The Worker, #6, October 2000
[Unfortunately the photos that originally were included
in this article are not available. --BannedThought.net]
NEWS & VIEWS
NATIONAL
CLAMOUR OF SO-CALLED "DIALOGUE" WITH THE REACTIONARY GOVERNMENT
Ever since the K.P. Bhattarai government of the arch reactionary Nepali Congress Party {Since ousted by G. P. Koirala of the same party) constituted a high level committee headed by the former prime minister S.B. Deuba in December 1999 initially to prepare a report on the Maoist people's war {PW) & later on (in February 2000) authorised it to hold dialogue with the CPN {Maoist), there has been a running cacophony on the issue from all & sundry quarters. The drama crossed the national barrier when the British foreign minister Robin Cook and the head of the European Union, among others, also joined in the chorus to complement & 'advise' the reactionary government to hasten the process of dialogue with the revolutionary forces, Though almost all of the half a dozen governments that have exchanged seats of power since the initiation of the PW in 1996 have faithfully sung the tune of "dialogue" in different tones, the pitch was quite shrill this time, and this has, naturally aroused a lot of curiosity, & some anxiety, too, among the masses & the national & international revolutionary fraternity as to how we would respond to it.
Our Party has no illusion that the life-and-death question of class power cannot be settled through any "dialogue" with the reactionary ruling classes. To harbour even an iota of such an illusion would be outright treachery against the class & the masses, and would go against the basic revolutionary tenets of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism {MLM}. We ate also absolutely sure that the occasional offer of such a "dialogue" emanating from the reactionary quarters is a mere ploy to cover up their more sinister genocidal designs or to hoodwink the vacillating masses or cadres, or is aimed at sowing the seeds of division within the revolutionary ranks. However, our Party has never rejected the prospects of "dialogue" in principle or for all time & conditions; and rather, we have responded to all such offers in a "tit-for-tat" manner. As Com. Mao has very aptly put. "sometimes, not going to negotiations is tit-for-tat: and sometimes, going to negotiations is tit-for-tat". Also, MLM has taught us that the road to revolution is never straight and undergoes a lot of twists & turns. Hence genuine communist revolutionaries should dare at times 10 snatch the deceptive tool of "dialogue" off the enemy's hands and use it against him, of course, without conceding any strategic advantage enjoyed by the revolutionaries. Strategic firmness & tactical flexibility are the hallmarks of genuine proletarian revolutionaries.
In the current context, too, our Party has exposed the conspiratorial & sinister nature of the "dialogue" offer of the reactionary government {which has simultaneously doubled the annual budget on its armed forces, sought to raise a separate para-military force, launched a fresh round of encirclement & suppression campaign, etc.), on the one hand, and expressed readiness to fight over the "dialogue" table as well, on the other, subject to the creation of a minimum .conducive environment by the government by way of making public the condition of all the "disappeared" political detainees & freeing of all political prisoners, cessation of countrywide White terror, constitution of an impartial &
independent inquiry commission to probe into all incidents of genocide such as the one In Khara in Rukum, etc. The government, as apprehended, has so far failed to create such an environment and in turn has exposed itself as in the eyes of the masses. On the other hand, the Party's principled position has been appreciated by the large majority of the masses.
As the weapon of 'dialogue' has been used almost everywhere in favour of the imperialists & the reactionaries, it is natural for many of our well-wishers both inside & outside the country to harbour certain apprehensions about our response to the "dialogue" issue. Particularly after the bitter experience over the issue in recent years in Peru. the apprehension tends to gather more credulity. But in our present case the apprehension is completely unwarranted. As the Party is guided by the ideological rigours of MLM and It has been identified with the best protector of the interests of the country & the people, there Is simply no chance of its willingly betraying the cause of the proletarian revolution, whether "dialogue" or "no dialogue". A cursory recapitulation of the peculiar history of initiation of our PW should suffice to dispel any such doubt. We were the ones who had gone to the office of the then PM S.B. Deuba to present a 40-point charter of demands (which forms the core of the minimum programme of the New Democratic revolution) just one week prior to the initiation of the historic PW on February 13, 1996? Where is the chance, now to turn the wheel of history back? Hasn't much .water (and blood!) flown down the Karnali, Gandaki & Koshi since then?
PROCESS OF REVOLUTIONARY POLARISATION HASTENS
Along with the quantum leaps of the PW & creation of temporary Base Areas of significant size in the country: there has been an equivalent hastening of the process of revolutionary polarisation of political forces as well. Whereas our Party, the CPN (Maoist). has increasingly turned into a magnetic centre of attraction for the genuine communist revolutionaries historically scattered in different leftist groups, the PW has caused a division within all the political parties & forces, either in favour or against it. Thus the prospects of a Bolshevised Party at the core and a broad united front of all patriotic. democratic & leftist forces around it have brightened over the year.
The revolutionary "Masal" group led by Com. D.N. Sharma, which split away from the opportunist M.B. Singh group last year, has formally decided to get united with CPN (Maoist). Earlier the General Secretaries of the two Parties had issued a joint statement calling for revolutionary polarisation in the country, which had a good response from all over the country. Also, there has been a steady stream of revolts from the M .B faction to join the new polarisation. Another significant development has been the continuous breaking away of revolutionary cadres from the arch revisionist UML clique and their Joining the PW and the CPN (Maoist). Ever since our Party sought to present itself as the true inheritor of all the revolutionary trends since the inception of the Party in 1949, rather than a new incarnation of a particular group, and appealed to bridge the historically broken links between various revolutionary groups or movement, particularly with the historic Jhapa revolt, there has been a steady inflow into the Party of revolutionary cadres brought up during the Jhapa (or Naxalbari!) days. In recent months a revolutionary storm is sweeping the far Eastern region, the stronghold of the UML and the then epicentre of the Jhapa revolt, which has greatly hastened the process of revolutionary polarisation.
On the other hand, there has occurred vertical fissures in all the major ruling class political formations including the monarchy, the Nepali Congress & the UML on the question of evaluation of the PW & their relations with our Party. Our Party, too, has made conscious efforts to unite with the comparatively liberal factions or the ones pursuing a more patriotic stand vis-e-vis imperialism & particularly Indian expansionism, and of exposing & fighting the more fascistic & pro-imperialist / pro-Indian expansionist factions. Also, the Party has striven to win over the various vacillating groups & individuals to the side of the revolution, As a result, the prospects for revolutionary united front of various types & qualities (e.g. strategic or tactical, at the local level or national level, etc.) have brightened over the time.
Of course, the Party has no illusion that the prospects of revolutionary polarisation, or united front ultimately hinges on the correct Maoist leadership of the Party & the development of the PW.
MASAL MARCHES TOWARDS PEOPLE'S WAR PATH
The reorganised NCP (Masal) which had revolted against the NCP (Masal) headed by M.B.Singh about one and a half years back has just recently concluded its historic Eighth National Conference. According to the press statement released in the name of General Secretary, Ashok, the Party has decided to replace its ideology from Marxism- Leninism-Mao Tse- Tung Thought to Marxism-Leninism-Maoism on the basis of detailed analysis of the present situation laden with world imperialism and revisionism. It also changed its earlier stand in regards to the question of the principal contradiction by indicating domestic reactionary regime as the principal contradiction of the Nepalese people. Accepting basic tenets of RIM as a revolutionary international organisation, it condemned CPN (Masal) lead by M.B.Singh for Its allegation that RIM is a Trotskite organisation. It acknowledged the necessity of an international organisation like RIM. It analysed CPN (Maoist} Party as a true revolutionary Party, at the same time it considered CPN (Unity Centre) and CPN (Masal) lead by M.B.Singh as neo-revisionist patriotic & democratic left forces. It has also given emphasis to the formation of people's army by mobilising workers and peasants.
According to the latest report received, a joint Co-ordination Committee has been formed between CPN (Maoist} and the CPN (Masal) for speeding up Party unification process. It should be noted that earlier the General Secretaries of the two Parties had issued a joint statement for revolutionary polarisation in the country.
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION & "CHILDREN"
With the PW entering into formation of temporary base areas, the reactionary
government too has been coming up with concocted ties maligning PW and
it's achievements. The latest one is that they are killing babies and using
school children for war purposes. This is in fact a new version of the
earlier anti-Communist campaign during 60s when it used to allege that
communists kill all those Old people who cross over 60 years! This new
campaign was purposely floated when a successful raid in heavily fortified
Panchkatia police post in Jajarkot district took place on June 7th this
year in which there was a heavy loss on the government side. This raid
exposed the blatant use of family members as human shield by the police
force in the house it had forcefully occupied. This resulted into killing
of some civilians along with the reactionary police force. Amongst them
some children too fell victim in the cross-firing. The reactionary government
in order to cover it's military defeat, it used death of those innocent
children as a means to attack the revolutionary force that they are baby
killers. When the actual facts began to emerge they started with another
concocted campaign, that is, the "terrorists" are kidnapping school children
and forcing them to catch guns. It is clear they are using children as
a means to scare away family members from the revolutionary Party. However,
the fact is otherwise, in a massive response to recruitment call in people's
militias, the Party all over the country has been discouraging the minors
(those below 18 years) from joining people's armed forces.
Dil
Bahadur Ramtel, Subhadra Sapkota, Juna Choudhary: Children Martyrs.
How Can You Stop Children from Supporting PW
in Nepal?
This has been confirmed by even those leading newspaper journalists who had recently gone to Rolpa on invitation by the local Party.
It is in fact the reactionary government who is cruel, indiscriminately killing any one out of shear fear. In fact the first victim of police firing since the initiation .of People's War, was Dil Bahadur Ramtel, who was only eleven years old when he got martyred. His "crime" was that he tried to save his beloved respected headmaster of his school who was being dragged by the police force on charge of being CPN (Maoist) sympathiser. The reactionary force is not only cruel to children they are most barbaric even to unborn children and their mothers. There have been several cases of torture & rape on pregnant women resulting into premature death of unborn children, leaving mothers bleeding profusely. Take the case of martyred Bindia Chaulagai, a young woman In an advanced stage of pregnancy was tortured in police custody. The torture resulted in pre- mature delivery of the baby, which ultimately led to its death, followed by her own death few days later. Take the case of Sunsara Budha, a wife of a Party activist, she was tortured before her two years old infant. When she did not reveal whereabouts of her husband, her child was subjected to torture, but still she did not buckle. The police then brutally killed. her & left behind the injured Child- In Jajarkot, girl child aged eleven was subjected to brutal oral sex by a policeman. In Salyan district 26 years old Pima Budhathoki who was six months pregnant was cruelly raped by three policemen in her house. In Rukum a 15 years old Madrika Pariar was subjected to rape by 22 policemen in police custody leaving her in death bed. Take the case of Subhadra Sapkota, Chiniya Lama, Manju Kunwar, all minors amongst the 7 cultural activists killed in Kavre, their fault was that they had lovely voice & that they took to singing progressive songs. Today most of the schools in PW affected areas have been converted into police barracks thus depriving children their education. So much for their so called care for children & their blabbering of human rights of children CPN (Maoist} on the other hand has been campaigning for free education for all children. In areas where People's Committees are functioning, no private schools have been allowed to function while government run schools are supervised by People's Committees. They have also removed the burden of learning archaic Sanskrit language. While they have been strictly forbidden to join people's armed force, they have been organised under "Akhil Bal Sangathan" a children's organisation which takes care of overall development of children, including. their right to express their solidarity to what they consider is good, including People's War. In that respect many Dil Bahadur Ramtels will continue to come forward to defend what they consider is justice. Maligning such voluntary acts as forceful recruitment in people's armed force is to fall into psychological warfare trap directed against PW & its cause. In this regard, UN organisation like UNESCO and Human Rights Organisation like Amnesty International should be particularly careful as to not fall pray to such disinformation campaigns.
This democratic method of resolving contradictions among the people was epitomised in 1942 in the formula "unity, criticism, unity". To elaborate, it means starting from the desire for unity, resolving contradictions . through criticism or struggle and arriving at a new unity on a new basis. In our experience this IS the correct method of resolving contradictions among the people.