April 22: Party Formation Day
CPI (ML) Red Star observes April 22, Lenin’s birth date, as Party Formation Day since CPI (ML) was founded on April 22, 1969. Of course, the Communist Party of India was founded in Tashkent in 1920 with Mohammad Shafiq as Secretary, and has a glorious history of many valiant struggles against British colonialism and Indian exploiters. However, on account of its failure to recognise the historically determined integral link between India’s inhuman caste system and class formation, the Communist could not carry forward the task of revolution. And though CPM was formed in 1964 following the inner-party struggle against revisionism of CPI leadership, the former also could not make a break from revisionist positions. As a result, the ideological -political struggle against CPM’s neo-revisionism led to the Naxalbari Uprising in May 1967 leading to the formation of CPI (ML) on April 22, 1969.
Today, when we are observing the Party Formation Day, in addition to the neoliberal-neocolonial oppression over India, India is already under neofascism led by RSS, the biggest and longest-running fascist organisation in history. As part of RSS’ majoritarian Hindurashatra agenda, the religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians are targeted and wantonly attacked, even as efforts are in full swing to deny even citizenship right to the former. Since Manusmriti, the ideological basis of RSS, treats Dalits and women as subhuman, they are also stigmatised taking away even the minimum demcratic rights enshrined in the Constitution for them. And RSS that controls both State power and street power, micro and macro spaces, and the entire civil and military spheres of India today, is also engaged in dismantling the present Constitution and replacing it with Manusmriti, it’s long-cherished demand since the adoption of the Constitution during the 1949-50 period.
Meanwhile, as we know, due to the influence of sectarian and adventurist positions, the CPI (ML) that formed in 1969 and the Party Program adopted at the 8th Congress in 1970 failed to make an objective evaluation of the postwar neocolonial phase of imperialism and it’s concrete manifestations in India. This erroneous evaluation coupled with left adventurist practice that was effectively used by the Indian regime for repression led to a disintegration of the of CPI (ML) formed in 1969. However, after the revocation of Emergency, many efforts were taken up rejecting the sectarian approach on the one hand, and evaluation of the neocolonial transformation at a global level and in India. It was this long drawn-out initiative at the level of ideological-political struggle as well as efforts at reorganization of the revolutionary movement totally abandoning the sectarian line that culminated in the formulation of a Program and Path of Revolution in line with People’s Democratic Revolution in India and convening of the 9th Party Congress of CPI (ML) Red Star in 2011.
The 12th Party Congress conducted in September 2022, after taking into consideration the neoliberal-neofascist offensive by imperialism together with the horrific manifestions of mounting RSS fascism in India has updated the Party Documents so as to carry forward the Party’s strategic tasks as laid down in the Program and Path of Revolution and the tactical or immediate task of defeating RSS fascism as laid down in the Political Resolution.
Today, when we are observing the Party Day under RSS neofascism, the Party’s tasks are at three levels:
1. To speed up party-building, develop class and mass movements and launch struggles integrally linking up with class, caste, gender and ecological issues against the neoliberal ruling system and far-right corporate-saffron fascist policies of RSS/BJP, based on our ideological-political line.
2. In continuation of this, strive for a revolutionary left core of fraternal and communist revolutionary forces with a common minimum program against neoliberal corporatisation and all its manifestations.
3. The tactical alliance of building up the broadest possible movement of the people against RSS neofascism joining with all anti-fascist and non-fascist forces which also involves electoral struggles to isolate and defeat the fascists. In this immediate and most urgent task of idefeating RSS/BJP in the forthcoming General Election in 2024, in which non-fascist ruling classes and social democrats who pursue neoliberal policies are also involved, as communist revolutionaries, we have to uphold our independent position from the perspective of the class interests of the working class and oppressed.
Of course, while taking up these domestic tasks, it is our solemn task to strive for achieving ideological clarity on the working of imperialism according to the concrete situation today, especially in the neofascist global context. Since imperialism is the principal enemy of the world people, under the neofascist global context today, we have to take initiative for building up the Anti-Imperialist, Anti-Fascist United Front joining with communist parties and like-minded organisations. To be precise, therefore, while observing the 54th anniversary of the founding of CPI (ML), with our updated Program and other Basic Documents, it is our task to go for an all-out ideological-political offensive against RSS neo-fascism together with consistently upholding our strategic, long-term task of overthrowing the reactionary ruling system as such, and advance towards people’s democracy and socialism.
(Editorial: Red Star Monthly, April 2023)
