On The Political-Organizational Report : Hate, Identify and Smash Centrism

Comrade Charu Majumdar’s speech introducing the Political-Organizational Report at the Party Congress:

From Liberation, Vol. III, Nos. 7-9 (May-July 1970). The report of this speech, based on notes taken at the Congress, was adopted by the Congress as a Party document.

In the present world situation there are two important phenomena. On the one hand, there is US imperialism’s naked aggression against Cambodia. The US imperialists have thrown away all pretences and invaded Cambodia. Their logic is Hitler’s logic — the logic of all aggressors. They cannot wait any more, they can no longer talk of peace. Now they will attack one country after another. So this is the beginning of the third world war.

On the other hand, the revolutionary united front of the peoples of Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos under the leadership of China has been built up to fight the US aggressors. The unity of the three Indo-Chinese peoples has been achieved. This is a great thing in world history, which did not exist when Hitler’s hordes marched across Sudetanland. The Second World War was preceded by Munich — by great betrayal. But now the united front of revolutionary peoples under the leadership of China is taking shape. So this is the great beginning of the defeat of imperialism and the great beginning of the victory of the world’s people.

The same kind of phenomena exist in India also. India’s reactionary ruling classes are making frenzied war preparations to suit the global strategy of US imperialism and Soviet social-imperialism. They are hatching criminal war plans against China. But the emergence of the CPI (M-L) has changed the internal situation in India. The armed revolutionary peasant struggle led by the CPI(M-L) has become the motive force of history. We must take into account not only the offensive of the ruling classes but also the counter-offensive of the revolutionary people.

Our cardinal tasks therefore are : to build up the Party and to get it entrenched among the landless and poor peasants. The building up of the Party means the development of the armed class struggle. And without armed class struggle the Party cannot be developed and cannot entrench itself among the masses.

The struggle between the two lines is there within the Party and will continue. We must oppose and defeat the incorrect line. But we must be on our guard against centrism. Centrism is a brand of revisionism — its worst form. In the past, revisionism was defeated again and again by revolutionary elements but centrism always seized the victories of the struggle and led the party along the revisionist path. We must hate centrism. On the question of boycotting elections Nagi Reddy said : “Yes, we accept it but it should be restricted to a certain area at a certain period. We shall participate in elections where there is no struggle.” This is Nagi Reddy’s line. This is centrism. We have fought against it and thrown the Nagi Reddys out of our organization. Regarding Soviet social-imperialism, some say : “The Soviet leaders are revisionists. But how can they be imperialist ? Where is that development of monopoly capital?” These are centrists. We have fought them and thrown them out of our Party. So the centrists raised the questions of trade unions and “working class-based Party” when armed class struggle is to be developed by relying on the peasantry. We fought Asit Sen and company on these issues and threw them out of the Party.

We must not only distinguish between the correct and the incorrect line but also find out the centrist position and smash it.

Now the centrist attack is coming from inside the Party. On the questions of using fire-arms, the dependence on the petty-bourgeois intellectual and the battle of annihilation, the Party is facing centrist attacks.

It must be understood that the battle of annihilation is both a higher form of class struggle and the starting-point of guerrilla war. There are two deviations on this question :

    1. Some comrades agree that annihilation is the starting-point of guerrilla war but they do not agree that it is a higher form of class struggle. It should be borne in mind that only through the development of class struggle can all the problems be solved.

    2. There are other comrades who carried on class struggle — the struggle for the seizure of landlords’ land and property —but did not wage the battle of annihilation. So the cadres became degenerate : they were lost. The comrades missed the point that annihilation is the starting-point of guerrilla war.

Class struggle will solve all other problems — the problem of building liberated bases and the problem of building the revolutionary army.

We have tried to develop the army in some areas without class struggle and have failed. Without class struggle — the battle of annihilation — the initiative of the poor peasant masses cannot be released, the political consciousness of the fighters cannot be raised, the new man cannot emerge, the people’s army cannot be created. Only by waging class struggle — the battle of annihilation — the new man will be created, the new man who will defy death and will be free from all thought of self-interest. And with this death-defying spirit he will go close to the enemy, snatch his rifle, avenge the martyrs and the people’s army will emerge. To go close to the enemy it is necessary to conquer all thought of self. And this can be achieved only by the blood of martyrs. That inspires and creates new men out of the fighters, fills them with class hatred and makes them go close to the enemy and snatch his rifle with bare hands.

We have poured much of our blood in Srikakulam and we have also spilled much blood of the enemy. Yet the class enemy exists there. Unless we throw the class enemy out of the land a new consciousness, a new confidence, cannot arise. We cannot then go close to the enemy and snatch his rifle. It is the class struggle that can solve this problem of building the people’s army.

The annihilation of the class enemy — this weapon in our hands — is the greatest danger to the reactionaries and revisionists all the world over. So the leaders of world revisionism are trying to contact the various groups which pay lip-service to Chairman Mao and the CPC and are trying to unite them to oppose the battle of annihilation of the class enemy. We refuse to unite with these groups because they are opposed to the annihilation of the class enemy, to class struggle and so are enemies of the people.

Why am I against taking up fire-arms now ? Is it not our dream that landless and poor peasants will take up the rifles on their shoulders and march onward ? Yet the use of firearms at this stage, instead of releasing the initiative of the peasant masses to annihilate the class enemy stifles it. If guerrilla fighters start the battle of annihilation with their conventional weapons, the common landless and poor peasants will come forward with bare hands and join the battle of annihilation.

A common landless peasant, ground down by age-old oppression, will see the light and avenge himself on the class enemy. His initiative will be released. In this way the peasant masses will join the guerrilla fighters, their revolutionary enthusiasm will know no bounds and a mighty wave of people’s upsurge will sweep the country. After the initiative of the peasant masses to annihilate the class enemy with bare hands or home-made weapons has been released and the peasants’ revolutionary power has been established, they should take up the gun and face the world. The peasant with his rifle will be the guarantee of the continuation of the peasants’ revolutionary power.

Comrades, the peasants’ suffering has reached a stage when they can no longer endure it. If we can show them the way, there is not a single point in India where the peasants will not be roused to action. There is the possibility of a tremendous upsurge in India if we conscious­ly work for it. Guerrilla war can be waged through the battle of annihilation in every village in India. So, start as many points of armed struggle as possible. Don’t try to concentrate. Expand anywhere and everywhere. This is one principle to be followed. The other principle is : Carry on the battle of annihilation of the class enemy.

All the revisionists, all the groups taking the name of Chairman Mao, are attacking us on this issue of the battle of annihilation. So, Comrades, anyone who opposes this battle of annihilation cannot remain with us. We will not allow him to remain inside our Party.

One can see how the revolutionary armed peasant struggle is rousing the other classes. Look at Calcutta. The revolutionary struggle of the youths of Calcutta surges forward under the impact of the armed peasant struggle. The working class in Calcutta is also rising. And I hope there will be revolutionary upsurge of the working class not only in Calcutta but in all other cities of India. This is bound to happen. The situation in the cities will then change completely.

Comrades, let a vigorous armed peasant struggle rage all over India after the victorious conclusion of our Congress. Then a spontaneous mass upsurge in the wake of the armed guerrilla struggle will come as an avalanche, as a thunderbolt. It is sure the Red Army can be created not only in Srikakulam but also in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. With these contingents of the Liberation army, the Indian peasants will march onward and complete the revolution. Three factors guarantee the victory of the revolution. First, the revolution that has been delayed by more than twenty years brooks no further delay. Second, the revolution is taking place in the era of the total collapse of imperialism and the world-wide victory of Socialism, the era of Mao Tsetung Thought. Third, we have been able to hold this Congress despite severe repression.

Comrades, let us march onward. The seventies will surely be the decade of liberation.

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