douglas” a leading US weapons manufacturer.

No matter how many times the bourgeois media says that socialism failed in the USSR or in Eastern Europe, the fact remains that capitalism has brought privation and degradation to the former socialist countries.

*   Between 1988 and 1998, absolute poverty rates in Eastern Europe and Central         Asia increased from 2 to 21 percent; things have worsened since then.  In the formerly communist countries of Central Asia, millions of children languish in poverty.  In Azerbaijan and Tajikistan annual per capita spending on public health has declined, despite a 10 per cent rise in national income between 1998 and 2001.  That income went to the new rich, taken from the mouths of babes.

*   About 50 per cent of the population in Kyrgyzstan lived below the poverty line in 2002.  During the 1990s the population of Tajikistan increased by 14 per cent.  Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the poorest countries in the CIS, the situation is worsening.

*   60 per cent of the 7.6 million people of Azerbaijan, 3 million of whom are children, live in poverty, is spite of the rich oil resources of the country.

*   The total number of people living in poverty in the former socialist countries in 2003 was about 150 million.  The single largest group of impoverished Russians is able-bodied men in their 30s and 40s.  About 25 per cent of Russian households are poor.  Many of the poor belong to the 30 million pensioners.  Unemployment is rampant in the once-prosperous and productive towns the Soviets built in the distant North.

*   Poverty in Russia’s countryside is as bad as it was before the Bolshevik Revolution.

*   Georgia, a country of four million people, has a foreign debt of $1.7 billion.  Unemployment is 30 per cent.  In the Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia & Middle East, people have been pauperized.  And the US and the other imperialists dragoon the youth of these countries and rob their wealth to expand NATO.

*   Since NATO destroyed the last socialist government of Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 35% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.  There is a 30 per cent unemployment rate in Serbia, 50 per cent in Kosovo.

*   In Eastern Europe, under socialism, national groups enjoyed autonomy, but now, the Roma (gypsy) community is hounded and repressed, 10 times poorer than any other group.

*   Under socialism, women were educated and employed.  Children and single mothers received all the education and health care and housing they required for a decent life.

*   Now, nearly 62 per cent of families with three or more children less than six years old are poor. Single-parent households are much more likely to be poor than other types of families.  Women head more than 90 per cent of such households.

*   Under capitalism, the sex trade takes its victims predominantly from the women and children of formerly socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe over 200,000 individuals are trafficked annually from Eastern Europe – most of them children.  Girls as young as 13 are trafficked, their destination is Western Europe.

     (http://meero.worldvision.org/st childrenincrisis.php.) 

Prostitution rings bring minors from the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern European countries to the German border.  Bus stops, gas stations and rest stops on the border provide child prostitutes for German men.

*   Agence France Presse reports that women with small children in their arms hand over the children to sex tourists.  The victims were mostly from large desperately poor families. (October 28, 2003)

This is what capitalism does.  This is the grim harvest from the destruction of socialism.  Bourgeois foundations, like George Soros’ Open Society Institute, the Ford Foundation, Oxfam, talk about “poverty reduction”, or “Misery reduction.”  But those are capitalist panaceas, and their function is to hide the depredations of capitalism.  Imperialist and comprador bourgeoisie with their state apparatus have sold the patrimony or the people of these regions to the highest bidders. 

The countries of Central Asia are rich in petroleum, natural gas, and human resources, but their people are dying of cold and hunger.

Capitalism and war bring misery to the people of the world.  The only system that can eliminate these scourges is socialism, and only socialist revolution can bring that about.  That is the lesson of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Lenin saw that World War I and the oppression of the working classes and the peasantry throughout the world necessitated the overthrow of the bourgeois state.  That is the central lesson of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The working classes around the world need Leninist leadership to point out that imperialist war and the expansion of capitalism are the main causes of their oppression.  Workers everywhere need their own independent organization.  A party : a proletarian Communist Party.

Women must become leaders in Leninist vanguard parties because the revolution will rescue their sisters who are the victims of the sex trade.  This trade is ravaging India, Thailand, Brazil, Pakistan, the Philippines, Haiti, and Guatemala, not just the former socialist countries.

Lenin told us that, “the domination of the world [by the imperialists] has brought the ‘swallowing’ of all the forces of society by the rapacious state power close to complete catastrophe.”  He said “an organization of revolutionaries as an essential factor in “making” the political revolution.”  He recalled Marx’s profound remark that ‘‘the destruction of the bureaucratic-military state machine is the precondition for every real people’s revolution.”

The proletariat in Russia in 1917 had high consciousness.  They had organized Soviets throughout the cities, and throughout the country. Their leaders were professional revolutionaries in a vanguard party. They studied, organized, and decisively denounced any who tried to diminish their revolutionary truth.

Today, the proletariat of many countries are lacking that spirit because of many factors, not the least of which is the terrible manipulation of minds by bourgeois media, foundations and governments.  But there must be vanguard parties to lead the people.

In some countries, the consciousness of the proletariat is sharp.  Cubans are armed and ready to defeat any imperial intervention.  In Venezuela, the  people are vigilant against imperialism.  In parts of the Third World there are militant vanguard parties leading the working class, such as the Socialist Unity Centre of India, the New Peoples Army in the Philippines, the ELN and FARC-EP in Columbia.

In the United States, class-consciousness is low.  Conditions have in the past 25 years deteriorated for the working class, but they remained un-class-conscious until Hurricane Katrina.

This was not just a terrible storm.  It blew winds of change within the Black and Latino communities.  It brought class-conscious Blacks and Latinos as well as poor whites into solidarity.  It awakened class-consciousness among workers because they actually saw poverty and racist oppression on TV.  The media hid this until Katrina.

The US bourgeoisie and its state apparatus have always been indifferent to the lives of poor and African American people.  But now everyone knows it.

George W. Bush rescued no one poor.  He awarded $62 billion to Halliburton and Bechtel in reconstruction contracts.  They also had the business in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  The stock market rose to the year’s high.  Katrina profits.

The whole world watched as mostly Black people died on their rooftops, on the streets, in the Superdome, no one to the rescue, no water or food.  When poor blacks commandeered school buses to save their neighborhoods, they were arrested.  2000 young men are now in prison in Louisiana for trying to save their families and communities.

The US put martial law in the Gulf States.  In the Houston Astrodome the military shot two youths trying to open a soda machine so that people could slake their thirst.  Shot them dead.  Only recruiters urging young evacuees from Katrina to fight in Iraq were allowed into that stadium.

In New Orleans, violence came from racists and mercenaries who gunned down Black people. The media called the Black people looters, but the bourgeoisie looted New Orleans.

The US knew such a storm could kill poor people.  They let it happen.  The government diverted money to fix the levees in New Orleans to the war effort in Iraq.  Racists now speak of a New New Orleans.  Without Black people.  According to the United Nations Charter, the evacuees should have the right of return.  But the federal, state and local governments have made returning to New Orleans for Blacks a crime.

Black people know how the US government kept Cuban doctors and Venezuelan aid ships out of New Orleans.  Some now understand that imperialism and socialism are opposites.

People have sentimental feelings about animals, and the evacuees from Katrina had to leave their pets to die.  The US media (incredibly) explained that socialist Cuba not only protected its people from hurricanes, they also saved Cuban cats, dogs, chicken, pigs and goats.  This showed one difference between socialism and capitalism.  Important lesson.

More hurricanes swept the Americas.  Terrible mudslides killed thousands in Central America, and people learned that the multinationals, logging of the precious wood from that region, caused the hills to collapse in the rain.

An earthquake just devastated Pakistan.  A hundred thousand and more died, will die because capitalism is not organized to help or save poor people.

The people of the world need a new system.  At the mercy of nature and bourgeois indifference, under fire in imperial wars, languishing from hunger and privation from imperial policies, billions are in extremis.  Capitalism kills.

Lenin said in 1917,

“By educating the workers’ party, Marxism educates the vanguard of the proletariat, capable of assuming power and leading the whole people to socialism, of directing and organizing the new system, of being the teacher, the guide, the leader of all the working and exploited people in organizing their social life without the bourgeoisie and against the bourgeoisie.”

We need Leninist revolutionaries.  We need socialism.

 

Comrade Khalekuzzaman’s Speech

Respected President, honoured leaders from abroad, central leaders of the SUCI, comrades and friends!

Red Salute and revolutionary greetings to you all from the Socialist Party of Bangladesh and the exploited masses of Bangladesh!  

I thank the organizers for inviting me and Comrade Mobinul Haider Chowdhury to attend this august gathering on behalf of our party and for the opportunity to address this gathering.

 

Comrades!

The  lessons of the  November Revolution of 1917 are as extensive as they are profound. The working class of Russia successfully accomplished this huge and giant enterprise 88 years back under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party and Comrade Lenin. This revolution was for freeing the human civilization from the confinement of capitalist civilization in order to make it attain a higher stage, that is a socialist revolution. Karl Marx provided the guidelines for this 175 years back, with Engels as his associate. Marx gave shape to the scientific ideological structure of communism through deep search for knowledge and truth and life struggle conducted in identification with the working class, by further expanding and coordinating the advances made by man in the spiritual world centering round capitalist civilization, such as — British economics, French sociology, German philosophy and European science — and by embodying the historical and social urge for changing the society that had developed through collective struggle of the working class of the world, including the united movement and rebellion of the workers-peasants of Britain and France, and the longing that had been generated among the working class for emancipation from the shackles of wage slavery.

Man appeared in the course of evolution of the living world 2/3 million years ago. The evolutionary development into modern man dates from over 150 thousand years back and the formation of human society dates back to 12/13,000 years. Primitive clan society continued for about 6 to 7 thousand years followed by 4 to 4.5 thousand years of slave society. Thereafter came the feudal society which lasted for about 2,500 years. Capitalism appeared when feudalism had reached its closing phase. Capitalism within 300 to 350 years assumed reactionary character and so arose the historical and social urge for a yet higher society. Then it can be said that Marx, keeping in view this social urge set the goal of attaining a classless communist society from the class-divided society and called the transition period between the two socialism, quite distinct from the earlier concept of utopian socialism. The November Revolution translated into reality this scientific concept of Marxism.

At present, capitalism is 500 years’ old. Side by side, 88 years have passed since the inception of socialist civilization. A civilization, when it develops, does not get established and become durable at one stroke. The capitalist civilization, too, had to advance through many ups and downs. November Revolution also bears out the truth that Marxism is a science that cannot advance without creative application. We can consider 1893 to 1917 to be the period of preparation for this revolution. Then came the revolution in 1917 followed by the years 1917 to 1956, the period when socialism was built up. And 1956 – 1989 was the period when the germs of capitalism ate into the body of socialist society, making for a return to capitalism along the revisionist path. And in 1990 came the re-establishment of capitalist-imperialist system. Since then, the broken up pieces of erstwhile Soviet Union have been setting examples of worst decadence. In order to make socialist revolution successful in any country in the present times, lessons of each of these stages of Russian revolution – both of its method of struggle and attainment and of its subsequent decadence – are very important. From that angle, today’s programme assumes importance and significance. The November Revolution became successful because Lenin could uphold teachings of the Marxist creative science in various spheres – on the question of the principles and ideological struggle of a correct revolutionary party from 1903 onwards, in the scientific exposition and characterization of the post-Marx world situation and that of capitalism attaining the stage of imperialism in 1916, on the strategy and tactics of the coming revolution in the post-February revolution period in Russia including the April Thesis, etc. Despite presence of much possibility and unexpected force and power of workers’ movement in countries like Germany, England and Hungary, revolution could not be successful there. Rather, along the path of distortion and deviation, fascism-Nazism was born in Italy-Germany.

You are fortunate that Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, the founder of the SUCI and one of the foremost Marxist philosophers of the era, has left the imprint of creativity of his revolutionary struggle on many a question including the investigation of the ideological-philosophical-cultural-political roots of revisionism, on the concept of ethics of a revolutionary party of the proletariat, on problems posed by individualism in the era of decadent imperialism-capitalism and even on the problem of individualism appearing in a socialist society and how to combat it. We firmly believe that you will be able to turn the possibility of revolution in India into a reality if you can carry forward uninterruptedly his teachings side by side with the lessons of November Revolution. We consider that his teachings will be conducive to and effective in advancing the revolutionary movement in our country as well as in other countries of the world.

Comrades!

Just as the crisis of the capitalist-imperialist system is intensifying more today on the one hand and they have pushed the whole world towards war and war frenzy, on the other, the rationality and potential of world communist movement are also being more clearly manifest. But the proletarian movement is stricken with a host of problems like widespread lack of unity, lack of co-ordination between the revolutionary struggles in the countries, the absence of an international centre despite the socialist movement being international in character, weakness in coordination and consolidation of the worldwide struggles of workers-peasants under the globalized capitalist-imperialist economy, newer, diverse manifestations of revisionism, the lagging behind of the communist movement in the context of combating the constant attacks, conspiracy-machinations and tactics of capitalism-imperialism, etc.

We consider that the SUCI can play an important role in freeing the world communist movement from such problems. We expect to have from your party some guidelines in this light. In conclusion, I would like to make the following 3 proposals on behalf of our party.

1.   The present time demands that the parties adhering to socialism all over the world should exchange the experiences gained in their struggles and build up unity through uninterrupted ideological struggle. In this process, we can gradually advance towards forming a Communist International by overcoming the past weaknesses and limitations. Some initiatives with this aim are already seen in parts of the globe. It is important to coordinate and widen such initiatives through regular contact.

2.   In order to co-ordinate the anti-imperialist struggles that are going on in country after country, it is necessary, through efforts of communist revolutionaries, to have a central co-ordinating body for directing the anti-imperialist movements, which would advance the local and national movements in a coordinated stream in the world arena.

3.   A capitalist-imperialist, globalized, so-called free market has come into being. Keeping this perspective in view, establishment of an international body and its local branches can be considered in order to coordinate the struggles of the workers-peasants from country to country of the globe to advance these along the revolutionary stream. Our expectation is that the SUCI will play an important role in all these.

Fighting Comrades!

After counter-revolution succeeded in the erstwhile Soviet Union formed through the November Revolution in the train of revisionism practised since 1956, the world capitalist-imperialist camp had burst into wild ecstasy. But that rapture has died down. On the other hand, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist struggle with socialist orientation is rising worldwide. India and Bangladesh are no exception to this. I conclude by expressing the determination to carry forward the struggle towards the ultimate goal and thanking you, once again.

Workers of the World, Unite!

Long Live Revolution!

 

 

Comrade Nisha’s Speech

Comrade Nisha from MLCP Turkey said that it was difficult for her to talk in English so she would keep her address very brief.

Hailing the comrades of the SUCI party and comrades from abroad on behalf of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Turkey and North Kurdistan, she said: It is a great honour for me to carry to you the message of struggle and fraternity of the working class and oppressed people of Turkey and Kurdistan. I want to once again hail the October Revolution in the name of our party. Not very much time has passed since the imperialist-capitalists celebrated their so-called victory after the collapse of the revisionist bloc and declared the eternal superiority of capitalism. But within a very short time following its own course the ugly face of imperialism-capitalism has been revealed. That is not because of any contribution of the international communist movement, but the harsh reality of life itself shows that capitalism cannot free humanity from barbarism, wars and exploitation. Today capitalism has become even more aggressive, is launching wars, intensifying exploitation and bringing down more and more attacks on people’s rights including neo-liberal attack among others.

She said, we think that even in such a situation with the present level of development of capitalism, Lenin’s theory that it is possible to achieve revolution in a single country still holds true. Apart from this we think the objective basis for revolutions on a regional scale have increased and one of the many tasks the communists everywhere in the world have is to discuss and analyse this situation and create political means and answers to this situation. The communist movement also has the task of intensifying and coordinating the anti-imperialist struggle all over the world. But unfortunately when the communist movement is confronted with such a huge task, it is suffering from an ideological and organizational crisis. This is not a crisis of Marxist ideology; Marxism is the invincible philosophy of emancipation of mankind. But the problem is that when there is a need to provide correct answers on political and ideological questions of the world based on this ideology, the communist parties in different countries have failed in this respect. As a result, the collapse of the revisionist bloc has created a void in class thinking and class identity. Instead of class identity what has become impressed on people is feminist identity, ethnic and communal identity, NGO identity etc. The bourgeoisie have succeeded even if temporarily in creating the idea that people do not need a party or organization. This situation brings home what huge and manifold tasks the communists of the world are confronted today in order to give defeat to and overcome the influence of imperialists. Therefore, we think the communists need to make concrete and correct plans in order to achieve closer fraternal relations between different communist parties, to unify and coordinate the world communist movement. We believe that on the basis of equal rights, criticism and self-criticism and concrete political, ideological and organizational activities, the communist parties need to build up unity.

Comrade Nisha said : The world communist movement took lesson from the Paris Commune. We also must take lesson from the October Revolution and the subsequent fall of the revisionist bloc and in this way, we can overcome the present problems and fulfill the huge tasks of the communist movement.  She said : I would like to hail this meeting again with our belief that the world proletariat, world communist movement will win in the light of the great October Revolution.

Long live Marxism-Leninism !

Long live revolution !

Long live socialism !

Long live proletarian internationalism !

 

Presidential address of  Comrade Tapas Dutta

In his presidential address in Hindi, Comrade Tapas Dutta briefly touched upon the way Lenin concretely applied the science of Marxism on the Russian soil to bring about the first proletarian revolution in the world and then protected   socialism  from  the hostile encirclement of the imperialist forces. Paying glorious tribute   to   Lenin,   Stalin compared him with a mountain eagle having a roving and probing eye into everything, every problem. After Lenin’s demise, the mantle fell on Stalin to carry forward the work of socialist construction which was accomplished with unprecedented speed. The targets of 5-year plans were achieved before time.   Hitler   pounced   upon USSR with its fascist military might. More than 20 million Soviet citizens and soldiers sacrificed their lives to defeat   the  menacing fascist forces and within no time, re-construction of war-ravaged USSR was done under Stalin’s leadership. It was the impression  of  the  entire  world  people  that only  Stalin  could  save  the  mankind.    But after his death, the revisionist Khrushchev leadership destroyed everything, dismantled the socialist state. Had Stalin been alive, such would not have been possible. All these you have heard, so far. I will not add anything more. I thank  all  of  you for patiently listening to all the speakers.

 

 

Comrade Nina Andreyeva to

AIDSO and AIDYO Comrades

On 26 November morning, Comrade Nina Andreyeva, general secretary, All Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, visited central office of the SUCI in Calcutta and sat with the Central Committee members of the party to exchange views and opinions on important socio-political issues. After this meeting, the members of the AIDSO and AIDYO met Com. Nina to convey their revolutionary greetings and presented her, apart from copies of organ and literature of their organizations, a memento with a portrait of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, great leader of the proletariat, along with a quotation culled from his works embossed on it.

 Receiving the memento, Com. Nina stared at it for a moment and said, “Just by looking at his portrait, one can say that he was a man of wisdom. He is your Lenin.” Comrade Provash Ghosh, member, Central Committee, SUCI, who was standing beside, pointed out, “Com. Shibdas Ghosh considered himself a student of Lenin.” “ That is right”, affirmed Com. Nina, “but he is India’s Lenin”. She then, in her brief address to the members of the AIDSO and AIDYO said, inter alia, “ You are the future of society. It is you who will accomplish revolution in India, steel yourselves for the purpose.”

 

 

Fighting people of South 24 Parganas accord

rousing reception to fraternal delegates from abroad

The leaders of fraternal parties, namely Comrades Nina Andreyeva, Russia, Comrade Nisha, Turkey, Comrade Mobinul Haider, Bangladesh,  were given a mass reception by the All India Krisak O Khetmajur Sangathan (AIKKMS), the organization of the peasants and agricultural labourers, on 27 November at Baharu School Maidan, Joynagar, South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. On their way the leaders were received at different places by organizers and workers of these areas. In Baruipur the leaders were welcomed with flowers and slogans. Flowers were also handed over to Comrade Manik Mukherjee, Vice-President AIAIF. From there a convoy of 20 motor cycles with the red Soviet flag escorted the car with the leaders. On the way at Suryapur, Narayanitala, Dakshin Barasat the leaders were again welcomed and showered with flowers.

As the car reached the Baharu School ground, workers flanking both sides of the road received the leaders with vigorous slogans. The school ground was already crowded and people spilled on adjoining roads, watched from rooftops and windows. Still then processions conti-nued to pour in the ground.

Comrade Yakub Pailan, the South 24 Parganas District Secretary, SUCI, presided over the meeting. Comrade Asit Bhattacharyya, member, Central Committee, was among those present. Comrade Yakub Pailan presented the fraternal leaders with Red Flag. Comrade Renupada Halder, Secretary, KKMS South 24 Parganas district handed over clay statues of toiling men to the fraternal leaders.

 Mass leader and SUCI MLA Comrade Debaprasad Sarkar delivered the welcome address.

Comrade Nina Andreyeva, General Secretary, All Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, congratulated the struggling people present there. She said : our party is struggling to bring back socialism in the former Soviet Russia. I have heard about the glorious history of struggle of the poor against the rich in this region. Here it has been Comrade Shibdas Ghosh who has guided and conducted the revolutionary activities. It was here where SUCI the revolutionary party of India was born. I am very happy to see such a vast gathering of revolutionaries.

She said, socialism is the future of mankind. In India like in Europe - Germany, France, the governments never thought of common people. Socialism alone ensured legal right to employment for all, shelter, free education and medical treatment. Education at the highest level, most advanced medical treatment was provided by socialism free and socialism alone can provide it. Although our wags apparently were low, as we got many things free we faced no actual want. To the Soviet people the future was not uncertain. But after the destruction of socialism common people are not getting education. Even scientists and highly educated people are not getting jobs, they are compelled to peddle drugs. What a tragic wastage of human intellect.

Comrade Lenin established socialism, the only road to emancipation. Great Stalin was his true disciple. Whatever economy was still there it was existing because of the base that Stalin built up.

Imperialism had hated socialism from its very inception. Just after the birth of socialism, the army of twenty imperialist countries surrounded it. Again in 1941 the imperialist fascists swooped down on the Soviet Union. But nobody could destroy our socialism. The old adage goes like this that destruction comes from within, not from outside enemy. The bureaucratic leadership of the deviated party reduced the working class party to “the party of the whole people”. The opportunist leadership dragged the party towards destruction. The setback of Soviet socialism came as a blow to the movement of the toiling people of the whole world. It is the duty of our party AUCPB and all of us to re-establish socialism on the land of the Soviet.

Comrade Mobinul Haider Chowdhury, member, Central Committee, Socialist Party of Bangladesh, congratulated the peasants and agricultural workers assembled there in thousands and said, your locality bears the heritage of the historic struggle of  SUCI and KKMS. We get the news of the struggle of the peasants and agricultural labourers of your locality against the jotedars-money-lenders and capitalist rule and exploitation. This always inspires us in Bangladesh. We are trying to build up peasants’ movement in Bangladesh taking lessons from these struggles. In the meantime our party has made a niche for ourselves in the left politics of the country. Though we are not a large party, we alone organized a meeting of over 15 thousand peasants and agricultural workers, last year. 

Comrade Chowdhury recalled how Comrade Shibdas Ghosh after the demise of Stalin when Khrushchev came out with one accusation after another against Stalin warned the communists that this would virtually strike at the base of socialism and if Khrushchev continued on that path it would jeopardize the very future of Soviet socialism. He said, we were very young at that time and could not really grasp the true implications of this warning. Because the communist movement did not heed the warning, ultimately the inexorable law of history asserted itself and Soviet socialism collapsed, and we are confronted with a grim situation. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh showed how revisionism has gradually eaten into and destroyed socialism from within. He also showed how individualism in capitalist countries and socialist individualism in socialist countries could go against collective interest and threaten socialism.

Comrade Chowdhury said in conclusion : amidst death of hundreds of revolutionaries in India you have kept the flag of struggle flying high. This is inspiring people of entire India and Bangladesh.

Then spoke Comrade Nisha, member, International Bureau, Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Turkey. She conveyed revolutionary greetings to the struggling people present on behalf of the toiling people of Turkey and North Kurdistan. She said, the exploited tortured people of Turkey are fighting against many-pronged attacks of imperialism-capitalism. Turkish   people   are   waging   a blood-drenched struggle against Turkish government’s anti-people policies, back Acts, price rise caused by monopoly capitalism, privatization and against savage police tortures in prisoners and ethnic repression.

She said, I have come to know about the struggle of the people of South 24 Parganas. But people of the world do not know about it because of the blackout by imperialist media. Because imperialism fears the unity and solidarity of the world’s toiling people. But from the science of Marxism-Leninism we know that your struggle and our struggle will certainly be victorious in the end.

Comrade Prativa Mukherjee, President AIKKMS, West Bengal said : You have heard the address of fraternal leaders of different countries. Just as they are engaged in building up a militant worldwide anti-imperialist peace movement, so also they are conducting struggle in their own countries against capitalist rule. It is a matter of great hope that, as we have come to know from Comrade Nina Andreyeva, the AUCPB is struggling to again establish socialism and is advancing steadily.

Recalling the savage attacks that are coming down on struggling comrades in this district, how implicated in false cases 26 comrades have been condemned to life imprisonment, she said, a conspiracy has been waged even against Comrade Probodh Purkait, MLA who was elected to the Assembly from this area nine times on the strength of people’s votes. Implicated in palpably false case he has been awarded life sentence. In this district more than 141 comrades embraced martyrs’ death alone. Every inch of advance we have made is at the cost of blood.

She recalled how in South 24 Parganas Comrade Shibdas Ghosh moved from one village to another to build up peasants and agricultural workers’ movements and Tebhaga movement. He conducted school of politics with peasants, explained Marxism-Leninism to them lucidly and organized school of politics. Leaders like Comrades Sachin Banerjee, Subodh Banerjee, Pritish Chanda, Yakub Pailan, and Amir Ali Halder (who was killed by CPI(M) criminals) they all walked to these villages, to village after village, with the revolutionary teachings of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh and built up organization.

She said, in  an agriculture-based country like India the poor peasants and agricultural workers are the close ally of the working class in revolution. KKMS is a class organization advancing with the aim of establishing socialism. And from socialism worldwide to communism is our ultimate aim.

The meeting ended with the Internationale.

 

 

 

4th All India Conference of Medical Service Centre

Dedicated to the cause of medical ethics and science, the Medical Service Centre (MSC) is today a well-known name in the sphere of health. Be it in super-cyclone ravaged Orissa, in earthquake devasted Bhuj in Gujarat, in Tsunami struck Andamans-Tamil Nadu — wherever calamity strikes the   Medical   Service   Centre teams  can  be  found  on  the  scene working   tirelessly   and    with great dedication to provide medical care. 

Similarly, wherever attacks come down on health-care workers, attacks on people’s right to health care, and in the movement for saving the public health system from   privatization,   against abolition of General Nursing & Midwifery (GNM) course, against capitation fee in government medical colleges, MSC can be found spearheading people’s movements. As a part of this movement, and with the aim to widen and consolidate it further on a national level, the MSC held its 4th All India Conference in Cuttack from November 11-13 last.

Apart from the 825 delegates from 16 states and two Union territories, who attended the conference, leadership of eight other voluntary health organization including Progressive Doctors’ Forum participated. Four doctors from Progressive Doctors’ Forum, Bangladesh also attended. 

The open session of the three-day conference was held at Saheed Bhaban in Cuttack.  Professor Gokulanda Das, former Vice-Chancellor of the Utkal University was the Guest-in-Chief.  The conference began with the hoisting of the flag of the M.S.C., garlanding the memorial column and inauguration of the exhibition. 

The first phase was presided over by the eminent surgeon, Dr. Asim Roychowdhury.

In the next phase, a seminar was held on ‘the yardstick of the entrance of medical education : merit or money’. Professor Dr. Subhash Chakraborty presided. The speakers included Dr. Satyajit Singh, Secretary, Doctors for Peace and Development, Bihar, Debasish Roy, General Secretary, All India DSO, Dr. Subhas Dasgupta, Vice-President, M.S.C., West Bengal State Committee and Dr. Pradip, President,     Andhra    Pradesh Junior Doctors’ Association. The speakers   condemned   capitation fee system and called for building up countrywide movement to resist it. 

In the  third phase, ‘Scientific Seminar’  was  held  where renowned  physicians  deliberated on female   foeticide, cancer awareness, diabetes, handling flood, earthquake or calamities like ‘Tsunami’.  Simultaneously, a seminar was held at the IMA Hall on ‘Privatization and Commercialization of Helath’ participated in by the delegates.

 

 

West Bengal State Conference of UTUC-Lenin Sarani

Within all-pervading gloom in trade union movement in the country and particularly in West Bengal under the rule of the CPI(M) Front government masquerading as left and openly serving the capitalist class interest coupled with the atmosphere of despair created by the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois big trade unions’ anti-struggle and most compromising role the only uncompromising and revolutionary central trade union in the country, 19th West Bengal State Conference of UTUC-LS guided by the great leader of the proletariat Comrade Shibdas Ghosh’s thoughts was held on and from 2-4 December 2005 at Barrackpur, North 24 Parganas to chalk its future course of intense struggle.

The open session of the conference started in the morning of 2nd December with a mass meeting at Hindi School Maidan of Barrackpur.  At the entrance of the meeting place was erected a gate in memory of Comrade Asutosh Banerjee, the departed President of the All India Committee of UTUC-LS.  More than five thousand toiling people, mainly from nearby districts, attended the meeting.  It was presided over by Comrade Sanat Dutta, President of the West Bengal State Committee.  Comrade Anil Sen, President of All India Committee of the organization, delivered the inaugural speech.  Comrade Tapas Dutta, All India General Secretary addressed the meeting as the main speaker.  Besides, Comrades Shankar Saha, Secretary, West Bengal State Committee, Dilip Bhattacharya, Assistant Secretary, West Bengal State    Committee,     Achintya Sinha, Secretary, All India Committee, A. L. Gupta, Vice President also spoke.

The delegate session was held on 3rd and 4th December at Sukanta Sadan.  Altogether 1200 delegates from different sectors and industries attended the delegate session and 122 delegates actively took part in the deliberations over the Secretary’s Report, Resolution and charter of demands. Comrade Provash Ghosh, member, Central Committee and Secretary, West Bengal State Committee of the SUCI addressed the delegate session as the chief guest. Representatives of fraternal central trade unions, Niranjan Chatterjee (CITU), Samar Chakraborty (INTUC), Saral Deb (TUCC), Shyamal Bose (AITUS), Atanu Chakraborty (AICCTU) and Barun Chowdhury (UTUC) also addressed the  delegate  session.   The house unanimously adopted resolution including a 20-point charter of demands.  The demands included, inter alia : stoppage of privatization, disinvestment, corporatization, contraction of work force to implement the policy of globalization   in   the   interest   of the foreign and Indian capitalist class and curtailment of hard-won rights of the workers-employees and oppression on them ; against winding up of different offices of rail, dock and port, central and state governments , tele-com, rail, insurance, bank privatization, V.R.S. and out-sourcing, closing down of different state government and government undertakings and cutting down of staff strength with ADB, DFID money and under their terms by the state government to implement imperialist globalization; merger of 50% DA of state government and semi-government employees ; responsibility of payment of pension to be borne by the government and the employers; stoppage of            lockout, closure, reopening of all closed industries, immediate payment of all P.F., gratuity and ESI contributions to the fund, no amendment of labour laws in the interest of the capitalist class, scrapping of the black agreement of 5th January, 2002 in jute industry introducing production-linked wage and the black agreement of 25 July ’05 in tea industry, repeal of black Electricity Bill 2003, etc.  At the end, a 57-member new state committee with Comrade  A. L. Gupta as the President and Comrade Dilip Bhattacharya as the Secretary was unanimously formed for uplifting the struggle to higher phase in the coming days.

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