56th Anniversary of Great Naxalbari Uprising !
The Naxalbari Uprising of 25th May, 1967 was a historic turning point in the entire history of Indian Communist Movement. As is acknowledged, the ideological struggle within undivided Communist Party leading to the spilt and formation of CPI (M) at the Seventh Congress of the CPI in 1964 could not resolve the ideological-political issues raised by communist revolutionaries. Consequently, the ideological struggle led by Comrade Charu Mazumdar and other leaders came in sharp contradiction with the ‘revisionist line’ unabatedly continued by the leadership of the CPI(M) even after the 1964 split in relation to both international and national questions.
The contradictions within CPI (M) speeded up following its participation in the United Front coalition government of West Bengal in 1967, holding important positions in the cabinet, namely, the Home Ministry and the Ministry of Land Revenue. As part of the ruling regime, the CPI(M) leadership backtracked from its erstwhile commitment towards implementing land reforms based on the principle of ‘land to the tiller’. In brief, this was the immediate political context for the Naxalbari uprising in 1967, barely a few months after CPI (M) started sharing power in the State. Hundreds of peasants who were part of the peasant committees started forcible capture of land from jotedars, even resisting the state machinery of which CPI (M) was also a part. This led to police firing on 25th May, 1967 in the Naxalbari block of Siliguri subdivision in Darjeeling district resulting in the martyrdom of many including 9 women and 1 child. However, the state repression and CPI (M)’s involvement in it, rather than weakening the movement, gave added momentum to it.
Naxalbari uprising led by communists, in which oppressed tribals, landless poor and workers of Bengal formed the main cadre-base, became an inspiration for similar struggles all over India. In spite of brutal police suppression, the peasant committees in Naxalbari, Kharibari and Phansidewa regions advanced forward seizing lands, food grains and even ammunitions from the jotedars. The tea garden workers wholeheartedly came forward in support of the struggle. To be precise, within a short span of time, the organisational initiatives on the part of revolutionaries led to the formation of All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) followed by declaration by Kanu Sanyal on foundation of the Party, CPI (ML), at a mass meeting in Calcutta on 22 April, 1969, Lenin’s birthday.
However, even while upholding Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought as its guiding ideology, due to the influence of adventurist positions that dominated the Communist Party of China at that time, CPI(ML) failed to make a concrete evaluation of the postwar neocolonial transformation under imperialism as well as the changes in class relations and class forces in India in relation to it. It led to the characterisation of India as ‘semi-colonial and semi-feudal’ and the line of organising people as mainly that of ‘protracted people’s war’, dogmatically equating postwar neocolonial Indian situation to that of pre-revolutionary China of the colonial phase. As part of dealing with ‘Naxalite menace’, under Operation Steeplechase, the central and state regimes unleashed both army and CRPF on revolutionaries by the begining of 1971 onward. In brief, in spite of many sacrifices, the influence of left adventurism coupled with state repression, in the early 1970s itself, the CPI (ML) started disintegrating into many groups.
Today, when we are observing the 56th anniversary of the historic Naxalbari uprising, neoliberal imperialism through neofascism, with its no holds barred motive of appropriating maximum profit, is making the very human existence on planet earth itself difficult by unleashing the biggest-ever superexpoitation of labour and corporate plunder of nature. On the other hand, the communist movement has not yet overcome the severe setbacks that it has been confronting both internationally and within the country. Ideological-political and organisational setbacks arising from right opportunist and left adventurist deviations of the communist movement and consequent inability to concretely evaluate both national and international situation have immensely enabled ruling classes to postpone their collapse even as world imperialist system is going from crisis to crisis. And to divide and dismember the resistance of working class and oppressed, based on reactionary, obscurantist majoritarian ideologies, and backed by even postmodern theories, corporate capital is now resorting to neofascism at a global level, the manifestations of which vary according to the concrete historical, political-economic and socio-cultural context of countries.
In this context, India, the most populous country inhabited by the most poor, oppressed and exploited people in the world is facing the worst form of the RSS neofascism under Modi regime in which the most corrupt corporate capital has fully merged itself with world’s most inhuman and reactionary ideology of Brahmanical Manuvad. The majoritarian Hindurashtra envisaged by Hindutva fascists while targeting minorities, especially, stigmatising Muslims and denying citizenship to them on the one hand, is also engaged in subjugating the toiling Indians and women as ‘subhuman’ based on the diktats of Manusmriti which RSS proposed as Constitution of India at the time of its drafting after Power Transfer. On the one hand, while extreme hatred, division and polarisation of the entire social fabric and incessant attacks and massacres of minorities and Dalits have become regular feature of India, on the other, along with horrific levels of extreme poverty, unemployment, price rise and ecological crisis, India under RSS fascism is going through unprecedented wealth concentration, inequality and corruption, which are only discussed in social media and seldom reported by ‘godi media’. And as part of superimposing the majoritarian fascistic agenda, efforts are in full swing to demolish the multinational, multilingual, multicultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic character of India.
In this critical situation, all of us who uphold and commemorate the heroic Naxalbari struggle should have a clear understanding of the tasks in front of us today. Thus, while firmly upholding the spirit of Naxalbari struggle according to the concrete conditions of today, i.e., adhering to the long-term, people’s democratic, strategic class interests incumbent on us as communists, today, it is our most urgent and immediate task to come forward joining with all anti-fascist democratic forces for an all-out offensive to overthrow RSS fascism. Put it differently, today defeating RSS fascism is indispensable for and inseparable from carrying forward our long-term and strategic revolutionary tasks of overthrowing the anti-people ruling system as such, the task taken up by the leaders of Naxalbari struggle more than half a century ago.
Therefore, as unequivocally stated in the Political Resolution adopted by the 12th Congress of CPI (ML) Red Star, together with building up of party, class and mass movements and launching struggles integrally linking up with class, caste, gender and ecological issues against the neoliberal ruling system and far-right corporate-saffron fascist policies based on the ideological-political line of the Party coupled with the initiative for a revolutionary-left core against the material and ideological basis of neoliberal-corporatisation, it is high time to build-up a tactical alliance of all anti-fascist forces against RSS neofascism. All parties and organisations irrespective of their class orientation who take an ant-fascist position can become part of this broadest possible anti-fascist front. While being part of this tactical alliance against fascism, as descendants of Naxalbari uprising, we have to firmly uphold our independent position from the perspective of the class interests of the working class and oppressed.
To reiterate thus, at this critical situation, when RSS/BJP has intensified its corporate-saffron attack on the people in manifold ways and as people’s simmering discontent against the fascist politics of hate, division and social polarisation is gathering momentum, upholding the revolutionary commitment of the comrades of Naxalbari Uprising, let’s advance towards the immediate goal of overthrowing the Modi regime in the forthcoming General Election, and thus preparing the ground for intensifying our task towards the ultimate defeat of the ruling system and moving towards people’s democracy and socialism.
Let’s Resolutely Uphold the Message of Naxalbari Uprising !
Resist and Overthrow RSS Fascism !!
Strive for People Democracy and Move Towards Socialism !!!
P J James
General Secretary
CPI (ML) Red Star
24th May 2023
