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Jayant: How
does your Party, analyse the danger of revisionism and right opportunism in
India and the world?
Shome: Both
revisionism and opportunism have developed side by side with the dawn of
Marxism. During the period of the 1st International, Bakunin, Proudhon, Blancke
and others, through their thoughts and activities, gave birth to the ideologies
of nihilism and opportunism in opposition to Marxism. Later on, the leaders of
the 2nd International, such as Karl Kautsky and Bernstein, went on to denounce
the contents of Marxism while accepting its form only, and as a result the
ideological and political standard of all the parties in the 2nd International
degraded. They refused to accept the probability of revolution as an immediate
programme at the material time. Comrade Lenin had to carry out an intense
struggle against them all, so as to defend Marxism and to develop it to a higher
stage through the accomplishment of the October Revolution. The unprecedented
success of the Russian revolution in 1917 forced revisionism and opportunism to
beat a temporary retreat. In fact, the development of Marxism and Leninism has
only been possible while going through a most severe ideological and political
struggle against revisionism and opportunism.
In today’s world,
especially in India, revisionism and opportunism have been in existence as the
main danger. In the Cominform, formed under the leadership of Comrade Stalin
after World War II, it was the Yugoslav leader Marshall Tito who raised the
banner of revisionism and opportun-ism, in the first place. Though Togliatti and
Thorej, the leaders from Italy and France respectively, followed the footsteps
of Tito, the originator of modern revisionism was none other than Nikita
Kruschev, the renegade and traitor. He revived the capitalist line of the
anti-Leninist leader Bukharin in Russia, in the name of the struggle against
individualism, from behind the mask of opposition to Stalin, with the aim of
giving capitalism a permanent place in the world arena — in pursuance of the
line of Tito. In the way he gave birth to the anti-Marxist-Leninist lines as
were revealed in his treacherous theory, such as ‘Socialism through peaceful
means’, ‘peaceful competition’ and ‘the state of the whole people’,
this revisionist line of Khruschev is being followed in the world today and in
India too. The same has been adopted by the parties like the CPI, CPI(M), SUCI,
RSP etc. As a result, revisionism has come as a great obstacle to the struggle
of the proletariat, peasantry and struggling masses of the world and of India as
well.
Hence, in India as
well as in the world today we will be in a position to isolate and defeat, and
ultimately to destroy revisionism and opportunism only by way of holding firmly
to the teachings of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, with the aim of educating and
organizing the masses for uprooting imperialism, capitalism and feudalism
through the application of the politics of seizure of power through armed
revolution and the line of protracted peoples war in our country.
Jayant: After
the setback of Naxalbari, why was there delay to build a strong revolutionary
movement?
Shome: After the
temporary setback of the great Naxalbari peasant struggle, the widespread
oppression and repression by the state power on the one hand, and the
disintegration, despondency and opportunism within the revolutionary forces on
the other brought about a political opportunity for the established revisionist
parties (particularly the CPM). It enabled them to take the opportunity of
giving publicity among the workers, peasants, students and the middle class
intelligentsia of an exaggerated account of the errors committed by the leftist
CPI(ML) while following its programmes (like annihilation, destruction of idols,
schools and collages etc.). And the same gave rise to the dreadful atmosphere of
slander-campaigns and state repression against them. In that way they had been
able to establish the authority of their revisionist and opportunist politics
among the workers, peasants, students and intelligentsia (Trade Unions, student
organisations, govt. employees associations). At the same time, over the years,
they also took the opportunity of their long standing presence in state power to
blunt the fighting spirit of the masses and the middle class by way of doling up
some short-term benefits and support (like wage-hike of school teachers and
govt. employees, various kinds of loans and relief, documents for negligible
plots of land, work for a few jobless. So, through these few steps in their
revisionist parliamentary politics they had been able to make the revolutionary
forces temporarily isolated from the masses. That is one of the sides of the
whole reality.
The other side, and
the principal one is that, though the peasant struggle of Naxalbari had created
a great revolutionary potential in West Bengal, it was not possible to fight
back properly against the ideological and political onslaught of the
revisionists and to expose their real face because of the prevalent
disintegration, distrust and despondency within the party, as well as due to the
degeneration of a section of the revolutionaries into opportunists, within a
short period. As a result of the disintegration and despondency, the
revolutionaries became isolated from the masses, especially from the toiling
masses and middle class intelligentsia. The revolutionary forces became isolated
even from the existing mass organisations and for that matter from the trade
unions, student and youth organisations and govt. employees’ organisations. Due
to absence of a united party the task of developing a revolutionary struggle by
way of analysing the errors to find a remedy, so as to build up a well organised
party, and at the same time by defeating the revisionists through dissemination
of revolutionary politics among the masses, turned out to be an impossible one.
Jayant: How do
you analyse the rule of 25 years of CPM and its parliamentary path?
Shome:
Revolutionary parties do not play any role, directly or indirectly, in making a
decision on questions like – which one of the parties will be taking over state
power through parliamen-tary elections, or how long it will continue to stay in
power. Of course, the revolutionary struggle may work up conditions for the
development of contradictions, feuds and disinteg-ration among the parties in
state power, thus creating a situation for frequent changes in the power
structure of the state. That, the revolutionaries have not been able to create
such a situation in West Bengal, is one of the reasons behind the uninterrupted
presence of the CPM and for that matter the ‘left front’ in the seats of power
for the last 25 years.
The other reason is
that the political bankruptcy and gambling of the parties in opposition
(Congress, TMC etc.), and the feuds and opportunism within their leadership,
have alienated them all from the masses. The parties in opposition have not been
able to organise any fitting mass movement on any basic problem against the
government and thus have failed to confront the rigging machinery of the CPM.
One more aspect of their failure lies in the fact that masses do not find in
them any difference vis-à-vis the present ‘left’ government. This is so because
the masses, with past experience ingrained in them, feel no use in changing the
government.
Jayant: As one
of the founder member of the MCC(I) can you please narrate your experience to
our readers, with the CPM from the 1960s onwards?
Shome: …………Many
of those who had identified the government of India (in the China war) as the
aggressor, including Comrade Charu Majumder, Comrade Saroj Dutta, Comrade Kanai
Chatterejee, Comrade Amulya Sen, Comrade Chandrasekhar Dash had to bear with the
prison sentence, on being arrested. Immediately after they came out of the
prison, the debate on the question of the future of the communist movement in
India against the so-called China-oriented leaders (afterwards the leaders of
CPM), became widespread. And with this in the background, the so-called left and
China-oriented leaders of the Communist Party of India, actually a divided one,
organised their 7th Congress and formed the party named CPI (M) in October 1964.
The line of Dange
i.e. the line of peaceful transition to socialism, was duly incorporated in the
document of the said 7th Congress of the CPM. It was clearly stated in the point
111 of the document that ‘ the communist Party of India (Marxist) would make
endeavour for peaceful transition to socialism.’ The fact is that in the
district level conference held prior to the said conference, Com. Kanai
Chatterjee, one of the leaders of our organisation, placed a document in
opposition for discussions and it was put to vote, wherein Comrade Chatterjee’s
document got 11 votes in its favour. In the said conference, Comrade Chatterjee
also delivered a speech, wherein he branded the document of the 7th Congress as
a revisionist one. As a result, he had to bear with insults and was threatened
that his membership card would be taken away. Afterwards, the situation came
down to normalcy with the intervention of Jyoti Basu, the chairman of the
conference.
Immediately after the
conference there developed contacts among Comrade Kanai Chatterjee , Comrade
Amulya Sen, Comrade Chandrasekhar Das and others on the basis of politics. They
founded an underground ‘revolutionary centre’ within the CPM. The secret
document ‘Chinta’ was first published in March 1965 by the said
revolutionary centre. In the first issue of the document ‘Chinta’ the
class character of the Indian State had been described as a semi-colonial and
semi-feudal one with a form of neo-colonial rule and exploitation. In all six
such documents were published and secretly distributed within the party. Efforts
were also made to form an underground organisation consisting of those who could
be united on the basis of the political line of the said document.
With the increase of
the underground activities and in consideration of the changing situation the
necessity for carrying out an open ideological struggle against revisionism
became evident. Accordingly, it was decided to publish an open mass magazine,
which thus began in the middle of 1966; the publication of the mass magazine ‘Dakhindesh’.
At the time the said magazine, while carrying out intense ideological and
political debate against the revisionists so as to expose them, did also publish
side by side various theoretical articles, exposing the class character of the
Indian state, the semi-feudal production system in rural India, and the sham
parliamentary path. Alongside the analytical writings, showing the Chinese path
of revolution as the path of Indian revolution, various essays by Mao including
essays on protracted people’s war were also published.
Gradually, those who
joined hands in support of the said ideological and political line were made to
attend basic classes on Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-tung Thought, and on the other
hand efforts were made to build up the organisations in the factories and
students on the basis of that line. The food-movement of 1966 played a
significant role in the advancement of that line. Following Mao Tse-tung
Thought, as had been perceived in the prevailing situation, the activities in
the villages were given importance, and in 1966 contacts had developed in the
villages through the magazine ‘Dakhindesh’, and whole timers were deputed
to initiate activities there. Activities in the factories, in the slum areas
populated with workers, and in the student and youth organisations had also been
initiated. During the said period, in May 1967, there occurred the peasant
struggles of Naxalbari. The magazine ‘Dakhindesh’ stood firmly by the
movement and played an important role in carrying out vigorous propaganda in
favour of the struggle. In such a fiery situation, activities like indoor
meetings, pasting of posters, distribution of leaflets, rallies, street meetings
had been carried out almost daily. In the factory premises and the colleges,
debates with the cadres and leaders of the CPM had been going on regularly, and
sometimes the same ended in skirmishes.
The next part of the
history revolved round the task of giving shape to an organisation comprising of
those revolutionaries who had accepted the part of the history round the task of
giving shape to an organisation comprising of those revolutionaries who had
accepted the political line and path of Naxalbari and severed their connections
with or revolted against the revisionist parties and thus came into being the ‘Committee
in Support of the Naxalbari Peasant Struggle’, for organising widespread
campaigns in favour of the Naxalbari Struggle. In spite of the presence of so
many independent groups and periodicals, which had taken roles in the campaigns,
the committee played an important role at that time. Subsequently the struggling
committee was dissolved and the ‘ West Bengal State Co-ordination Committee’
was formed in its place. The last stride that was taken at the time was the
formation of the ‘ All India Co-ordination Committee’, followed by the
formation of the revolutionary party, CPI(ML) in 1969……..The revolutionary line
was born as an inevitable continuation of the ideological and political struggle
in the international communist movement. Our organisation came to be known as
the ‘Dakhindesh’ group, after it revolted against the CPM and came out of
it. Later on, the Maoist Communist Centre was formed on 20 October 1969 on the
basis of the said political line. After that the great Telangana struggle, the
said revolutionary line was put into practice for the first time by the
revolutionary communists of Darjeeling district under the leadership of Comrade
Charu Majumder, in the new background of the International and national
situation.
Jayant: Your
movement in Bihar-Jharkhand (and other border states too) impacted positively
the Indian revolutionary movement in particular and the world socialist movement
in general. But, what problems did you face to build a strong movement in Bengal
? Please explain.
Shome: To find a
correct answer to this question, we will have to carry on extensive analysis and
research. But in short, it may be said that in comparison with Jharkhand and
Bihar, the uneven socio-economic condition, the absence of a favourable terrain
and the dominance of the revisionists have all come as obstacles to the
development of any struggle. The other reasons have been discussed in the answer
to question no. 2.
Jayant: What
are the main repression forms today on West Bengal’s revolutionary movement led
by the MCCI and the PW parties, by the CPM govt.?
Shome: The CPM
led ‘left’ front government of West Bengal has been carrying out their
social-fascist oppression and repression against the revolutionary struggles,
especially on the struggles led by the MCCI and the CPI(ML) PW. They are
preaching democracy by word of mouth, while on the other hand they have been
carrying out activities such as torture and murder with the help of police and
goons against the cadre and sympathisers of their political rivals (including
even the parliamentary parties). They are engaged in a widespread
slander-campaign against the revolutionaries: so as to brand them as terrorists,
followers of the politics of annihilation, agents of the ISI, anti-nationals,
etc. with a view to alienate the revolutionaries from the masses. The police and
the goons have joined hands to organise raids in the villages. They are driving
out the revolutionaries with their families from their villages, houses are
being ransacked and belongings in the household looted. Poor people are being
arrested on fabricated charges and are kept in detention for a long period, thus
depriving them of their right to livelihood. In case the police fail to detain
their designated accused, the members of the family or of the neighbouring
family are detained. The members of such families are coerced into joining the
CPM. Those who do not oblige are not allowed to cultivate their land or to take
up any job whatsoever. Their ration-cards are confiscated and their children are
barred from joining classes in the schools. In the cities, towns and villages
the CPM have made lists of the revolutionaries for the police. The police, on
the basis of the lists are carrying out arrests without any warrant at the dead
of night, and then bring them to the lock-up in the police station for torture
or applying third degree methods on them. Numerous instances of torture and
repression may be cited. The CPM in power is not at all a left and democratic
power, on the contrary its politics and activities are serving the interests of
imperialism, feudalism, the capitalists, big traders and contractors. They are
now going to take away the workers’ right to strike work. They oppose POTA in
words but utilise the same in practice. Like Mussolini, the fascist leader of
Italy, the leaders of the CPM are afraid of revolution and have transformed
their party into a fascist one.
Jayant: What
is your message to revolutionary masses on the occasion of Com. Lenin’s birth
anniversary ?
Shome: On the
birthday of great Lenin we appeal to the masses:
The present
parliamentary system has not been made for looking after the interests of the
masses. This system has been created for serving the interests of the foreign
masters (imperialists) and their Indian agents, the big bourgeoisie and feudal
lords. Do reject this system disdainfully. This vote-based system is responsible
for all the wrongs, injustice, sufferings in the lives of millions of peasants,
workers, students, youths, small traders and the middle class intelligentsia.
Hence, to fight against the anti-people system and against each and every
instance of exploitation and oppression, we should firmly hold on to the path
following the teachings of great Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution
i.e. the path of ‘seizure of power through armed revolution’. This is the
only way that will enable us to achieve real freedom and democracy, and to build
a new India by uprooting imperialism, the big capitalists and feudalism. |
