FOLLOWING the murder of com. Koteshwar Rao in a fake encounter by the state forces as a part of the state terror unleashed against the people under the ‘Operation Green Hunt’, we had issued a press statement on 25th November itself, the day on which the news came out in the newspapers. We had severely condemned this murder. At the same time we had criticized the approach of CPI(Maoist) on the question of ‘peace talks’ with such a reactionary government which is indulging in fascist suppression of the people of the country to intensify neo-colonization, and in the present condition of their organizational development and balance of forces. In that statement we had requested the leadership of the CPI(Maoist) “to take lessons from these erroneous steps which have caused grievous losses, to re-examine their line and to join with the revolutionary forces to mobilize the masses for putting an end to this hated, anti-people ruling system”.
In continuation to this statement, issuing their own statements the CPI (ML) state committees in many states have organized meetings condemning the murder of com. Koteshwar Rao in fake encounter and appealing to all progressive democratic forces to condemn it. While appreciating these steps taken by the CPI (ML), some friends as well as supporters of CPI(Maoist) have raised a criticism why on such an occasions also we are raising our criticism of the CPI(Maoist) line. So we consider that it is our duty to explain the history of the genesis and growth our differences with the CPI(Maoist). Earlier when com. Shyam and com. Rajkumar, and recently com. Azad were killed in fake encounters also we had issued similar statements, condemning the state action, while appealing to PWG and then CPI(Maoist) leadership to re-examine the line they are pursuing. We consider that though CPI (Maoist) is claiming that it is working for the overthrow of the reactionary Indian state, it is pursuing an anarchist line which is harming themselves as well as the revolutionary movement as a whole. In this context, we consider that it is important to explain the genesis and development of our differences with it to avoid any misunderstandings.
Both, the present CPI(ML) as well as erstwhile CPI(ML) People’s War and Party Unity [both of which became part of CPI(Maoist) later] share the heritage of the ideological-political struggle waged by the Communist Revolutionaries (CRs) against the revisionist line of CPI and neo-revisionist line of CPI(M) leaderships under the leadership of com. Charu Majumdar from 1964, and the Naxalbari Uprising with “land to the tiller” slogan which brought agrarian revolution and revolutionary seizure of political power back to the agenda of the Indian people.
After the severe set backs leading to the disintegration of the CPI (ML) from 1971, like CPI (ML) People’s War formed in 1973 and CPI(ML) Party Unity formed after 1977, the Kerala state committee of the CPI(ML) reorganized in 1973 was also basically upholding the 1970 Eighth Congress line. All of them including the CPI(ML) Liberation were called Pro-Charu Majumdar, anti-Lin Biao section. When the publication of the monthly, Mass Line, was started from 1973 calling for unity of all ML forces basically upholding the 1970 line, articles and poems of com. K.G. Satya Murthy and of the leaders of Revolutionary Writers Association (AP) or Virasam, were published in it till it was banned and so its publication was suspended during emergency. Due to the atmosphere of suppression prevalent then, the unity efforts could not be continued till the emergency was revoked, when large number of leading comrades who were in jail came out.
During 1978-79 first contacts were established with the two, and unity talks were held. The CPI(ML) Kerala SC had denounced the capitalist roaders who had seized power in China after the death of Mao and their ‘Theory of Three Worlds’ in 1977 itself and it gave great significance to taking a correct stand on this question as one of the important points for unity of the Marxist-Leninist forces. As a result, its unity talks with the then Bhojpur group, which later became CPI (ML) Liberation, could not advance, as it was upholding the new Chinese leadership and its ‘TTW’( as it is doing even today). In spite of the unity on other questions, the unity talks with both PWG and Party Unity also failed as they were also not ready to take a stand on these important questions then. It was at that time com. S.A. Rawoof, one of the leaders of the PWG, dissociated with it for not condemning the capitalist roaders in China and for the statement of com. Kondappally Seetharamiah calling for a “suspension of armed struggle”. The CPI(ML) Kerala SC held discussions with com. Rawoof, both decided to merge and the CRC-CPI(ML) was formed in October,1979.
In spite of it, our discussions with both PWG and PU continued. Comrades K.V. Ramana Reddy (KVR) and Varavara Rao of RWA participated in the founding conference of People’s Cultural Forum in Kerala in 1980. At the mass fronts’ level relations of CRC-CPI(ML) with PWG and PU continued, though the differences on the approach towards structure and character of class/ mass organizations, and on pursuing the mass line had increased.
After CRC-CPI (ML) was reorganized as CPI (ML) Red Flag in 1987, the unity talks and joint activities at mass front level with them further strengthened. During 1991-94 period, three rounds of top level unity talks were held with PWG which ultimately failed due to differences on approach towards (a) neo-colonization and the changes taking place in relations of production in the agrarian front under it,(b) towards Three World Theory,(c) towards Bolshevik style party building, (d) towards building of class/mass organizations and (e) towards utilization of all forms of struggle, as PWG stuck to its sectarian positions including upholding armed struggle as only form of struggle. Still, along with the cultural organizations of PWG and PU, the cultural front of Kerala also joined in the formation of the All India League of Revolutionary Culture (AILRC) in 1990 and this association continued till 1995, till it became inactive due to the sectarian approach of PWG. Com. KVR continued to write in Red Star, organ of the CPI(ML) Red Flag till 1995.
And when All India Joint Action Committee of Revolutionary Organizations of Workers (AIJACROW) was formed and it organized a parliament march against imperialist globalization in 1992, the first parliament march against imperialist globalization, the trade unions in Maharashtra under the political leadership of PWG also joined in this. In the peasant rally organized by PWG in Warangal in 1994, Red Flag comrades participated. Later, an open polemic was started in the publications, People’s March of PWG and Red Star on the ideological-political questions on which there were basic differences. From these instances it can be seen that even when there were basic differences on many questions, both sides were continuing contacts and holding even open polemics on them. The relations between the two were not antagonistic. CPI(ML) Red Flag had welcomed the merger of PWG and PU hoping that it will lead to a rethinking on the ideological-political line as PU always had more inclination towards mass line.
Mao Tsetung Thought or Maoism?
BUT its merger with the Maoist Communist Center (MCC) and formation of CPI (Maoist) led to its 2004 Congress adopting more dogmatic positions, including the acceptance of Maoism in place of Mao Tsetung Thought, as its ideological guideline. The differences between these two concepts are basic. According to the understanding upheld by the Marxist-Leninist forces, Mao developed the theory and practice of People’s Democratic Revolution based on the teachings of the Communist International and applied it in the concrete conditions of China successfully. Mao later led the socialist revolution in China in the concrete conditions there. During the course of his long revolutionary practice, he developed the understanding about the dialectical approach towards Contradictions in a given situation. He developed the ideological-political struggle against the capitalist roaders who had usurped power in Soviet Union through the Great Debate documents, and in the course of the struggle against the capitalist roaders within the CPC developed the concept of Cultural Revolution, the theory and practice of developing class struggle under the dictatorship of the proletariat, based on the Marxist-Leninist teachings. The Cultural Revolution had reached a peak by 1967 with the removal of Liu Shaochi and Deng Tsiaoping from all positions of authority and people’s communes as centers of people’s political power were coming up all over China challenging the authority of the capitalist roaders.
It is by summing up these contributions of Mao, the Marxist-Leninist stream which had emerged at the international level in the course of struggle against the capitalist roaders who had usurped power in socialist Soviet Union and degenerated it to a social imperialist power, colluding and contending with US imperialism for world hegemony, had put forward Mao Tsetung Thought as their guiding ideology.
But with the publication of the book: Long Live the victory of People’s War, by Lin Biao in 1966, a sectarian line started coming to dominance in China, which was ‘waving the red flag to destroy the red flag’. While claiming to uphold Cultural Revolution, it suppressed the mass upsurge developing as a part of it based on Mao’s call, using the military. In the course of the tortuous class struggle developing in this period, the correctness of the Leninist teaching that the right and left deviations are two sides of the same coin and both ultimately serve the imperialists and their lackeys was being proved once again.
This book characterized the state and society in all Asian, African and Latin American countries as semi-colonial, semi-feudal, similar to pre-revolutionary China. It started advocating that the era of Leninism, the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution which was upheld by the Marxist-Leninist forces until then is over, and a new era of ‘total collapse of imperialism and worldwide victory of socialism’ had emerged, with Mao Tsetung Thought as the Marxism-Leninism of the new era. The Chinese Path of people’s war, which Mao and the CPC leaders had repeatedly explained till then as a practice developed in the unique conditions of China was put forward as the strategic line applicable for all these countries. Following Naxalbari Uprising, the Beijing Daily published the article: Spring Thunder over India advocating this line.
While this article gave tremendous enthusiasm to the Communist Revolutionaries (CRs) in India who were fighting against the neo-revisionist line of the CPI(M) leadership, it contained an approach which negated the concrete conditions developing in the Asian-African-Latin American countries under neo-colonization imposed by the US led imperialist camp after the Second World War. Refusing to make a concrete analysis of Indian situation, it was mechanically followed by all sections of the CRs in India. In the 9th Congress of the CPC in 1969, this sectarian, left adventurist line of Lin Biao came to dominance in China as reflected in the basic documents adopted by the Congress. In the Constitution of the CPC, Lin Biao was upheld as the heir to Mao also. Under the sway of this adventurist line, all sorts of formulations like ‘armed struggle as the only form of struggle’, ‘class/ mass organizations are highways to revisionism’, ‘the more you read the more foolish you become’ etc emerged, leading to the set backs and disintegration of the newly emerging ML movement all over the world within a very short time.
The 10th Congress of the CPC in 1973 rejected these formulations. But the centrists led by Chou Enlai who had come to dominance by this time did not put forward any analysis about how such an adventurist line come could to dominance, since they also had played a role in the suppression of the people’s upsurge against the capitalist roaders along with the Lin Biaoists. They soon opened the way for the return of the capitalist roaders to positions of power also. Using these developments as a pretext, a handful of the ‘Lin Biaoists’, who are mainly surviving in Bengal under the leadership of Mahadev Mukherjee and few others had rejected the 10th Congress, and upheld the 9th Congress of the CPC, and advocated the new era theory. But they were also still upholding Mao Thought.
Internationally it was Gonzalos, the chairman of the Communist Party of Peru, known as the Shining Light, who had put forward Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and Gonzalos Thought as its guiding ideology in early 1980s. The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), formed in 1984, soon adopted Maoism as its guiding ideology. But in India the ‘credit’ for upholding Maoism for the first time goes to the Maoist Communist Center (MCC), ardent followers of the 1969 CPC line. This sectarian concept was adopted by PWG and PU, it seems, as a sacrifice for their unity with MCC. In Latin America, though some ML organizations uphold the concept ‘Maoism’, their explanations show that they do not accept the RIM’s line of explanation about it.
In short, Maoism, as advocated by the CPI (Maoist), is nothing but an aberration, a deviation from the basic understanding about Marxism-Leninism. Presently, UCPN (Maoist) of Nepal, in spite of still upholding Maoism in name, has basically changed its practice and has criticized the CPI (Maoist) for its sectarian line. Again, it is reported that because of the sectarian approach of the ‘front organizations’ of CPI (Maoist), they are now expelled from the International League of People’s Struggles (ILPS) led by the Communist Party of Philippines, which is also upholding Maoism, but practicing mass line to a great extent. With the considerable weakening of the RIM and its constituents, presently the CPI (Maoist) has become the main flag bearer of this sectarian concept.
Agrarian program in neo-colonial phase
UNDER this concept, Marxism is reduced to a dogma. Marxist classics are reduced to idols. So the Maoists indulge in idol worshipping and do not find any need for analyzing the reasons for the degeneration of all the erstwhile socialist countries to capitalist path or the degeneration of most of the erstwhile communist parties to revisionism. Abandoning Bolshevik style of Party and class/mass organization building, relying only on the supremacy of the squads and their fire power, it has reduced revolution to a game of heroes. If Lenin taught “Revolution is the festival of the masses” and Mao declared “Masses, masses alone are the creators of history”, according to the Maoists it is the heroes who create history.
It refuses to look around and see the vast changes taking place around them internationally and in India. So, even when the proletariat and the masses are revolting in US or Greece or Italy or elsewhere, the Maoists in these countries are only interested in whiling away their time, speculating how to start guerilla warfare there. They fail to analyze how the people’s upsurges broke out in North Africa and in West Asia and what should be the approach of the Communist forces towards them. In spite of the further intensification of the corporatization of agriculture following the second generation green revolution, bringing vast changes in the agricultural field in India, they still call it semi-feudal and still uphold the principal contradiction as the one between feudalism and the masses of the people. They mechanically repeat that the resolution of this contradiction will resolve all contradictions and lead to capture of political power.
In CPI (Maoist) documents the word neo-colonialism is repeated many times. But, as they have not put forward any analysis of transformation that has taken place in the forms of imperialist exploitation during the post-Second World War period, the transformation of colonial forms to neo-colonial forms of plunder, it is evident that similar to what was done in the 1970 Program, they are using neo-colonial and semi-colonial words synonymously. Their analysis that India is a neo-colonially dependent semi-colonial country borders absurdity. They fail to evaluate the transformation that has taken place in the imperialist plunder and domination during the post- Second World War period from colonialism to neo-colonialism.
As a result, they like their counterparts in the imperialist countries, fail to analyze the reasons for the present recurrent meltdown of international finance capital, the speculative character of which is reaching its peak. They still repeat that like in the colonial days, now also imperialism is maintaining and using feudalism as its social base, when with the penetration of capital-market forces and technology imported by the MNCs, vast changes are taking place in the agrarian sector leading to its devastation in new forms, with hundreds of thousands of the poor and marginal peasants committing suicide, and millions displaced from their land and occupation for the sake of neo-liberal projects. Instead of utilizing feudalism, by and large, as its social basis during the colonial days, it is systematically transforming and integrating the agrarian sector to the international finance capital system. Still their whole strategy hinges on anti-feudal tasks, as proved in their Program and tactical line. But as they refuse to recognize the vast changes that have taken place in the agrarian sector under neo-colonization and have no agrarian program based on it and mass organization of the peasantry, practically nothing is done to advance the agrarian revolution with “land to the tiller” slogan. As a result, though it speaks about feudalism as the principal target, its activities are reduced to squad actions in the forest areas far away from the real peasantry.
From the analysis of the present world and Indian situation put forward by CPI (Maoist) it is difficult for anyone to explain why the present mass upsurges are taking place. Same is the fate of the Maoist fringe groups in the imperialist countries in Europe and North America also. As a result, even when big mass movements emerge in different areas and when they get an opportunity to influence any of them as happened in the Lalgarh area of W. Bengal, they reduce it to an area for deploying their guerilla squads and to organize few actions like the derailing of Gyaneswari Express which killed many and inconvenienced millions for nearly two years, as the railway department stopped plying trains through that route in the night in the name of lack of security.
In Chhattisgarh, the Maoists are calling the forest areas of Dantewada district as their liberated area. After visiting it Jan Myrdal has written a book “Red Star Over India” actually ridiculing himself and the good intellectual work he had done earlier, a mechanical imitation of the great book “Red Star Over China” written by Edgar Snow. But contrary to what is reported by the petti-bourgeois intellectuals who blindly support the Maoists, what is happening there is a different story. When the earlies Congress government tried to privatize the Shivnath river and later when the BJP government declared a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rajnandgaon district a powerful mass movement was organized under the initiative of CPI(ML) due to which the latter’s implementation was truncated and the latter had to be abandoned. Similar mass movements are taking place against other neo-liberal projects also. But in Dantewada, a corporate group like Essar has constructed a more than 200 km long pipeline to loot the rich iron ore of that area. The same is the case of other so-called Maoist controlled areas in Jharkhand, Lalgarh in Bengal and Odisha-AP border areas also. Instead of mobilizing the masses and throwing out the MNCs, corporate houses and mining mafias, often Maoists are serving as their mercenaries after taking huge sums from them. The Communist Parties built under the guidance of the Communist International based on Bolshevik principles had a great tradition of building the Party surrounded by the class and mass organizations. They collected money from the people and the mass organizations besides the levy from the party members and sympathizers.
But the method of ‘levying’ adopted by the Maoists under coercion, especially when they are in the infantile stage of their growth has corrupted their own cadres. Combined with the sectarian practice of ‘money actions ‘ followed by many groups and splinter factions in many areas corruption has become rampant among these sections including the Maoists as there is no accounting of the money collected or no principles are followed in collection. In areas of AP and some other states, money is demanded to become cadres. The spirit of depending on the masses is alien to many of them. Maoists are justifying it in the name of huge amounts required to purchase sophisticated arms and to maintain hideouts. But whatever may be the justification this practice has led to a deterioration of communist values among the cadres.
Relation with the state and the ruling class parties
THE CPI(Maoist) claim that they boycott all forms of elections as a strategy. But during their three decades of existence they have not succeeded to mobilize the masses for boycotting elections in a single area so far. Even after threatening the voters, bombing the roads and polling booths and occasionally punishing the people brutally, it has not succeeded to enforce boycott anywhere. Even in Dantewada region more than 60% voting take place. Another notable feature is that though in Dantewada the Maoists have succeeded to reduce the strength of once predominant CPI in this region, BJP has emerged as the main force and winning the elections from there continuously.
And it is an open secret that the CPI(ML) People’s War, after calling for boycott canvassed for Chenna Reddy led Congress in 1980s. Later it supported the TDP led by N.T. Rama Rao in the 1990s. In 2006 elections in AP, as the Congress leader Raja Sekhara Rao had promised talks with the Maoists, they supported him. In Bihar MCC used to follow the same path. Lalu Prasad had benefitted from it many times. In Jharkhand during last two state assembly elections Maoists supported The JMM led by Shibu Soren. While doing so they threaten other candidates and do not allow other candidates to campaign in areas where they have influence. It shows that they boycott elections calling the existing parliamentary system as pseudo democratic, but due to their actions they make it more pseudo. The latest instance was Maoists supporting the TMC led by Mamta Banerjee, a constituent of the central UPA government against the CPI(M) led Left Front. In all these cases they have supported the main ruling class parties, after calling for boycott. They never support any force from the left. It is a most opportunist and unprincipled mercenary policy followed by the CPI(Maoist) which has greatly tarnished the image of the communist movement all over the country.
As a reward for the support they give in the elections, the AP chief minister invited Maoists for talks in Hyderabad. As was evident from the beginning to everybody except the Maoists, nothing came out of the talks. But the state machinery used the opportunity to make aerial coverage of the emergence and return of the Maoist team. Within a short time, almost all the Maoist squads and most of the main cadres were wiped out by the Special Forces. Still they do not study anything from these debacles. Their polibureau member Shyam and now Kishen were killed by trapping them using the talks with government as a lollypop.
Firstly, as a force which talks only strategy, what is there to talk with the state at the present stage of their growth? Secondly, after the bitter experience of the AP incident why they refuse to take any lessons? What is coming out of the Kishen killing is that they have great illusions about the ruling class leaders even when they claim to have declared total war against the state. It will be useful if they once go through the military writings of Mao at least to avoid such infantile mistakes.
How the extremists ultimately help the state
THE experience of the Tamil People’s struggle in Sri Lanka and how LTTE greatly damaged its cause should be an eye opener for all those who have soft-corner for them. Nearer home, in Assam during the two decades when ULFA leadership and cadres were collecting huge sums from the large number of plantation owners, they were getting huge profit as they could deny any wage rise or other benefits to the hundreds of thousands of workers. Wherever Maoists are having influence the MNCs and corporate houses and mining mafias can operate by paying the ‘levy’ to them. Similarly, the presence of the extremists is used by the state as a pretext to increase ‘security forces’ manifold and to deploy them anywhere dubbing even mass movements as extremist ones, to deploy them to all areas in the name of law and order, even to deploy army and impose AFSPA like draconian laws in the name of insurgency for decades and even dare to impose the latest draconian establishment like National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), intensifying the state terror. To facilitate this, if there are no extremists in an area they will create them as the insurgent groups are made by RAW in Manipur. Or they will propagate that the extremist influence is increasing as lot of publicity is given to the Maoists at the state level with the help of the corporate media. In this the Indian state is copying the US authorities, who are the greatest terrorists, but have declared a war against terror!
Some friends will definitely ask: how can you criticize the Maoists when they are shedding so much blood, when their leaders are also killed? How can you criticize them when they are waging a war against the state? Of course, we have respect for the sacrifice of the cadres of CPI(Maoist). That is why we condemned the killings of Shyam and Kishen, and many others like them in the past. Mao has repeatedly advised that we should not waste even a drop of blood, avoid unnecessary sacrifice. But even after more than three decades of their practice, the CPI(Maoist)leadership is not prepared to make an evaluation of their practice so far. In the first wave of left adventurism almost all the ML parties which emerged in 1960s suffered severe setbacks and disintegrated. Later, almost all the Maoist groups in different parts of the world like the Shining Path of Peru were wiped out. The Maoists in Philippines is almost stagnant. In Nepal they succeeded to play a leading role in overthrowing the monarchy only when they changed their line and took mass line.
In India, whatever may be the claims of the Maoist leaders and the propaganda of the state, they are a dwindling force. Not only that, all the former socialist countries have degenerated to capitalist path and the ICM is facing a severe setback. Without taking these aspects in to consideration, and the momentous changes that have taken place during the post-Second World War decades in to consideration, just by waging few squad actions in such a big country like India with more than 1.25 billion people and with such organized and centralized oppressive state machinery, how can the revolution be led forward? If the CPI(Maoist)leadership, impervious to all these factors, continue its suicidal path, can anyone justify them?
We are of the view that the leadership should be ruthlessly criticized and they should be asked to change their line if they want to contribute towards revolutionary advance. We are criticizing the CPI(M) leadership more fiercely, as revisionism is still the main danger in the communist movement. The task before the communist force is to take lessons from the past, reorganize the Party and lead the People’ Democratic Revolution forward mobilizing all the revolutionary classes and sections for it. We appeal to their cadres to come out of this anarchist politics and join the revolutionary Marxist-Leninist camp.
In continuation to this statement, issuing their own statements the CPI (ML) state committees in many states have organized meetings condemning the murder of com. Koteshwar Rao in fake encounter and appealing to all progressive democratic forces to condemn it. While appreciating these steps taken by the CPI (ML), some friends as well as supporters of CPI(Maoist) have raised a criticism why on such an occasions also we are raising our criticism of the CPI(Maoist) line. So we consider that it is our duty to explain the history of the genesis and growth our differences with the CPI(Maoist). Earlier when com. Shyam and com. Rajkumar, and recently com. Azad were killed in fake encounters also we had issued similar statements, condemning the state action, while appealing to PWG and then CPI(Maoist) leadership to re-examine the line they are pursuing. We consider that though CPI (Maoist) is claiming that it is working for the overthrow of the reactionary Indian state, it is pursuing an anarchist line which is harming themselves as well as the revolutionary movement as a whole. In this context, we consider that it is important to explain the genesis and development of our differences with it to avoid any misunderstandings.
Both, the present CPI(ML) as well as erstwhile CPI(ML) People’s War and Party Unity [both of which became part of CPI(Maoist) later] share the heritage of the ideological-political struggle waged by the Communist Revolutionaries (CRs) against the revisionist line of CPI and neo-revisionist line of CPI(M) leaderships under the leadership of com. Charu Majumdar from 1964, and the Naxalbari Uprising with “land to the tiller” slogan which brought agrarian revolution and revolutionary seizure of political power back to the agenda of the Indian people.
After the severe set backs leading to the disintegration of the CPI (ML) from 1971, like CPI (ML) People’s War formed in 1973 and CPI(ML) Party Unity formed after 1977, the Kerala state committee of the CPI(ML) reorganized in 1973 was also basically upholding the 1970 Eighth Congress line. All of them including the CPI(ML) Liberation were called Pro-Charu Majumdar, anti-Lin Biao section. When the publication of the monthly, Mass Line, was started from 1973 calling for unity of all ML forces basically upholding the 1970 line, articles and poems of com. K.G. Satya Murthy and of the leaders of Revolutionary Writers Association (AP) or Virasam, were published in it till it was banned and so its publication was suspended during emergency. Due to the atmosphere of suppression prevalent then, the unity efforts could not be continued till the emergency was revoked, when large number of leading comrades who were in jail came out.
During 1978-79 first contacts were established with the two, and unity talks were held. The CPI(ML) Kerala SC had denounced the capitalist roaders who had seized power in China after the death of Mao and their ‘Theory of Three Worlds’ in 1977 itself and it gave great significance to taking a correct stand on this question as one of the important points for unity of the Marxist-Leninist forces. As a result, its unity talks with the then Bhojpur group, which later became CPI (ML) Liberation, could not advance, as it was upholding the new Chinese leadership and its ‘TTW’( as it is doing even today). In spite of the unity on other questions, the unity talks with both PWG and Party Unity also failed as they were also not ready to take a stand on these important questions then. It was at that time com. S.A. Rawoof, one of the leaders of the PWG, dissociated with it for not condemning the capitalist roaders in China and for the statement of com. Kondappally Seetharamiah calling for a “suspension of armed struggle”. The CPI(ML) Kerala SC held discussions with com. Rawoof, both decided to merge and the CRC-CPI(ML) was formed in October,1979.
In spite of it, our discussions with both PWG and PU continued. Comrades K.V. Ramana Reddy (KVR) and Varavara Rao of RWA participated in the founding conference of People’s Cultural Forum in Kerala in 1980. At the mass fronts’ level relations of CRC-CPI(ML) with PWG and PU continued, though the differences on the approach towards structure and character of class/ mass organizations, and on pursuing the mass line had increased.
After CRC-CPI (ML) was reorganized as CPI (ML) Red Flag in 1987, the unity talks and joint activities at mass front level with them further strengthened. During 1991-94 period, three rounds of top level unity talks were held with PWG which ultimately failed due to differences on approach towards (a) neo-colonization and the changes taking place in relations of production in the agrarian front under it,(b) towards Three World Theory,(c) towards Bolshevik style party building, (d) towards building of class/mass organizations and (e) towards utilization of all forms of struggle, as PWG stuck to its sectarian positions including upholding armed struggle as only form of struggle. Still, along with the cultural organizations of PWG and PU, the cultural front of Kerala also joined in the formation of the All India League of Revolutionary Culture (AILRC) in 1990 and this association continued till 1995, till it became inactive due to the sectarian approach of PWG. Com. KVR continued to write in Red Star, organ of the CPI(ML) Red Flag till 1995.
And when All India Joint Action Committee of Revolutionary Organizations of Workers (AIJACROW) was formed and it organized a parliament march against imperialist globalization in 1992, the first parliament march against imperialist globalization, the trade unions in Maharashtra under the political leadership of PWG also joined in this. In the peasant rally organized by PWG in Warangal in 1994, Red Flag comrades participated. Later, an open polemic was started in the publications, People’s March of PWG and Red Star on the ideological-political questions on which there were basic differences. From these instances it can be seen that even when there were basic differences on many questions, both sides were continuing contacts and holding even open polemics on them. The relations between the two were not antagonistic. CPI(ML) Red Flag had welcomed the merger of PWG and PU hoping that it will lead to a rethinking on the ideological-political line as PU always had more inclination towards mass line.
Mao Tsetung Thought or Maoism?
BUT its merger with the Maoist Communist Center (MCC) and formation of CPI (Maoist) led to its 2004 Congress adopting more dogmatic positions, including the acceptance of Maoism in place of Mao Tsetung Thought, as its ideological guideline. The differences between these two concepts are basic. According to the understanding upheld by the Marxist-Leninist forces, Mao developed the theory and practice of People’s Democratic Revolution based on the teachings of the Communist International and applied it in the concrete conditions of China successfully. Mao later led the socialist revolution in China in the concrete conditions there. During the course of his long revolutionary practice, he developed the understanding about the dialectical approach towards Contradictions in a given situation. He developed the ideological-political struggle against the capitalist roaders who had usurped power in Soviet Union through the Great Debate documents, and in the course of the struggle against the capitalist roaders within the CPC developed the concept of Cultural Revolution, the theory and practice of developing class struggle under the dictatorship of the proletariat, based on the Marxist-Leninist teachings. The Cultural Revolution had reached a peak by 1967 with the removal of Liu Shaochi and Deng Tsiaoping from all positions of authority and people’s communes as centers of people’s political power were coming up all over China challenging the authority of the capitalist roaders.
It is by summing up these contributions of Mao, the Marxist-Leninist stream which had emerged at the international level in the course of struggle against the capitalist roaders who had usurped power in socialist Soviet Union and degenerated it to a social imperialist power, colluding and contending with US imperialism for world hegemony, had put forward Mao Tsetung Thought as their guiding ideology.
But with the publication of the book: Long Live the victory of People’s War, by Lin Biao in 1966, a sectarian line started coming to dominance in China, which was ‘waving the red flag to destroy the red flag’. While claiming to uphold Cultural Revolution, it suppressed the mass upsurge developing as a part of it based on Mao’s call, using the military. In the course of the tortuous class struggle developing in this period, the correctness of the Leninist teaching that the right and left deviations are two sides of the same coin and both ultimately serve the imperialists and their lackeys was being proved once again.
This book characterized the state and society in all Asian, African and Latin American countries as semi-colonial, semi-feudal, similar to pre-revolutionary China. It started advocating that the era of Leninism, the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution which was upheld by the Marxist-Leninist forces until then is over, and a new era of ‘total collapse of imperialism and worldwide victory of socialism’ had emerged, with Mao Tsetung Thought as the Marxism-Leninism of the new era. The Chinese Path of people’s war, which Mao and the CPC leaders had repeatedly explained till then as a practice developed in the unique conditions of China was put forward as the strategic line applicable for all these countries. Following Naxalbari Uprising, the Beijing Daily published the article: Spring Thunder over India advocating this line.
While this article gave tremendous enthusiasm to the Communist Revolutionaries (CRs) in India who were fighting against the neo-revisionist line of the CPI(M) leadership, it contained an approach which negated the concrete conditions developing in the Asian-African-Latin American countries under neo-colonization imposed by the US led imperialist camp after the Second World War. Refusing to make a concrete analysis of Indian situation, it was mechanically followed by all sections of the CRs in India. In the 9th Congress of the CPC in 1969, this sectarian, left adventurist line of Lin Biao came to dominance in China as reflected in the basic documents adopted by the Congress. In the Constitution of the CPC, Lin Biao was upheld as the heir to Mao also. Under the sway of this adventurist line, all sorts of formulations like ‘armed struggle as the only form of struggle’, ‘class/ mass organizations are highways to revisionism’, ‘the more you read the more foolish you become’ etc emerged, leading to the set backs and disintegration of the newly emerging ML movement all over the world within a very short time.
The 10th Congress of the CPC in 1973 rejected these formulations. But the centrists led by Chou Enlai who had come to dominance by this time did not put forward any analysis about how such an adventurist line come could to dominance, since they also had played a role in the suppression of the people’s upsurge against the capitalist roaders along with the Lin Biaoists. They soon opened the way for the return of the capitalist roaders to positions of power also. Using these developments as a pretext, a handful of the ‘Lin Biaoists’, who are mainly surviving in Bengal under the leadership of Mahadev Mukherjee and few others had rejected the 10th Congress, and upheld the 9th Congress of the CPC, and advocated the new era theory. But they were also still upholding Mao Thought.
Internationally it was Gonzalos, the chairman of the Communist Party of Peru, known as the Shining Light, who had put forward Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and Gonzalos Thought as its guiding ideology in early 1980s. The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), formed in 1984, soon adopted Maoism as its guiding ideology. But in India the ‘credit’ for upholding Maoism for the first time goes to the Maoist Communist Center (MCC), ardent followers of the 1969 CPC line. This sectarian concept was adopted by PWG and PU, it seems, as a sacrifice for their unity with MCC. In Latin America, though some ML organizations uphold the concept ‘Maoism’, their explanations show that they do not accept the RIM’s line of explanation about it.
In short, Maoism, as advocated by the CPI (Maoist), is nothing but an aberration, a deviation from the basic understanding about Marxism-Leninism. Presently, UCPN (Maoist) of Nepal, in spite of still upholding Maoism in name, has basically changed its practice and has criticized the CPI (Maoist) for its sectarian line. Again, it is reported that because of the sectarian approach of the ‘front organizations’ of CPI (Maoist), they are now expelled from the International League of People’s Struggles (ILPS) led by the Communist Party of Philippines, which is also upholding Maoism, but practicing mass line to a great extent. With the considerable weakening of the RIM and its constituents, presently the CPI (Maoist) has become the main flag bearer of this sectarian concept.
Agrarian program in neo-colonial phase
UNDER this concept, Marxism is reduced to a dogma. Marxist classics are reduced to idols. So the Maoists indulge in idol worshipping and do not find any need for analyzing the reasons for the degeneration of all the erstwhile socialist countries to capitalist path or the degeneration of most of the erstwhile communist parties to revisionism. Abandoning Bolshevik style of Party and class/mass organization building, relying only on the supremacy of the squads and their fire power, it has reduced revolution to a game of heroes. If Lenin taught “Revolution is the festival of the masses” and Mao declared “Masses, masses alone are the creators of history”, according to the Maoists it is the heroes who create history.
It refuses to look around and see the vast changes taking place around them internationally and in India. So, even when the proletariat and the masses are revolting in US or Greece or Italy or elsewhere, the Maoists in these countries are only interested in whiling away their time, speculating how to start guerilla warfare there. They fail to analyze how the people’s upsurges broke out in North Africa and in West Asia and what should be the approach of the Communist forces towards them. In spite of the further intensification of the corporatization of agriculture following the second generation green revolution, bringing vast changes in the agricultural field in India, they still call it semi-feudal and still uphold the principal contradiction as the one between feudalism and the masses of the people. They mechanically repeat that the resolution of this contradiction will resolve all contradictions and lead to capture of political power.
In CPI (Maoist) documents the word neo-colonialism is repeated many times. But, as they have not put forward any analysis of transformation that has taken place in the forms of imperialist exploitation during the post-Second World War period, the transformation of colonial forms to neo-colonial forms of plunder, it is evident that similar to what was done in the 1970 Program, they are using neo-colonial and semi-colonial words synonymously. Their analysis that India is a neo-colonially dependent semi-colonial country borders absurdity. They fail to evaluate the transformation that has taken place in the imperialist plunder and domination during the post- Second World War period from colonialism to neo-colonialism.
As a result, they like their counterparts in the imperialist countries, fail to analyze the reasons for the present recurrent meltdown of international finance capital, the speculative character of which is reaching its peak. They still repeat that like in the colonial days, now also imperialism is maintaining and using feudalism as its social base, when with the penetration of capital-market forces and technology imported by the MNCs, vast changes are taking place in the agrarian sector leading to its devastation in new forms, with hundreds of thousands of the poor and marginal peasants committing suicide, and millions displaced from their land and occupation for the sake of neo-liberal projects. Instead of utilizing feudalism, by and large, as its social basis during the colonial days, it is systematically transforming and integrating the agrarian sector to the international finance capital system. Still their whole strategy hinges on anti-feudal tasks, as proved in their Program and tactical line. But as they refuse to recognize the vast changes that have taken place in the agrarian sector under neo-colonization and have no agrarian program based on it and mass organization of the peasantry, practically nothing is done to advance the agrarian revolution with “land to the tiller” slogan. As a result, though it speaks about feudalism as the principal target, its activities are reduced to squad actions in the forest areas far away from the real peasantry.
From the analysis of the present world and Indian situation put forward by CPI (Maoist) it is difficult for anyone to explain why the present mass upsurges are taking place. Same is the fate of the Maoist fringe groups in the imperialist countries in Europe and North America also. As a result, even when big mass movements emerge in different areas and when they get an opportunity to influence any of them as happened in the Lalgarh area of W. Bengal, they reduce it to an area for deploying their guerilla squads and to organize few actions like the derailing of Gyaneswari Express which killed many and inconvenienced millions for nearly two years, as the railway department stopped plying trains through that route in the night in the name of lack of security.
In Chhattisgarh, the Maoists are calling the forest areas of Dantewada district as their liberated area. After visiting it Jan Myrdal has written a book “Red Star Over India” actually ridiculing himself and the good intellectual work he had done earlier, a mechanical imitation of the great book “Red Star Over China” written by Edgar Snow. But contrary to what is reported by the petti-bourgeois intellectuals who blindly support the Maoists, what is happening there is a different story. When the earlies Congress government tried to privatize the Shivnath river and later when the BJP government declared a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rajnandgaon district a powerful mass movement was organized under the initiative of CPI(ML) due to which the latter’s implementation was truncated and the latter had to be abandoned. Similar mass movements are taking place against other neo-liberal projects also. But in Dantewada, a corporate group like Essar has constructed a more than 200 km long pipeline to loot the rich iron ore of that area. The same is the case of other so-called Maoist controlled areas in Jharkhand, Lalgarh in Bengal and Odisha-AP border areas also. Instead of mobilizing the masses and throwing out the MNCs, corporate houses and mining mafias, often Maoists are serving as their mercenaries after taking huge sums from them. The Communist Parties built under the guidance of the Communist International based on Bolshevik principles had a great tradition of building the Party surrounded by the class and mass organizations. They collected money from the people and the mass organizations besides the levy from the party members and sympathizers.
But the method of ‘levying’ adopted by the Maoists under coercion, especially when they are in the infantile stage of their growth has corrupted their own cadres. Combined with the sectarian practice of ‘money actions ‘ followed by many groups and splinter factions in many areas corruption has become rampant among these sections including the Maoists as there is no accounting of the money collected or no principles are followed in collection. In areas of AP and some other states, money is demanded to become cadres. The spirit of depending on the masses is alien to many of them. Maoists are justifying it in the name of huge amounts required to purchase sophisticated arms and to maintain hideouts. But whatever may be the justification this practice has led to a deterioration of communist values among the cadres.
Relation with the state and the ruling class parties
THE CPI(Maoist) claim that they boycott all forms of elections as a strategy. But during their three decades of existence they have not succeeded to mobilize the masses for boycotting elections in a single area so far. Even after threatening the voters, bombing the roads and polling booths and occasionally punishing the people brutally, it has not succeeded to enforce boycott anywhere. Even in Dantewada region more than 60% voting take place. Another notable feature is that though in Dantewada the Maoists have succeeded to reduce the strength of once predominant CPI in this region, BJP has emerged as the main force and winning the elections from there continuously.
And it is an open secret that the CPI(ML) People’s War, after calling for boycott canvassed for Chenna Reddy led Congress in 1980s. Later it supported the TDP led by N.T. Rama Rao in the 1990s. In 2006 elections in AP, as the Congress leader Raja Sekhara Rao had promised talks with the Maoists, they supported him. In Bihar MCC used to follow the same path. Lalu Prasad had benefitted from it many times. In Jharkhand during last two state assembly elections Maoists supported The JMM led by Shibu Soren. While doing so they threaten other candidates and do not allow other candidates to campaign in areas where they have influence. It shows that they boycott elections calling the existing parliamentary system as pseudo democratic, but due to their actions they make it more pseudo. The latest instance was Maoists supporting the TMC led by Mamta Banerjee, a constituent of the central UPA government against the CPI(M) led Left Front. In all these cases they have supported the main ruling class parties, after calling for boycott. They never support any force from the left. It is a most opportunist and unprincipled mercenary policy followed by the CPI(Maoist) which has greatly tarnished the image of the communist movement all over the country.
As a reward for the support they give in the elections, the AP chief minister invited Maoists for talks in Hyderabad. As was evident from the beginning to everybody except the Maoists, nothing came out of the talks. But the state machinery used the opportunity to make aerial coverage of the emergence and return of the Maoist team. Within a short time, almost all the Maoist squads and most of the main cadres were wiped out by the Special Forces. Still they do not study anything from these debacles. Their polibureau member Shyam and now Kishen were killed by trapping them using the talks with government as a lollypop.
Firstly, as a force which talks only strategy, what is there to talk with the state at the present stage of their growth? Secondly, after the bitter experience of the AP incident why they refuse to take any lessons? What is coming out of the Kishen killing is that they have great illusions about the ruling class leaders even when they claim to have declared total war against the state. It will be useful if they once go through the military writings of Mao at least to avoid such infantile mistakes.
How the extremists ultimately help the state
THE experience of the Tamil People’s struggle in Sri Lanka and how LTTE greatly damaged its cause should be an eye opener for all those who have soft-corner for them. Nearer home, in Assam during the two decades when ULFA leadership and cadres were collecting huge sums from the large number of plantation owners, they were getting huge profit as they could deny any wage rise or other benefits to the hundreds of thousands of workers. Wherever Maoists are having influence the MNCs and corporate houses and mining mafias can operate by paying the ‘levy’ to them. Similarly, the presence of the extremists is used by the state as a pretext to increase ‘security forces’ manifold and to deploy them anywhere dubbing even mass movements as extremist ones, to deploy them to all areas in the name of law and order, even to deploy army and impose AFSPA like draconian laws in the name of insurgency for decades and even dare to impose the latest draconian establishment like National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), intensifying the state terror. To facilitate this, if there are no extremists in an area they will create them as the insurgent groups are made by RAW in Manipur. Or they will propagate that the extremist influence is increasing as lot of publicity is given to the Maoists at the state level with the help of the corporate media. In this the Indian state is copying the US authorities, who are the greatest terrorists, but have declared a war against terror!
Some friends will definitely ask: how can you criticize the Maoists when they are shedding so much blood, when their leaders are also killed? How can you criticize them when they are waging a war against the state? Of course, we have respect for the sacrifice of the cadres of CPI(Maoist). That is why we condemned the killings of Shyam and Kishen, and many others like them in the past. Mao has repeatedly advised that we should not waste even a drop of blood, avoid unnecessary sacrifice. But even after more than three decades of their practice, the CPI(Maoist)leadership is not prepared to make an evaluation of their practice so far. In the first wave of left adventurism almost all the ML parties which emerged in 1960s suffered severe setbacks and disintegrated. Later, almost all the Maoist groups in different parts of the world like the Shining Path of Peru were wiped out. The Maoists in Philippines is almost stagnant. In Nepal they succeeded to play a leading role in overthrowing the monarchy only when they changed their line and took mass line.
In India, whatever may be the claims of the Maoist leaders and the propaganda of the state, they are a dwindling force. Not only that, all the former socialist countries have degenerated to capitalist path and the ICM is facing a severe setback. Without taking these aspects in to consideration, and the momentous changes that have taken place during the post-Second World War decades in to consideration, just by waging few squad actions in such a big country like India with more than 1.25 billion people and with such organized and centralized oppressive state machinery, how can the revolution be led forward? If the CPI(Maoist)leadership, impervious to all these factors, continue its suicidal path, can anyone justify them?
We are of the view that the leadership should be ruthlessly criticized and they should be asked to change their line if they want to contribute towards revolutionary advance. We are criticizing the CPI(M) leadership more fiercely, as revisionism is still the main danger in the communist movement. The task before the communist force is to take lessons from the past, reorganize the Party and lead the People’ Democratic Revolution forward mobilizing all the revolutionary classes and sections for it. We appeal to their cadres to come out of this anarchist politics and join the revolutionary Marxist-Leninist camp.
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