A Statement by Comrade Charu Mazumdar
[A news item in the Statesman, Nov. 1, 1968, attributed certain remarks to Comrade Charu Mazumdar which were not his. The following statement of Comrade Charu Mazumdar, made in a letter to the Editorial Board of the Bengali weekly DESHABRATI, and published in its issue of November 28,1968, is reproduced here. The statement not only removes the confusion generated by that mischievous report but is at the same time a warning all revolurtionaries and people of good-will to be on guard against any and all reports and ‘statements’ published in the bourgeois papers involving the communist revolutionaries. The reactionary press will surely use this filthy trick also in future in order to sow confusion and disrupt the ranks of revolutionaries and the revolutionary people. We can defeat its sinister attempts only by constantly increasing our vigilance and persisting in the study and practice of the thought of Chairman Mao.
– Ed. Board, Liberation]
I was too shocked at seeing the report in the Statesman to think of you. Who can ever think of using such words about is own comrade ? I had said two things in two different contexts, and it appears that the report was prepared by compounding these two. The first thing that I said was this : “I feel sorry at his [Kanu Sanyal’s] arrest.” To this I added : “After all, Kanu is still alive, and did not get killed, which could well happen in the course of the struggle. Now that he is alive and this government is unable to keep him in prison for ever, he is sure to come out and plunge once more into the revolutionary struggle. The political situation in the country is changing fast and as the crisis develops, they are sure to get released.” These are the two remarks I made and you can see how they have reported them in the newspaper. Comrades are criticising me for this [reported version] and they are fully justified in doing so. What communist would ever utter words like those reported in the paper ? And if such a thing happens at all, must we not condemn it then ? To the reporters of the Ananda Bazar Patrika and the Times of India I said : “The peasant movement does not depend on any individual. No doubt, an individual can play an important role but that is in no way decisive.” Then they put the question : “Will it cause a set-back to the movement ?” To this I replied : “There may be some disorder as a result of this arrest; but that itself is a part of the process. The struggle of the peasants may consequently be delayed for a month or two at the most.” This they made into the statement that the movement will start in December instead of in November as planned earlier.
