The reactionary ruling class is planning to use it's
Asura Sena(Demonic Army) which comprises of the
Khaki Rakshasha's(Indian Police Force), CRPF
(Central Rakshasha Police Force ) and a couple of
battalions of the Indian Army to target the
revolutionary people's movement and has
has drawn up an elaborate plan to finish of the entire
top leadership of the Revolutionary Maoist Movement that
has spread like wild fire throught the country.
True to their Mafia style of functioning and organisation
they have now started issuing hit-lists, a trend
popularised in India by petty criminals like
Dawood Ibrahim and Chotta Rajan.
100 Naxals on govt 'hit list'
NEW DELHI: Centre and Naxal-affected states have drawn a 'hit list' of 100 top Maoists who have to be neutralised as part of an aggressive strategy to tackle the serious internal security threat.
Law enforcement agencies have been asked to target the 100 'A List' red ultras on a priority basis in what also marks the burial of the earlier approach to engage the Maoists in talks.
The list, comprising Maoists engaged in a number of violent incidents, exchanged hands for the first time among senior police officers drawn from nine states worst affected by 'red terror' during a day-long meeting here on Friday.
Although names of the listed Naxal leaders were not immediately known, they were, sources in the home ministry said, mainly those identified by Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the respective intelligence wings of the nine states as members of 'military unit' of the CPM.
The group was formed in September, 2004, with the merger of two prominent Naxal outfits People's War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). "Nodal officers of the states discussed the strategy to neutralise all the listed extremists in a co-ordinated manner.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/223242.cms
Monday, October 30, 2006
Indian Police Brutality - Non violent protestor slapped like a bitch
Indian Police Brutality - Non violent protestor slapped like a bitch
Watch it on the google video website
If you have any videos of Indian Police Brutality
then please email them to us at our email id.
Watch it on the google video website
If you have any videos of Indian Police Brutality
then please email them to us at our email id.
Bihar Police - Death by AIDS,
I couldn't help but recall these words of prostitute.
" The police are there to beat us during the day
and rape us during the night"
Considering that a DIG himself has got AIDS one can only
speculate as to how many poor working class women he and his
men would have exploited,raped and transferred the deadly
virus to.
I am not even suprised by such news anymore
it is the same story all over the country.
In Kashmir the police and state ministers organised
themselves into a rape cartel which included
two former state ministers, an ex-additional advocate
general of J&K, an IAS officer, a BSF DIG, two Deputy
Superintendents of Police and raped dozens of teenage
kashmiri girls, the youngest being 15 yeats old
with the use of force and coercion.
It is the same scenario in the many states of
North-East and Chattishggarh where civil war rages on.
Bihar DIGs test positive for HIV
Bihar: They fight Maoist revolutionaries, they have seen gangwars between parliamentary politicans. Now, the Bihar Police is staring into the face of a new, dreaded enemy - one which exists within its own ranks - the HIV virus.
There are 20 reported cases of HIV positive patients in the Patna Police hospital. Concerned by the rising numbers of HIV cases in the state police force, doctors have forwarded some suggestions to headquarters.
They feel that all new recruits in the Bihar Police force should carry HIV negative certificates and that men presently serving in the force should undergo HIV tests. They also say that such tests should be carried out periodically.
Says police hospital doctor Dr P Ojha, "I have requested the authorities to make sure that all police officials undergo an HIV test. A complete health profile should be made necessary for all."
And the government is taking the issue quite seriously especially after the names of two senior DIG rank IPS officers figured in the list of HIV positive cases.
Says Bihar Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah, "Doctors have reported that there has been a considerable rise in HIV positice cases among officers, not only among those ranked lower and constables, but senior officials as well."
Blood samples of the two senior officers have been sent to leading laboratories in Delhi for further confirmation.
The problem lies not in the fact that two senior DIG rank officials have tested positive for HIV. The real problem lies in the fact that a large number of the police force has not undergone any test.
The real numbers of those suffering from the dreaded virus could be mind-boggling and the government's intervention is expected before the situation compeletly gets out of hand.
" The police are there to beat us during the day
and rape us during the night"
Considering that a DIG himself has got AIDS one can only
speculate as to how many poor working class women he and his
men would have exploited,raped and transferred the deadly
virus to.
I am not even suprised by such news anymore
it is the same story all over the country.
In Kashmir the police and state ministers organised
themselves into a rape cartel which included
two former state ministers, an ex-additional advocate
general of J&K, an IAS officer, a BSF DIG, two Deputy
Superintendents of Police and raped dozens of teenage
kashmiri girls, the youngest being 15 yeats old
with the use of force and coercion.
It is the same scenario in the many states of
North-East and Chattishggarh where civil war rages on.
Bihar DIGs test positive for HIV
Bihar: They fight Maoist revolutionaries, they have seen gangwars between parliamentary politicans. Now, the Bihar Police is staring into the face of a new, dreaded enemy - one which exists within its own ranks - the HIV virus.
There are 20 reported cases of HIV positive patients in the Patna Police hospital. Concerned by the rising numbers of HIV cases in the state police force, doctors have forwarded some suggestions to headquarters.
They feel that all new recruits in the Bihar Police force should carry HIV negative certificates and that men presently serving in the force should undergo HIV tests. They also say that such tests should be carried out periodically.
Says police hospital doctor Dr P Ojha, "I have requested the authorities to make sure that all police officials undergo an HIV test. A complete health profile should be made necessary for all."
And the government is taking the issue quite seriously especially after the names of two senior DIG rank IPS officers figured in the list of HIV positive cases.
Says Bihar Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah, "Doctors have reported that there has been a considerable rise in HIV positice cases among officers, not only among those ranked lower and constables, but senior officials as well."
Blood samples of the two senior officers have been sent to leading laboratories in Delhi for further confirmation.
The problem lies not in the fact that two senior DIG rank officials have tested positive for HIV. The real problem lies in the fact that a large number of the police force has not undergone any test.
The real numbers of those suffering from the dreaded virus could be mind-boggling and the government's intervention is expected before the situation compeletly gets out of hand.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Desperation turns Bihar policemen into pink panthers/painters ?
Demoralisation , depression have taken a heavy
toll on the bihar police, So desperate are they that
they have now turned into painters and believe
painting a town pink is going to solve all problems
created by the ruling establishment.
Why only paint the town pink ?
I propose all the policemen of Bihar be made to wear pink unifrom.
Here is a design that may appeal to you
Future uniform of Bihar Police Force.
Rohit Bal will be proud of you guys !
Hell ! you guys could take part in next year's
India Fashion Week!!!
Bihar blushes to pink to beat terror
Aurangabad: An image makeover is on in Bihar's Aurangabad district which has been a hotbed of Naxal violence.
The district town is being painted pink to boost its sagging morale and people here are hopeful that this new colour will lift people's spirit and bring down the crime rate.
“The colour pink might help in maintaining peace,” says a resident of Aurangabad.
“This is being done to beautify the city,” says another local.
This is a brainchild of the new Civil SDO of the town, Arvind Kumar Singh, who's just returned after a trip to Jaipur.
Inspired from the original pink city, he introduced this campaign with the slogan "Pink Aurangabad, Green Aurangabad; Clean Aurangabad, Disciplined Aurangabad".
"We want to make our city a pink city. It will help instill a positive attitude in people here,” says Singh.
Though people in the city were reluctant initially, they're now convinced that pink will counter red terror.
It's not clear how painting homes and offices pink will bring down the city's crime graph but people are certainly taking to this unique idea.
(With inputs from Prabhakar Kumar & Mansi Sharma)
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bihar-blushes-to-pink-to-fight-terror/24957-3.html
toll on the bihar police, So desperate are they that
they have now turned into painters and believe
painting a town pink is going to solve all problems
created by the ruling establishment.
Why only paint the town pink ?
I propose all the policemen of Bihar be made to wear pink unifrom.
Here is a design that may appeal to you
Future uniform of Bihar Police Force.
Rohit Bal will be proud of you guys !
Hell ! you guys could take part in next year's
India Fashion Week!!!
Bihar blushes to pink to beat terror
Aurangabad: An image makeover is on in Bihar's Aurangabad district which has been a hotbed of Naxal violence.
The district town is being painted pink to boost its sagging morale and people here are hopeful that this new colour will lift people's spirit and bring down the crime rate.
“The colour pink might help in maintaining peace,” says a resident of Aurangabad.
“This is being done to beautify the city,” says another local.
This is a brainchild of the new Civil SDO of the town, Arvind Kumar Singh, who's just returned after a trip to Jaipur.
Inspired from the original pink city, he introduced this campaign with the slogan "Pink Aurangabad, Green Aurangabad; Clean Aurangabad, Disciplined Aurangabad".
"We want to make our city a pink city. It will help instill a positive attitude in people here,” says Singh.
Though people in the city were reluctant initially, they're now convinced that pink will counter red terror.
It's not clear how painting homes and offices pink will bring down the city's crime graph but people are certainly taking to this unique idea.
(With inputs from Prabhakar Kumar & Mansi Sharma)
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bihar-blushes-to-pink-to-fight-terror/24957-3.html
24-hour naxal bandh
24-hour naxal bandh
Monday, October 30, 2006 07:38:25 am
The banned Maoist outfit, CPI (Maoist) has called for a 24-hour bandh on Monday (Oct 30) in 4 states-Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh and Orissa.
The bandh is called by the naxals to protest the recent arrest of its top Maoist leaders. While Shela Marandi of Nari Mukti Sangh was recently arrested by Orissa police, another top maoist leader was also arrested by the Bihar police.
The Bihar Police has sounded a high alert in the naxal-infested northern and southern parts of the State.
Jharkhand and Bihar police are taking adequate precautions in view of the bandh. Extra precautions are being taken to ensure the safety of railway lines since the railways are often targeted by the naxals.
http://www.timesnow.tv/articleshow/224507.cms
Monday, October 30, 2006 07:38:25 am
The banned Maoist outfit, CPI (Maoist) has called for a 24-hour bandh on Monday (Oct 30) in 4 states-Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh and Orissa.
The bandh is called by the naxals to protest the recent arrest of its top Maoist leaders. While Shela Marandi of Nari Mukti Sangh was recently arrested by Orissa police, another top maoist leader was also arrested by the Bihar police.
The Bihar Police has sounded a high alert in the naxal-infested northern and southern parts of the State.
Jharkhand and Bihar police are taking adequate precautions in view of the bandh. Extra precautions are being taken to ensure the safety of railway lines since the railways are often targeted by the naxals.
http://www.timesnow.tv/articleshow/224507.cms
Lenin quote
Translation of the below poster : Lenin lived, Lenin lives, Lenin will live!
Capitalists are no more capable of self-sacrifice than a man is capable of lifting himself up by his own bootstraps.-Lenin
Capitalists are no more capable of self-sacrifice than a man is capable of lifting himself up by his own bootstraps.-Lenin
Lenin Video - October Revolution
A clip of scene from the movie 'October' by Eisenstein, with the tone 'I Lenin Takoi Molodoi' (Lenin Is Young Again)
I recommend all those who are in a position to view this to do so,
I personally found the soundtrack to be excellent.
This video clip is from the russian movie October.
Click here to watch the video on the Youtube website
I recommend all those who are in a position to view this to do so,
I personally found the soundtrack to be excellent.
This video clip is from the russian movie October.
Click here to watch the video on the Youtube website
Mangalore: Police Resort to Art as Counter-Propaganda
Mangalore: Police Resort to Art as Counter-Propaganda
Mangalore, Oct 28: Men in khaki are often at the receiving end of some nasty criticism by naxalites operating in Malnad region of the State.
They manage to ransack some remote forest office or paste anti-government pamphlets at bus stops in the heart of Malnad town. And each time, they target the policemen.
Now the State Police Department has decided to take the naxalites head on in this ongoing propaganda war through the medium of drama. Sangama Kalavidar of Manipal will aid them in this task. Starting this Saturday members of Sangama Kalavidar will stage the drama "Haseeru Naadina Kempu Haadhi" (Red Path of Green Land) in nine places in Chikmagalur and Udupi district every weekend till November. The troupe had staged this drama in Bangalore.
The drama would be staged in Sringeri (October 28), Basarikatte (Ocotober 29), Kigga (November 4), Shamse (November 5), Shankarnarayana (November 11), Ajekar (November 12), Hebri (November 18), Siddapur (November 19) and at Amasebailu (November 25). These places in the two districts have been the centres of naxal activities in the recent past.
H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao, Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) told The Hindu the main aim of staging the drama in areas affected by naxal activities was to create awareness about the issue. Even the department had to present its side of the story before the people.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=27300&n_tit=Mangalore%3A+Police+Resort+to+Art+as+Counter-Propaganda+
Mangalore, Oct 28: Men in khaki are often at the receiving end of some nasty criticism by naxalites operating in Malnad region of the State.
They manage to ransack some remote forest office or paste anti-government pamphlets at bus stops in the heart of Malnad town. And each time, they target the policemen.
Now the State Police Department has decided to take the naxalites head on in this ongoing propaganda war through the medium of drama. Sangama Kalavidar of Manipal will aid them in this task. Starting this Saturday members of Sangama Kalavidar will stage the drama "Haseeru Naadina Kempu Haadhi" (Red Path of Green Land) in nine places in Chikmagalur and Udupi district every weekend till November. The troupe had staged this drama in Bangalore.
The drama would be staged in Sringeri (October 28), Basarikatte (Ocotober 29), Kigga (November 4), Shamse (November 5), Shankarnarayana (November 11), Ajekar (November 12), Hebri (November 18), Siddapur (November 19) and at Amasebailu (November 25). These places in the two districts have been the centres of naxal activities in the recent past.
H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao, Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) told The Hindu the main aim of staging the drama in areas affected by naxal activities was to create awareness about the issue. Even the department had to present its side of the story before the people.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=27300&n_tit=Mangalore%3A+Police+Resort+to+Art+as+Counter-Propaganda+
Hard-core Naxalite Sreenivas grilled
Hard-core Naxalite Sreenivas grilled
Sunday October 29 2006 11:41 IST
BELLARY: The hard-core Naxalite and one of the main accused of Paritala Ravi murder case, Sreenivas was thoroughly interrogated by the district police on Saturday.
The accused Julakanti Sreenivas Reddy alias Moddu Sreenu was brought to the city with tight security. He was taken to some of the secret places in the city.
He is one of the suspects in murder of R K (Rayalaseema King), a former PW leader of Anantapur district and mentor of Paritala Ravindra.
Sreenivas is facing murder charges of Malepati Venkateswara Rao, a close associate of Paritala Ravi and former hard-core Naxalite on October 9, 2004 in the city. Malepati Venkateswara Rao was gunned to death, when he was on his morning walk near VIMS, here. The accused, Sreenivas along with G Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri, P Narayana Reddy, Damodar Reddy and others indiscriminately opened fire on Malepati Venkateshwara Rao that day, police sources said.
The accused was arrested recently in Andhra Pradesh and kept in the Fazal Haque sub-jail.
In last February, a police team from the city went there with a prisoner’s body warrant issued by the city local court and requested for Moddu Sreenu in connection with RK murder case.
But, the Superintendent of Sub-Jail Fazal Haque said the accused health condition was not good and he could not be handed over to them in the present condition.
That time doctors had advised complete rest for Moddu Sreenu for some more time. But, this time the officials of AP police handed over him to Bellary police, for one-day interrogation on the basis of prisons body warrant. After his interrogation the accused was handed over to AP police.
The accused was brought to city with tight security of over 100 police personnel, including the newly formed Anti-Naxal Forces.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEK20061029012005&Page=K&Title=Southern+News+-+Karnataka&Topic=0
Sunday October 29 2006 11:41 IST
BELLARY: The hard-core Naxalite and one of the main accused of Paritala Ravi murder case, Sreenivas was thoroughly interrogated by the district police on Saturday.
The accused Julakanti Sreenivas Reddy alias Moddu Sreenu was brought to the city with tight security. He was taken to some of the secret places in the city.
He is one of the suspects in murder of R K (Rayalaseema King), a former PW leader of Anantapur district and mentor of Paritala Ravindra.
Sreenivas is facing murder charges of Malepati Venkateswara Rao, a close associate of Paritala Ravi and former hard-core Naxalite on October 9, 2004 in the city. Malepati Venkateswara Rao was gunned to death, when he was on his morning walk near VIMS, here. The accused, Sreenivas along with G Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri, P Narayana Reddy, Damodar Reddy and others indiscriminately opened fire on Malepati Venkateshwara Rao that day, police sources said.
The accused was arrested recently in Andhra Pradesh and kept in the Fazal Haque sub-jail.
In last February, a police team from the city went there with a prisoner’s body warrant issued by the city local court and requested for Moddu Sreenu in connection with RK murder case.
But, the Superintendent of Sub-Jail Fazal Haque said the accused health condition was not good and he could not be handed over to them in the present condition.
That time doctors had advised complete rest for Moddu Sreenu for some more time. But, this time the officials of AP police handed over him to Bellary police, for one-day interrogation on the basis of prisons body warrant. After his interrogation the accused was handed over to AP police.
The accused was brought to city with tight security of over 100 police personnel, including the newly formed Anti-Naxal Forces.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEK20061029012005&Page=K&Title=Southern+News+-+Karnataka&Topic=0
Group narrates story of struggle, pain,suffering at the hands of the Salwa Judum militiamen
Group narrates story of struggle, pain against Salwa Judum militiamen
Anand Bodh
Chandigarh, October 28: It seems like the protector is turning into the destroyer. To oppose alleged suppression by members of Salwa Judum, a group formed to counter naxalites in Chhattisgarh, in Bastar region, a group of young people have set out on a journey to gather public support to oppose their atrocities.
Presently in Chandigarh, this group of seven young tribals, including two girls, from Bastar have so far performed in 12 states across the country. Salwa Judum literally means collective hunting, and in their case, it was hunting down the naxalites.
The members of the group, attired in their traditional clothes, presented a song that narrated their suffering at the hands of Salwa Judum and exhorted the people to come together to eliminate the Salwa Judum.
Sandhya Markav, a member of the group hailing from Kanker District of Bastar region, said the objective of this song and dance performance was to make people aware of the plight of tribals at the hands of Salwa Judum. “In the name of suppressing naxal movement in Bastar, Salwa Judum is forcing tribals to migrate from their ancestral land located in deep jungles. Many tribals have got killed at the hands of Salwa Judum,” she added.
Seema, another group member, said the group was formed in 2003. “After collecting money from fellow tribesmen, we sat out on our journey to narrate the truth of Salwa Judum to others,’’ she said.
Raj Kumar Salam, the group leader, said Salwa Judum has forced people of around 600 villages to migrate. Due to the fear, around 30,000 people are living in the jungles.
“The tribals of Bastar are facing onslaught at the hands of Salwa Judum for supporting the naxalites,” he said.
Anand Bodh
Chandigarh, October 28: It seems like the protector is turning into the destroyer. To oppose alleged suppression by members of Salwa Judum, a group formed to counter naxalites in Chhattisgarh, in Bastar region, a group of young people have set out on a journey to gather public support to oppose their atrocities.
Presently in Chandigarh, this group of seven young tribals, including two girls, from Bastar have so far performed in 12 states across the country. Salwa Judum literally means collective hunting, and in their case, it was hunting down the naxalites.
The members of the group, attired in their traditional clothes, presented a song that narrated their suffering at the hands of Salwa Judum and exhorted the people to come together to eliminate the Salwa Judum.
Sandhya Markav, a member of the group hailing from Kanker District of Bastar region, said the objective of this song and dance performance was to make people aware of the plight of tribals at the hands of Salwa Judum. “In the name of suppressing naxal movement in Bastar, Salwa Judum is forcing tribals to migrate from their ancestral land located in deep jungles. Many tribals have got killed at the hands of Salwa Judum,” she added.
Seema, another group member, said the group was formed in 2003. “After collecting money from fellow tribesmen, we sat out on our journey to narrate the truth of Salwa Judum to others,’’ she said.
Raj Kumar Salam, the group leader, said Salwa Judum has forced people of around 600 villages to migrate. Due to the fear, around 30,000 people are living in the jungles.
“The tribals of Bastar are facing onslaught at the hands of Salwa Judum for supporting the naxalites,” he said.
Three killed in Chhattisgarh by Maoist insurgents
While the media is quick report any deaths when Maoists retaliate
against Salwa Judum violence it has almost never reported any of the
gang rapes and cold blooded murders of hundreds of maoist sympathisers
and local people.
Anyone who wants to know what I am talking about click on the
Salwa-judum label on the right hand side index.
Three killed in Chhattisgarh by Maoist insurgents
Submitted by aftababedin on Sat, 2006-10-28 16:12. India News
Raipur, Oct 28 (IANS) Three people were killed in Chhattisgarh's forested Bastar region in overnight attacks by Maoist militants, police said Saturday.
Two bodies of tribals were found on a roadside in Narayanpur area while a middle-aged man thought to be an activist of Salwa Judum (anti-insurgency militia), seemed to have been beaten to death, a police official said.
Both the incident took place Friday night in the Bastar region, some 450-km south of Raipur bordering Andhra Pradesh that has been facing Maoists insurgency.
The police claimed to have arrested three insurgents from the remote northeast Surguja region in the state Friday.
The government has deployed 11 paramilitary battalions in the state to tackle the insurgency in the region.
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2006/october/28/india_news/three_killed_in_chhattisgarh_by_maoist_insurgents.html?PHPSESSID=c4e0548c907ab7854f2669168cb1a241
against Salwa Judum violence it has almost never reported any of the
gang rapes and cold blooded murders of hundreds of maoist sympathisers
and local people.
Anyone who wants to know what I am talking about click on the
Salwa-judum label on the right hand side index.
Three killed in Chhattisgarh by Maoist insurgents
Submitted by aftababedin on Sat, 2006-10-28 16:12. India News
Raipur, Oct 28 (IANS) Three people were killed in Chhattisgarh's forested Bastar region in overnight attacks by Maoist militants, police said Saturday.
Two bodies of tribals were found on a roadside in Narayanpur area while a middle-aged man thought to be an activist of Salwa Judum (anti-insurgency militia), seemed to have been beaten to death, a police official said.
Both the incident took place Friday night in the Bastar region, some 450-km south of Raipur bordering Andhra Pradesh that has been facing Maoists insurgency.
The police claimed to have arrested three insurgents from the remote northeast Surguja region in the state Friday.
The government has deployed 11 paramilitary battalions in the state to tackle the insurgency in the region.
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2006/october/28/india_news/three_killed_in_chhattisgarh_by_maoist_insurgents.html?PHPSESSID=c4e0548c907ab7854f2669168cb1a241
Eight naxalites surrender before police
Eight naxalites surrender before police
Nagpur, Oct. 27 (PTI): Taking advantage of the Maharashtra government's surrender policy for naxals in the district, eight naxalites, including a 17-year-old girl, have laid down their arms here, police said today.
The state government had extended the naxal surrender policy for one year upto August 28, 2007.
The naxals, who recently surrendered before Gadchiroli police, are Ramlal (19) of Patnam Dalam, Mahesh (20) of Perimili Dalam, Naresh (19) Balaghat Korchi Dalam, Chaitu (18) of Sangam Dalam, Raju (18) who is the Gramrakshak Dal member and Pramila (17), the Gramrakshak.
Two other naxalites -- Babaurao (21) and Raso (23)--, who hail from Aheri Dalam, had laid arms before police on October 25.
While the eight had been active in the naxalite movement for the past two to three years, Baburao and Raso had been involved for past five to six years, Gadchiroli police said.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200610271422.htm
Nagpur, Oct. 27 (PTI): Taking advantage of the Maharashtra government's surrender policy for naxals in the district, eight naxalites, including a 17-year-old girl, have laid down their arms here, police said today.
The state government had extended the naxal surrender policy for one year upto August 28, 2007.
The naxals, who recently surrendered before Gadchiroli police, are Ramlal (19) of Patnam Dalam, Mahesh (20) of Perimili Dalam, Naresh (19) Balaghat Korchi Dalam, Chaitu (18) of Sangam Dalam, Raju (18) who is the Gramrakshak Dal member and Pramila (17), the Gramrakshak.
Two other naxalites -- Babaurao (21) and Raso (23)--, who hail from Aheri Dalam, had laid arms before police on October 25.
While the eight had been active in the naxalite movement for the past two to three years, Baburao and Raso had been involved for past five to six years, Gadchiroli police said.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200610271422.htm
Tech Madhu will surrender: Jana
Tech Madhu will surrender: Jana
Saturday October 28 2006 11:14 IST
VIJAYAWADA: Home Minister K Jana Reddy on Friday indicated that Naxal activist Tech Madhu and his wife Sridevi were planning to surrender to the police.
The Naxal couple, involved in manufacturing and transporting of rocket launchers to Maoists, have approached the government through some mediators indicating their willingness to give up.
“They have approached the government and we are talking through the mediators,” Jana Reddy, who briefly halted at Kaikaluru enroute West Godavari district, told reporters here on Friday.
He said the Naxal couple could surrender in a couple of days. He said the media was trying to blow up a simple issue. “The government has been adopting a three-tier strategy to tackle the Naxal menace and making key Naxals surrender and join the mainstream is a regular process,” he added.
Saturday October 28 2006 11:14 IST
VIJAYAWADA: Home Minister K Jana Reddy on Friday indicated that Naxal activist Tech Madhu and his wife Sridevi were planning to surrender to the police.
The Naxal couple, involved in manufacturing and transporting of rocket launchers to Maoists, have approached the government through some mediators indicating their willingness to give up.
“They have approached the government and we are talking through the mediators,” Jana Reddy, who briefly halted at Kaikaluru enroute West Godavari district, told reporters here on Friday.
He said the Naxal couple could surrender in a couple of days. He said the media was trying to blow up a simple issue. “The government has been adopting a three-tier strategy to tackle the Naxal menace and making key Naxals surrender and join the mainstream is a regular process,” he added.
Maoist bandh: Alert sounded in Bihar
Maoist bandh: Alert sounded in Bihar
Patna, Oct. 29 (PTI): Bihar Police has sounded a high alert in the naxal-infested north and southern parts of the State and intensified patrolling in view of the bandh called by proscribed CPI (Maoist) on Monday in protest against the arrest of its top leaders in the state.
The Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee and the People's Liberation Guerilla Army have extended support to the bandh call.
All the Superintendents of Police in the zone had been asked to intensify patrolling in naxalite-hit areas, IG (Tirhut zone), Sumit Kumar, said.
Protection of government property, including railways and jails, would get special attention, he said.
"The SSB, which guards the Indo-Nepal border, has been asked to cooperate with the district police to nab ultras trying to sneak into Indian territory from neighbouring Nepal to create disturbances," Kumar said.
Security is also being tightened in Gaya, Jehanabad, Nawada and Aurangabad districts in south Bihar.
The ultras had targetted railway property in Bagaha, Samastipur, Darbhanga and Motihari (East Champaran) and Gaya during the bandh call in the past.
In north Bihar, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, East and West Champaran, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Begusarai and Madhubani districts are considered vulnerable from security point of view.
The CPI (Maoist) is protesting against the arrest of its top leaders in Bihar and Jharkhand.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200610290325.htm
Patna, Oct. 29 (PTI): Bihar Police has sounded a high alert in the naxal-infested north and southern parts of the State and intensified patrolling in view of the bandh called by proscribed CPI (Maoist) on Monday in protest against the arrest of its top leaders in the state.
The Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee and the People's Liberation Guerilla Army have extended support to the bandh call.
All the Superintendents of Police in the zone had been asked to intensify patrolling in naxalite-hit areas, IG (Tirhut zone), Sumit Kumar, said.
Protection of government property, including railways and jails, would get special attention, he said.
"The SSB, which guards the Indo-Nepal border, has been asked to cooperate with the district police to nab ultras trying to sneak into Indian territory from neighbouring Nepal to create disturbances," Kumar said.
Security is also being tightened in Gaya, Jehanabad, Nawada and Aurangabad districts in south Bihar.
The ultras had targetted railway property in Bagaha, Samastipur, Darbhanga and Motihari (East Champaran) and Gaya during the bandh call in the past.
In north Bihar, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, East and West Champaran, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Begusarai and Madhubani districts are considered vulnerable from security point of view.
The CPI (Maoist) is protesting against the arrest of its top leaders in Bihar and Jharkhand.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200610290325.htm
Fear of Maoists drives CRPF soldiers to buy multiple insurance policies
The CRPF( Central Rakshasa Police Force ) is so
afraid of the fast growing Maoist movement, that they have now
resorted to buying multiple Life Insurance policies.
The CRPF has played no greater role than that of pawns in the
treacherous games played by India's ruling classes.
Fear of Maoists drives CRPF soldiers to buy multiple insurance policies
[ 29 Oct, 2006 0007hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Shivraj Patil on Saturday announced a string of welfare measures for CRPF, topping the list with an insurance cover for its personnel at par with the armed forces.
Patil promised better housing and medical facilities for CRPF jawans and officers deployed in varied duties inside the country, ranging from law and order to counter-Naxalite operations.
He announced a Rs 10 lakh life and disability insurance cover for jawans, in addition to the compensation they get in case of death or disability, while on duty.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/208859.cms
afraid of the fast growing Maoist movement, that they have now
resorted to buying multiple Life Insurance policies.
The CRPF has played no greater role than that of pawns in the
treacherous games played by India's ruling classes.
Fear of Maoists drives CRPF soldiers to buy multiple insurance policies
[ 29 Oct, 2006 0007hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Shivraj Patil on Saturday announced a string of welfare measures for CRPF, topping the list with an insurance cover for its personnel at par with the armed forces.
Patil promised better housing and medical facilities for CRPF jawans and officers deployed in varied duties inside the country, ranging from law and order to counter-Naxalite operations.
He announced a Rs 10 lakh life and disability insurance cover for jawans, in addition to the compensation they get in case of death or disability, while on duty.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/208859.cms
Maoists make a mark in Singur - Indian Corporate mafia trembles with fear
Maoists make a mark in Singur - Corporate mafia trembles with fear
Rajib Chatterjee/SNS
KOLKATA, Oct. 28- The state Intelligence Branch has asked Hooghly Police to keep watch on the movement of activists belonging to the Naxalite outfits ~ Krishak Committee and Shramik Sangram Committee ~ considered to be “frontal organisations” of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Activists of both outfits are trying hard to win over the disgruntled farmers of Singur.
They even distributed leaflets yesterday among villagers who had gathered to attend the public hearing on the controversial land acquisition bid of the state government, convened by social activist Ms Medha Patkar.
Police suspect that the two Naxalite outfits have drawn up a blueprint to add momentum to the peasants’ agitation in Singur so that it can develop into a large-scale movement without any support from mainstream political parties.
The two outfits have targeted not only the CPI-M but also the Congress and the Trinamul Congress. They described the two parties as “anti-peasant” forces which are “trying to compromise” peasants’ interest.
That the two Naxalite outfits have established base in Singur was evident from the content of leaflets distributed by the Naxalites yesterday, a senior police officer said. “The Maoists joined the Trinamul Congress after the anti-land acquisition stir had begun.
Now, the Maoist outfits seem to have gained considerable support from local people in Singur. They seem to have made up their minds to go ahead with the movement on their own,” the officer said.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=134940
Rajib Chatterjee/SNS
KOLKATA, Oct. 28- The state Intelligence Branch has asked Hooghly Police to keep watch on the movement of activists belonging to the Naxalite outfits ~ Krishak Committee and Shramik Sangram Committee ~ considered to be “frontal organisations” of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Activists of both outfits are trying hard to win over the disgruntled farmers of Singur.
They even distributed leaflets yesterday among villagers who had gathered to attend the public hearing on the controversial land acquisition bid of the state government, convened by social activist Ms Medha Patkar.
Police suspect that the two Naxalite outfits have drawn up a blueprint to add momentum to the peasants’ agitation in Singur so that it can develop into a large-scale movement without any support from mainstream political parties.
The two outfits have targeted not only the CPI-M but also the Congress and the Trinamul Congress. They described the two parties as “anti-peasant” forces which are “trying to compromise” peasants’ interest.
That the two Naxalite outfits have established base in Singur was evident from the content of leaflets distributed by the Naxalites yesterday, a senior police officer said. “The Maoists joined the Trinamul Congress after the anti-land acquisition stir had begun.
Now, the Maoist outfits seem to have gained considerable support from local people in Singur. They seem to have made up their minds to go ahead with the movement on their own,” the officer said.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=134940
Jharkhand Maoists all set to re-distribute 10,000 acres of land
Jharkhand Maoists all set to re-distribute 10,000 acres of land
Web posted at: 10/29/2006 2:47:56
Source ::: IANS
Ranchi • Despite a good monsoon, farmers in Jharkhand are refusing to till their land due to fear of Maoists who have warned them against cultivation. The result is that around 10,000 acres of cultivable land is lying fallow in the state.
Maoists of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) say the land belongs to the poor and hope to redistribute it soon to the poor and needy.
The CPI-Maoist put black flags on thousands of acres of land in different parts of the state before the monsoon and decreed against farming activity there. The worst affected districts are Palamau, Hazaribagh and Chatra. Maoist rebels threatened the land owners to face their wrath if they dared to plough the fields.
“The rebels think the land belongs to the poor,” he said.
Jharkhand was declared drought-affected for four consecutive years by the state government. But this year the rainfall was enough for sowing of paddy. Palamau, one of the worst drought-affected districts that fall under the rain shadow zone, had good rains. However, the joy of farmers at the hope of tilling their fields evaporated when the Maoists issued the diktat.
According to an estimate, more than 10,000 acres of land is lying fallow due to the Maoist threat.
“We have information about the Maoist ruling. At some places we deployed security forces but the farmers did not dare to plough the fields,” said Uddayan Kumar, superintendent of police, Palamau. “We find it difficult to take action as the farmers do not lodge any complaint to police,” he said. The farmers said the police cannot ensure their safety since the Maoists run a parallel government in rural areas and the cops themselves are at a disadvantage.
Link
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=October2006&file=World_News2006102924756.xml
Web posted at: 10/29/2006 2:47:56
Source ::: IANS
Ranchi • Despite a good monsoon, farmers in Jharkhand are refusing to till their land due to fear of Maoists who have warned them against cultivation. The result is that around 10,000 acres of cultivable land is lying fallow in the state.
Maoists of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) say the land belongs to the poor and hope to redistribute it soon to the poor and needy.
The CPI-Maoist put black flags on thousands of acres of land in different parts of the state before the monsoon and decreed against farming activity there. The worst affected districts are Palamau, Hazaribagh and Chatra. Maoist rebels threatened the land owners to face their wrath if they dared to plough the fields.
“The rebels think the land belongs to the poor,” he said.
Jharkhand was declared drought-affected for four consecutive years by the state government. But this year the rainfall was enough for sowing of paddy. Palamau, one of the worst drought-affected districts that fall under the rain shadow zone, had good rains. However, the joy of farmers at the hope of tilling their fields evaporated when the Maoists issued the diktat.
According to an estimate, more than 10,000 acres of land is lying fallow due to the Maoist threat.
“We have information about the Maoist ruling. At some places we deployed security forces but the farmers did not dare to plough the fields,” said Uddayan Kumar, superintendent of police, Palamau. “We find it difficult to take action as the farmers do not lodge any complaint to police,” he said. The farmers said the police cannot ensure their safety since the Maoists run a parallel government in rural areas and the cops themselves are at a disadvantage.
Link
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=October2006&file=World_News2006102924756.xml
Friday, October 27, 2006
Call for jailed bloggers to be freed
Call for jailed bloggers to be freed
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 27 October 2006
Amnesty International is launching a campaign on behalf of a whole new category of prisoners of conscience - internet bloggers and chatroom visitors arrested by repressive governments for expressing unwelcome views or disseminating sensitive information online.
In an appeal issued today, the human rights watchdog is urging webmasters around the world to stand up for their imprisoned fellow bloggers - in countries such as Iran, Tunisia, Vietnam and China - and denouncing major internet service providers, including Yahoo! and Microsoft, for providing foreign governments with the information they need to purge the web of dissenting voices.
The appeal comes on the eve of the inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, a UN-sponsored gathering in Athens to consider the future of online communication - including freedom of expression as well as security and intellectual property rights.
"People have been locked up just for expressing their views in an e-mail or on a website," said Steve Ballinger of Amnesty. "Sites and blogs have been shut down and firewalls built to prevent access to information. Companies have restricted internet searches to stop people accessing information that repressive governments don't want them to see.
"Countries and businesses have failed to respect, protect and promote the rights to freedom of expression, association and privacy, and the rights of human rights defenders."
Amnesty is issuing an urgent appeal on behalf of an Iranian blogger called Kianoosh Sanjari, who was arrested earlier this month after he provided reports on clashes between security forces and supporters of a Shia cleric called Ayatollah Boroujerdi. "He is being held incommunicado and [we fear] that he may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment," Amnesty said.
A number of governments have resorted to filtering and blocking mechanisms to keep unwelcome political content off the internet, Amnesty said. But the group also criticised big private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for acceding to the demands of repressive governments and passing on information identifying bloggers.
It pinpointed Yahoo!'s Chinese partner Alibaba, which it said had provided information used to prosecute the journalist Shi Tao and led to Shi's sentencing to 10 years in prison for "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities". Shi had sent information to a US website about the Chinese government's plans for containing media coverage of an anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Amnesty criticised Microsoft for acceding to China's request to restrict freedom of expression on its MSN Spaces blog service, including the shutdown of a blog written by a New York Times researcher, Zhao Jing. Amnesty also joined the criticism that greeted Google's decision to launch a censored version of its search engine for China.
Mr Ballinger said it was vital for the online community to make its voice heard at the Internet Governance Forum. "Freedom of expression online is a right, not a privilege - but it's a right that needs defending," he said. "We're asking bloggers worldwide to show their solidarity with web users in countries where they can face jail just for criticising the government."
Today's appeal comes after publication of an Amnesty report on internet censorship in Vietnam, where the group said ISPs have to inform on their users, internet café owners must monitor the activities of customers and web users themselves must denounce sites they encounter which criticise the government.
The Vietnamese government reserves the right to block sites, ostensibly to prevent the spread of pornography.
Kianoosh Sanjari's blog
Ahmad Batebi's doctor is arrested
[Student activist Ahmad Batebi was briefly released from prison for medical treatment]
A few minutes ago I had a phonecall saying that Dr Hesam Firouzi [Ahmed Batabi's doctor] was arrested at his house. His wife told a friend of his at noon that five or six plainclothes people from the Ministry of Information came to the house. After searching the house and collecting Dr Firouzi's belongings like computers, letters and writings, they arrested him and took him. Dr Firouzi's wife managed to see the arrest warrant. It says "Hesan 209". 209 is a section of Evin prison known as the Security Detention Centre.
Saturday 7 October
[reportedly the day of Kianoosh Sanjari's arrest]
Last week I wrote a piece about a writer and producer of Islamic Republic TV News programmes. He phoned me from cell 350 at Evin prison. He said he had different responsibilities in the government, above all he was writer and producer of the news programme "Import and Distribution of contaminated meat". [this is a big issue in Iran] Apparently he used to work with Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the Keyhan newspaper, at Tehran Keyhan.
Tonight he phoned again and informed me that last Wednesday morning, he was transferred from Cell 350 at Evin prison to a detention centre in Islamshaht, where he was originally arrested. He said on Thursday, he was taken to No. 1 revolutionary court, where he was accused of spying for foreigners. He rejected this accusation. After the court hearing was finished, he was taken back to Evin prison.
Amnesty International is launching a campaign on behalf of a whole new category of prisoners of conscience - internet bloggers and chatroom visitors arrested by repressive governments for expressing unwelcome views or disseminating sensitive information online.
In an appeal issued today, the human rights watchdog is urging webmasters around the world to stand up for their imprisoned fellow bloggers - in countries such as Iran, Tunisia, Vietnam and China - and denouncing major internet service providers, including Yahoo! and Microsoft, for providing foreign governments with the information they need to purge the web of dissenting voices.
The appeal comes on the eve of the inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, a UN-sponsored gathering in Athens to consider the future of online communication - including freedom of expression as well as security and intellectual property rights.
"People have been locked up just for expressing their views in an e-mail or on a website," said Steve Ballinger of Amnesty. "Sites and blogs have been shut down and firewalls built to prevent access to information. Companies have restricted internet searches to stop people accessing information that repressive governments don't want them to see.
"Countries and businesses have failed to respect, protect and promote the rights to freedom of expression, association and privacy, and the rights of human rights defenders."
Amnesty is issuing an urgent appeal on behalf of an Iranian blogger called Kianoosh Sanjari, who was arrested earlier this month after he provided reports on clashes between security forces and supporters of a Shia cleric called Ayatollah Boroujerdi. "He is being held incommunicado and [we fear] that he may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment," Amnesty said.
A number of governments have resorted to filtering and blocking mechanisms to keep unwelcome political content off the internet, Amnesty said. But the group also criticised big private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for acceding to the demands of repressive governments and passing on information identifying bloggers.
It pinpointed Yahoo!'s Chinese partner Alibaba, which it said had provided information used to prosecute the journalist Shi Tao and led to Shi's sentencing to 10 years in prison for "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities". Shi had sent information to a US website about the Chinese government's plans for containing media coverage of an anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Amnesty criticised Microsoft for acceding to China's request to restrict freedom of expression on its MSN Spaces blog service, including the shutdown of a blog written by a New York Times researcher, Zhao Jing. Amnesty also joined the criticism that greeted Google's decision to launch a censored version of its search engine for China.
Mr Ballinger said it was vital for the online community to make its voice heard at the Internet Governance Forum. "Freedom of expression online is a right, not a privilege - but it's a right that needs defending," he said. "We're asking bloggers worldwide to show their solidarity with web users in countries where they can face jail just for criticising the government."
Today's appeal comes after publication of an Amnesty report on internet censorship in Vietnam, where the group said ISPs have to inform on their users, internet café owners must monitor the activities of customers and web users themselves must denounce sites they encounter which criticise the government.
The Vietnamese government reserves the right to block sites, ostensibly to prevent the spread of pornography.
Kianoosh Sanjari's blog
Ahmad Batebi's doctor is arrested
[Student activist Ahmad Batebi was briefly released from prison for medical treatment]
A few minutes ago I had a phonecall saying that Dr Hesam Firouzi [Ahmed Batabi's doctor] was arrested at his house. His wife told a friend of his at noon that five or six plainclothes people from the Ministry of Information came to the house. After searching the house and collecting Dr Firouzi's belongings like computers, letters and writings, they arrested him and took him. Dr Firouzi's wife managed to see the arrest warrant. It says "Hesan 209". 209 is a section of Evin prison known as the Security Detention Centre.
Saturday 7 October
[reportedly the day of Kianoosh Sanjari's arrest]
Last week I wrote a piece about a writer and producer of Islamic Republic TV News programmes. He phoned me from cell 350 at Evin prison. He said he had different responsibilities in the government, above all he was writer and producer of the news programme "Import and Distribution of contaminated meat". [this is a big issue in Iran] Apparently he used to work with Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the Keyhan newspaper, at Tehran Keyhan.
Tonight he phoned again and informed me that last Wednesday morning, he was transferred from Cell 350 at Evin prison to a detention centre in Islamshaht, where he was originally arrested. He said on Thursday, he was taken to No. 1 revolutionary court, where he was accused of spying for foreigners. He rejected this accusation. After the court hearing was finished, he was taken back to Evin Prison
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 27 October 2006
Amnesty International is launching a campaign on behalf of a whole new category of prisoners of conscience - internet bloggers and chatroom visitors arrested by repressive governments for expressing unwelcome views or disseminating sensitive information online.
In an appeal issued today, the human rights watchdog is urging webmasters around the world to stand up for their imprisoned fellow bloggers - in countries such as Iran, Tunisia, Vietnam and China - and denouncing major internet service providers, including Yahoo! and Microsoft, for providing foreign governments with the information they need to purge the web of dissenting voices.
The appeal comes on the eve of the inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, a UN-sponsored gathering in Athens to consider the future of online communication - including freedom of expression as well as security and intellectual property rights.
"People have been locked up just for expressing their views in an e-mail or on a website," said Steve Ballinger of Amnesty. "Sites and blogs have been shut down and firewalls built to prevent access to information. Companies have restricted internet searches to stop people accessing information that repressive governments don't want them to see.
"Countries and businesses have failed to respect, protect and promote the rights to freedom of expression, association and privacy, and the rights of human rights defenders."
Amnesty is issuing an urgent appeal on behalf of an Iranian blogger called Kianoosh Sanjari, who was arrested earlier this month after he provided reports on clashes between security forces and supporters of a Shia cleric called Ayatollah Boroujerdi. "He is being held incommunicado and [we fear] that he may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment," Amnesty said.
A number of governments have resorted to filtering and blocking mechanisms to keep unwelcome political content off the internet, Amnesty said. But the group also criticised big private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for acceding to the demands of repressive governments and passing on information identifying bloggers.
It pinpointed Yahoo!'s Chinese partner Alibaba, which it said had provided information used to prosecute the journalist Shi Tao and led to Shi's sentencing to 10 years in prison for "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities". Shi had sent information to a US website about the Chinese government's plans for containing media coverage of an anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Amnesty criticised Microsoft for acceding to China's request to restrict freedom of expression on its MSN Spaces blog service, including the shutdown of a blog written by a New York Times researcher, Zhao Jing. Amnesty also joined the criticism that greeted Google's decision to launch a censored version of its search engine for China.
Mr Ballinger said it was vital for the online community to make its voice heard at the Internet Governance Forum. "Freedom of expression online is a right, not a privilege - but it's a right that needs defending," he said. "We're asking bloggers worldwide to show their solidarity with web users in countries where they can face jail just for criticising the government."
Today's appeal comes after publication of an Amnesty report on internet censorship in Vietnam, where the group said ISPs have to inform on their users, internet café owners must monitor the activities of customers and web users themselves must denounce sites they encounter which criticise the government.
The Vietnamese government reserves the right to block sites, ostensibly to prevent the spread of pornography.
Kianoosh Sanjari's blog
Ahmad Batebi's doctor is arrested
[Student activist Ahmad Batebi was briefly released from prison for medical treatment]
A few minutes ago I had a phonecall saying that Dr Hesam Firouzi [Ahmed Batabi's doctor] was arrested at his house. His wife told a friend of his at noon that five or six plainclothes people from the Ministry of Information came to the house. After searching the house and collecting Dr Firouzi's belongings like computers, letters and writings, they arrested him and took him. Dr Firouzi's wife managed to see the arrest warrant. It says "Hesan 209". 209 is a section of Evin prison known as the Security Detention Centre.
Saturday 7 October
[reportedly the day of Kianoosh Sanjari's arrest]
Last week I wrote a piece about a writer and producer of Islamic Republic TV News programmes. He phoned me from cell 350 at Evin prison. He said he had different responsibilities in the government, above all he was writer and producer of the news programme "Import and Distribution of contaminated meat". [this is a big issue in Iran] Apparently he used to work with Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the Keyhan newspaper, at Tehran Keyhan.
Tonight he phoned again and informed me that last Wednesday morning, he was transferred from Cell 350 at Evin prison to a detention centre in Islamshaht, where he was originally arrested. He said on Thursday, he was taken to No. 1 revolutionary court, where he was accused of spying for foreigners. He rejected this accusation. After the court hearing was finished, he was taken back to Evin prison.
Amnesty International is launching a campaign on behalf of a whole new category of prisoners of conscience - internet bloggers and chatroom visitors arrested by repressive governments for expressing unwelcome views or disseminating sensitive information online.
In an appeal issued today, the human rights watchdog is urging webmasters around the world to stand up for their imprisoned fellow bloggers - in countries such as Iran, Tunisia, Vietnam and China - and denouncing major internet service providers, including Yahoo! and Microsoft, for providing foreign governments with the information they need to purge the web of dissenting voices.
The appeal comes on the eve of the inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, a UN-sponsored gathering in Athens to consider the future of online communication - including freedom of expression as well as security and intellectual property rights.
"People have been locked up just for expressing their views in an e-mail or on a website," said Steve Ballinger of Amnesty. "Sites and blogs have been shut down and firewalls built to prevent access to information. Companies have restricted internet searches to stop people accessing information that repressive governments don't want them to see.
"Countries and businesses have failed to respect, protect and promote the rights to freedom of expression, association and privacy, and the rights of human rights defenders."
Amnesty is issuing an urgent appeal on behalf of an Iranian blogger called Kianoosh Sanjari, who was arrested earlier this month after he provided reports on clashes between security forces and supporters of a Shia cleric called Ayatollah Boroujerdi. "He is being held incommunicado and [we fear] that he may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment," Amnesty said.
A number of governments have resorted to filtering and blocking mechanisms to keep unwelcome political content off the internet, Amnesty said. But the group also criticised big private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for acceding to the demands of repressive governments and passing on information identifying bloggers.
It pinpointed Yahoo!'s Chinese partner Alibaba, which it said had provided information used to prosecute the journalist Shi Tao and led to Shi's sentencing to 10 years in prison for "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities". Shi had sent information to a US website about the Chinese government's plans for containing media coverage of an anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Amnesty criticised Microsoft for acceding to China's request to restrict freedom of expression on its MSN Spaces blog service, including the shutdown of a blog written by a New York Times researcher, Zhao Jing. Amnesty also joined the criticism that greeted Google's decision to launch a censored version of its search engine for China.
Mr Ballinger said it was vital for the online community to make its voice heard at the Internet Governance Forum. "Freedom of expression online is a right, not a privilege - but it's a right that needs defending," he said. "We're asking bloggers worldwide to show their solidarity with web users in countries where they can face jail just for criticising the government."
Today's appeal comes after publication of an Amnesty report on internet censorship in Vietnam, where the group said ISPs have to inform on their users, internet café owners must monitor the activities of customers and web users themselves must denounce sites they encounter which criticise the government.
The Vietnamese government reserves the right to block sites, ostensibly to prevent the spread of pornography.
Kianoosh Sanjari's blog
Ahmad Batebi's doctor is arrested
[Student activist Ahmad Batebi was briefly released from prison for medical treatment]
A few minutes ago I had a phonecall saying that Dr Hesam Firouzi [Ahmed Batabi's doctor] was arrested at his house. His wife told a friend of his at noon that five or six plainclothes people from the Ministry of Information came to the house. After searching the house and collecting Dr Firouzi's belongings like computers, letters and writings, they arrested him and took him. Dr Firouzi's wife managed to see the arrest warrant. It says "Hesan 209". 209 is a section of Evin prison known as the Security Detention Centre.
Saturday 7 October
[reportedly the day of Kianoosh Sanjari's arrest]
Last week I wrote a piece about a writer and producer of Islamic Republic TV News programmes. He phoned me from cell 350 at Evin prison. He said he had different responsibilities in the government, above all he was writer and producer of the news programme "Import and Distribution of contaminated meat". [this is a big issue in Iran] Apparently he used to work with Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the Keyhan newspaper, at Tehran Keyhan.
Tonight he phoned again and informed me that last Wednesday morning, he was transferred from Cell 350 at Evin prison to a detention centre in Islamshaht, where he was originally arrested. He said on Thursday, he was taken to No. 1 revolutionary court, where he was accused of spying for foreigners. He rejected this accusation. After the court hearing was finished, he was taken back to Evin Prison
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Antonio Gramsci Quote
Antonio Gramsci Quote
Folklore should instead be studied as a 'conception of the world and life' implicit to a large extent in determinate (in time and space) strata of society and in opposition (also for the most part implicit, mechanical, and objective) to 'official' conceptions of the world (or in a broader sense, the conceptions of the cultured parts of historically determinate societies) that have succeeded one another in the historical process. - Gramsci, Antonio, Selections from cultural writings. London (Lawrence & Wishart) 1985, 189
Folklore should instead be studied as a 'conception of the world and life' implicit to a large extent in determinate (in time and space) strata of society and in opposition (also for the most part implicit, mechanical, and objective) to 'official' conceptions of the world (or in a broader sense, the conceptions of the cultured parts of historically determinate societies) that have succeeded one another in the historical process. - Gramsci, Antonio, Selections from cultural writings. London (Lawrence & Wishart) 1985, 189
Naxalite Movement and Cultural Resistance - Experience of Janakiya Samskarika Vedi in Kerala (1980-82)
EPW Special Articles December 10, 2005
Naxalite Movement and Cultural Resistance
Experience of Janakiya Samskarika Vedi in Kerala (1980-82)
In the early 1980s, the Janakiya Samskarika Vedi saw itself as a cultural resistance movement involved in establishing its own cultural sphere of ideas and ethics as opposed to the earlier bourgeois ethos. However, its attempt to clearly separate the realms of the cultural and the political was opposed by adherents within the Vedi and also by other left groups that saw the "seizure" of power and establishment of a left wing hegemony as the overarching goal of the revolution.
However, attempts by the Vedi to assert its own autonomy were hindered by the fact that it had a symbiotic relationship with the radical left political parties. While opposing the dominance of those political parties, it also relied on the latter for support. This article traces the short history of the Vedi, its attempts to chart its own independent existence, autonomous from the "party line" and how it disintegrated in the weight of own contradictions.
Sreejith K
Revolutions do not begin with the thunderclap of a seizure of power – that is their culmination. They start with attacks on the moral-political order and the traditional hierarchy of class statuses. They succeed when the power structure beset by its own irresolvable contradictions can no longer perform legitimately and effectively. It is often forgotten that the state has often in the past been rescued by the moral-political order than the class hierarchy (authority) that the people still accepted. – Franz Shurmann
Left cultural movements have hitherto played a crucial role in the advancement of radical politics. However, the relationship between the party and its cultural wing has not always tended to be smooth. Central to this conflict has been the debate over the relative primacy of culture or politics, and the question of autonomy of the former from the latter.
In this backdrop, this paper seeks to trace the history of Janakiya Samskarika Vedi in Kerala, which in the early 1980s, was engaged in what Gramsci would have called the “War of Position” and which privileged the ethical-cultural aspects of the conquest of power. In the process, an attempt would be made to bring out how its ideal of a “dialectical” relationship with the CPI (ML), a party led by the Bolshevik concept of capturing power – a “War of Movement”, in Gramscian terms – could not resolve the contradictions that manifested in the course of time, ultimately bringing the movement to a premature end.
Origins and Early Years
Prior to the withdrawal of Emergency in 1977, when democratic freedom was at a premium, revolutionary cultural activities did not take root in Kerala. After the Emergency, in a more democratic set-up, the situation changed somewhat. The Emergency had been an eye-opener for the various Naxalite groups in the sense that it made them realise that, in ordinary times, the Indian form of bourgeois democracy does offer some space, however limited, for protest. In the post-Emergency period, in contrast to their sectarian past, the Naxalite groups began to field various legal and semi-legal mass organisations which reflected their new orientation.
In Kerala, the Naxalites reorganised themselves into the Central Reorganisation Committee Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [hereafter CRC CPI (ML)], and resumed the publication of the party organ Comrade which had been banned during the Emergency. More intellectuals were now prepared to side with revolutionary democracy, and Prerana the Malayalam magazine which later became the organ of the Janakiya Samskarika Vedi was started in 1977.
The stories of the excesses committed during the Emergency had turned popular mood against all forms of authoritarianism. In May 1977, while inaugurating a camp for radical cultural activists at Olarikkara, the noted dramatist N N Pillai declared that “there is only one solution, and that is revolution.”1 The statement reflected the mood of the times. The convention had issued a manifesto of revolutionary writers and artists which stressed the need for transforming the production relations of the capitalist system and its ideological and cultural meanings. The concluding paragraph of the manifesto read:
It is the responsibility of revolutionary artists and literary men to discern between progressive and decadent forces in history, to stand with the forces that make progress, to assess their growth, to assimilate them, and to be honest to one’s times. Only thus shall we be able to realise the idea of a militant cultural front and to fight by means of new artistic-literary creations the cultural domination of the ruling classes.2
The period witnessed the proliferation of small theatre groups, Wynadu Samskarika Vedi with its play “Padayani” and Ranachetana through a dramatic presentation of Gorky’s novel Mother achieving notable success. The stage was now set for bringing together organisationally the various revolutionary cultural groups active in different parts of the state. In August 1980, during a convention held with this objective at Antikkad, the Janakiya Samskarika Vedi (hereafter Vedi) came into being.
A state committee was constituted with Kaviyur Balan as state secretary and B Rajeevan, Civic Chandran, K S Sadasivan, amongst others, as members. Most of them had Naxalite leanings. The party’s ties with the Vedi becomes clear in the message of K Venu, state secretary of CRC CPI(ML), read out on this occasion.3
The leadership of the Vedi was familiar with the recent history of Marxist cultural movements where, in most cases, cultural activities had become a mere appendage to the political and economic imperatives of the party. It was thus keen to avoid potential pitfalls. “The cultural front”, it was made categorically clear, “was not meant to become the open face for propaganda work of a secret party.”4 The manifesto of the Vedi states that the view which always gives primacy to the base over the superstructure is non-Marxist and that the relationship between the two, and consequently between the party and the Vedi should be dialectical in nature.
Thus it was clarified that even though “cultural activists should have ideological affinity with that political organisation which upholds working class politics, this unity should not be at the cost of making cultural activities organisationally subjugated to it.”5 The separate domains of the party and the cultural front were clearly demarcated. As one article in Prerana, the Vedi mouthpiece put it, “the political front represents the vanguard for the political liberation of a people, the cultural front gives the lead to their spiritual emancipation.”6 The party was quite happy with this arrangement, as a reply its organ gave to a question on the relationship between the party and the Vedi suggests – “the party and the Vedi work in two different spheres. The party’s main task is to transform the economic base in the production relations, whereas the Vedi stands for transforming the superstructure.”7 However, as we shall see later, this ideal relationship between the two was difficult to achieve, especially during the latter stages of the movement.
Towards a ‘New Democratic Culture’
The manifesto of the Vedi had declared that the task of the revolutionary cultural activists was to create a “new democratic culture” in the country, allying with all the forces of the “new democratic revolution”. It foresaw struggles at different levels, important of which were against:
(i) The still prevalent feudal culture which tries to “take us back to the medieval ages with its emphasis on caste, religion and the promotion of a spiritual atmosphere which hinders the growth of scientific ideas”; (ii) the all pervasive “consumer culture which generates base instincts among people and directs them to a fantasy world far removed from their material existence”; (iii) “Modernism” (as it got expressed in Malayalam literature ) which “inactivates people and creates pessimism and alienation among them”; and (iv) “Revisionism” which endorses a mechanical culture, and while preventing man from realising his full potential and creativity, prepares the ground for the growth of “social fascism”.8
Thus, apart from the fight against the remnants of a feudal culture and a growing consumer capitalist ethos in the state, the Vedi accorded a high priority to the struggle against “modernism” and “revisionism”. “Modernism” in writing was thought to have originated as a kind of reaction against revisionist literature which could not break free of the shackles of bourgeois consumer culture and aesthetics. As an article in Prerana observed:
For the revisionists, human beings get satisfied with the acquisition of consumer goods…Those who see the accumulation of material goods as the sole basis for human emancipation are, in effect, trying to convert the working class into capitalists. Here, the mechanical culture of the revisionists capitulates to the consumer culture of capitalism.9
K Satchidanandan, a poet and an important figure in the Vedi in its heydays wrote that “as revisionism had accepted capitalist institutions and yardsticks while hoping to bring about a revolution through them, it followed the same capitalist market laws in its art as well.”10 In a detailed critique on the cultural policy of the established left, an editorial in the Prerana pointed out that:
The revisionists do not realise that even within culture there are elements of class struggle. That is why they commodify art and culture and sell them in the market; that is why they mechanically attach art and culture to their party politics, and fail time and again.11
Raymond Williams once described left cultural movements ideally as attempts “to defeat that system of meanings and values (which an unequal society has generated) through the most sustained skills of intellectual and educational work”. In its activities, the Vedi conforms to a similar view. It made use of various forms, one of which was the street play, ideally suited for an organisation of its kind as it incurred less expenses and could be staged even without prior notice to the administration.
More importantly, it had better scope than the conventional proscenium theatre to reach the masses. Apart from the dramatisation of famous novels like Gorky’s Mother and Howard Fast’s Spartacus, the Vedi took up local issues and contemporary injustices as its plays MLA, staged during the assembly elections, and Chasnala dealing with the miner’s tragedy amply illustrate.
As part of their critique of the established left in the state the Vedi activists, during this time made a critique of Thoppil Bhasi’s famous play Ningalenne Communistakki12 which was believed to have played an important role during the early phase of the communist movement in the state. Civic Chandran, for instance, wrote that in this play, the cruelty of landlord oppression is shown to be an individual aberration, and as a consequence, feudalism as a system goes unscathed.13
He also portrayed the drama as one where the last cry of feudalism is heard, whence the younger generation in feudal families along with some of their elder members go over to the winning side, i e, communism.14 In a later article, he was to trace the origins of the present day commercial theatre tradition in the state – “a little bit of revolution, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of love” – to Ningalenne Communistakki which had all these ingredients in ample measure to ensure a commercial success.15
Seen in this context, the play Nadugaddika staged by the Vedi in hundreds of places throughout the state constitutes a radical break from the past, not the least because a majority of whom were involved with it were adivasis themselves. Nadugaddika illustrates how the naxalite cultural activists, unlike their predecessors, were able to use the folk traditions and myths of a people to convey, from a working class perspective, the oppression they had been going through for generations. “Gaddika”, a tribal ritual of the Adiyars of Wynad, was used to exorcise evil spirits. Here, the “gaddikakaran” (exorcist) is none other than Varghese, the naxalite leader who was killed by the police in Wynad during the early phase of the movement in the state.
Nadugaddika ends with the tribals reclaiming the red flag from the landlords who had turned communists in 1957, following the party’s victory at the hustings. The ‘gaddikakaran’, at one stage, pointing to the flag, tells the landlord that “this is not meant for making your loin cloth.”16 The Left Front government which had returned to power in the state in 1980, expectedly, did not take kindly to the staging of this play, and CPI(M) attacks on Vedi activists on this account were not rare.17
Malayalam poetry acquired a new meaning during the Vedi days. In their poems, Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan, K G Sankara Pillai, Satchidanandan, Civic Chandran and others did not exhibit any metaphysical anxieties, led as they were, by a harsh political reality. In one of the earliest instances where Varghese, the Naxalite “martyr” finds a place in Malayalam literature, Civic Chandran wrote:
Radhakrishnan, the journalist, just back from the trip
To the hills of Brahmagiri and Narinirangi says
That his tribal guide cherishes warm memories
of a fighter he calls the ‘peruman’
He says that the summer forests of Wynad are waiting for
Their spark
And the rock of Kumbarakuri is bleeding still,
that the corridors of the press club are still
haunted by a pair of eyes gouged out of their sockets.
Radhakrishnan, the journalist, upon the testimony of
Marachathan, his guide,
says for certain that the river Kabani will turn red again.18
To shake the readers out of a complacency bred by familiarity, these poets resorted to what has been called “linguistic shock”. Thus, in their poems, “soft melodies of birds”, for instance, are missing, and instead, we hear only “the roar of landslides and floods.”19 Kadamanitta’s poem ‘Avar Parayunnu’ and Attoor Ravi Varma’s ‘Cancer’ illustrate how these urban middle class poets used morbid symbols of decadence and carefully selected images of revulsion to critique the existing system.
The most famous poem of Kadamanitta in those days was ‘Kurathi’, which, significantly the CPI(M) found to be an ‘extremist’ poem.20 ‘Kurathi’, which narrates the saga of a marginalised tribe was widely used by the Vedi during its poetry evenings and “kavyayatras”. The Vedi also introduced the genre of political poetry represented by the likes of Mayakovsky and Neruda to a larger Malayalee audience. For this, apart from the pages of Prerana, it took recourse to a new form, “poster poetry”, i e, posters filled with the lines of these poets as well as those of communist legends like Mao and Che Geuvara.
Louis Kampf defined the tasks of radical culture as the attempts “to bring about a social revolution; to make institutions democratic; to make us free; to make life more beautiful and humane.”21 For the Vedi too, cultural activities did not remain confined to art and literature, but instead included whatever activities that revolutionised the consciousness of man. As an organisation, it was “committed to create an aggressive cultural consciousness against a system dehumanised from top to bottom.”22
To be more precise, it represented a social movement rather than being a cultural organisation of the conventional type. Its activities ranged from settling domestic discords to organising bonus strikes. In March 1981, the Vedi led an agitation in Kannur against public gambling, which allegedly, “got support from the local police and DYFI activists”.23 The movement led to the banning of gambling during exhibitions. In the process, however, Ramesan, a Vedi activist who had been in the forefront of the struggle was stabbed to death. The killing did not go unprotested, though. On March 23, some Vedi members entered the legislative assembly and after distributing pamphlets, shouted “down with gamblers both inside as well as outside the legislatures”.24
People’s Political Power
Alongside attempts to bring about a “new democratic culture”, the Vedi and the CRC CPI (ML) were engaged, during this time, in setting up what they termed parallel centres of “people’s political power”. Citing instances from the Russian and Chinese revolutionary experiences, and from India’s own santhal rebellion in the mid-19th century upto the Naxalbari uprising, they stressed the need for people’s political power to be established in the course of the revolutionary struggle.
It was argued that involving people with political power would lead to the growth of self-confidence amongst them, whereas in its absence in the post-revolutionary phase, political power could easily lapse into the hands of the party, or worse, “a new ruling class”.25 For the Naxalites, bourgeois courts were institutions meant for the protection of the interests of the propertied classes. They saw in the “people’s courts” and people’s trials which ran counter to the bourgeois system of justice, instruments for the establishment of people’s political power at the local level. They were seen as institutions whereby people could think and decide for themselves on matters affecting them instead of depending on outside agencies. According to the party leadership:
Today the people have begun to understand that people’s political power cannot be established by voting to determine who will oppress them every five years and that it can be brought into existence only by the people in each area seizing power locally to take decisions and implement them in all economic, political and social problems faced in their own locality.26
Attempts in this direction achieved a fair degree of success at Calicut, where in March 1981, the Vedi “tried” a corrupt doctor through a people’s court, an event which also brought to the forefront of social activism the question of medical ethics. The “trial” was well received by various sections with even a former chief justice forced to admit in public that “the people’s trial was the sign of a social revolution” and that it could be viewed as “the resistance of a people against injustice.”27 Not insignificantly, even the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI (M) was constrained, in the wake of the success of the doctor’s trial, to fill up the walls of the state with the graffiti “corrupt bureaucrats should be beaten up”.
The activities of the Vedi had won for the CRC CPI (ML) unprecedented popularity during this phase. At many places, the differences between the two were negligible, and where the party had only a marginal presence, the Vedi assumed the role of a mass front leading many a struggle. However, the contradictions between the two proved to be too fundamental, in the final analysis, for them to be united for long. The party leadership, increasingly wary over the way its “military line” was being sacrificed at the altar of “mass line”, reintroduced the former to the forefront of the struggle through the annihilation of Madathil Mathai, “a people’s enemy” at Kenichira in Wynad in May 1981.
In the aftermath of the Kenichira action, the movement had to face severe state repression. The government resorted to draconian laws even as the holding of “people’s trials” were banned, and Prerana threatened with confiscation.28 On July 9, 1981, T K Ramakrishnan, the home minister, declared in the state assembly that 191 cases had so far been registered against the “extremists” and that 930 arrests were made.29 The movement could not survive this “white terror”!
The Rift Within
More than the state repression, however, it was the irreconcilable differences between the Vedi and the party which brought the movement to an abrupt end. Here, it should be noted that the two did not constitute monolithic structures with no two opinions within them. For instance, there was a small but vociferous section within the party who opposed the “annihilation”, indicating a vigorous two-line struggle on this issue.30 Similarly, inside the Vedi, there were some people who toed the official party line. Thus, when we speak of a party or a Vedi line, it relates to the “dominant” line or the line that prevailed.
The Vedi leadership was quick to denounce the annihilation and dissociate itself from it. Satchidanandan saw elements of fascism in the action, and in a letter to a popular weekly, expressed the view that the annihilation did not “suit the civilised political sensibility of Kerala” and that it “nauseated a big section of the populace”.31 In the days following the annihilation, when the schism between the two widened, their acrimony became public, the Vedi accusing the party of trying to capture the organisation through a fraction, while the latter blamed the former for going public with these differences violating all organisational principles and thereby exhibiting “anarchist” tendencies.
When, in the next few months, the party continued to uphold the annihilation, some members including its state secretary Kaviyur Balan resigned from the Vedi. It was also stated through the press that Nadugaddika which had played a pivotal role in the movement would not be staged hereafter under the party’s banner.32
The break did not occur overnight. The ideological differences between the Vedi and the party had a long history. For instance, on the question of base/superstructure, the party held on to Stalinist orthodoxy which accorded primacy to a self-contained economic sphere, with a secondary, passively reflexive superstructure. The Vedi, on the other hand, tried to strike a balance between this “vulgar” Marxist position and the opposite idealist view that art/literature is an isolated sphere determined by its own laws.33 Connected to this debate was the question of the relative importance of politics and culture within the realm of the superstructure.
In one instance, countering the party line according to which changes in the base get reflected first in politics, the latter being the concentrated expression of these changes, Satchidanadan argued for the simultaneity of expression of changing production relations in all areas of social life.34 The inherent tension that persisted throughout the tenure of Vedi between the cultural and political activists finds expression in an anguished piece written by one of the former in Prerana:
Is the cultural activist inferior by birth. Is not the political activist viewing his cultural counterpart as Gulliver would a Liliput. Is it justified that somebody who has learnt the party programme by heart and who has fortuitously achieved some success in one or two struggles should get more recognition than the cultural activist.35
The differences in perception between the Vedi and the party could be seen in the way the two viewed the cultural revolution in China. The Vedi, influenced as it was by Mao’s assertion that during the socialist phase, emphasis should be laid on the struggle at the superstructural level, characterised it as a revolution in the cultural sphere.36
For the party, however, the cultural revolution, though it had other dimensions as well, was essentially a resistance by the socialist forces under Mao against revisionism in the international communist movement as well as against the resurgent bourgeoisie which had entered the Chinese Communist Party. It was, in fact, a continuation of the class struggle within a socialist society.37
In the realm of culture, the movement had given a blow to the bourgeois belief that arts and the sciences are the monopoly of a few intellectuals, and instead reiterated that it was the working classes who alone are the creators of culture. This lesson, according to the party leadership, was lost on a section of the Vedi who continued to be influenced by bourgeois thinking. It attacked the Prerana editorial board for making the periodical one that was laced with “dry philosophical terms understood by only a handful of middle class intellectuals” and for “not going to the masses”.38
Though the Vedi as a whole had been opposed to the bourgeois system per se, there were sections within it who were not “Marxist” in the true sense of the term. Rather, by their own admission, they had come to the movement carrying the burden of an existentialist and anarchist past.39 Others were influenced by the New Left, which, for the party leadership, constituted an attack on Marxism from within. The party saw as one example of the “anti-Marxism” in the New Left ideology, Wilhelm Reich’s prescription of a sexual revolution to precede a social revolution.40
A Vedi member, clearly under Reich’s influence, in a rejoinder to the Vedi manifesto, had lamented that the party in its rigorous attempts at class war, ignored the sexual needs of its activists.41
The ideas of Lukacs too had attained wide currency within Marxist circles in Kerala during this time. In his History and Class Consciousness, Lukacs had reduced Marxism to sheer methodology. For him, thus, one could forego the basic assumptions of Marx and still claim to be a Marxist, provided he did not relinquish historical materialism.42 Obviously, under his influence, Subramanyadas, a young party/Vedi activist, in a series of articles, questioned the party’s position vis-a-vis, the formation and polarisation of classes in Kerala society, resulting in his getting censured by an offended party leadership.43 In distress, Subramanyadas committed suicide. The revolution had, as its wont, devoured one of its own.
At 24, Subramanyadas had been one of the most outstanding individuals in a movement which had attracted the cream of Malayalee intelligentsia. The tragic irony was that a while earlier, he had been fighting on the side of the party against the “bourgeois liberal” trends within the Vedi. From there, it did not take him too long to jump to the other extreme, a trend that was symptomatic of the petty-bourgeois predilections that informed the movement.
Conclusion
Gramsci had discounted the possibility of a Bolshevik type revolution in the west. Here, unlike in pre-revolution Russia, there was a civil society which involved the “thick web of interpersonal relationships and represents the social surface over which is extended the cultural hegemony of the ruling elites.”44 It is here that the dominant class creates, through its diffusion of values, myths, beliefs and ideals, its hegemony.
According to Gramsci, a subordinate class should be able to elaborate its own ideological system, one competitive with the dominant system of beliefs and values. “In the west,” he says, “a social group can or rather must be in control even before it acquires governing power.”45 The key word in Gramsci, thus, is hegemony as when he says that the struggle between the classes for domination is in essence a “struggle between two hegemonies”.46
However, it is not only in the west that the state rules with the consent of the people. As Eric Hobsbawm observed, “the struggle for hegemony before as well as during the transition of power is not merely an aspect of the western countries but of all revolutionary strategy.”47
In Kerala, where, following lower caste and communist movements in the earlier decades, there was a vibrant civil society, the struggle for hegemony resorted to by the Vedi looked appropriate. Such a struggle was facilitated by the fact that the party to which it was aligned had, during this time, adopted an approach marked by “a strong fight against terrorism and utmost confidence in the masses.”48 However, ideological differences between the two did not allow this state of affairs to continue for long.
In the contest over strategies, “massline” was to become sidelined, and the proponents of the “military line” would have the final say, as reflected in the “annihilation” at Kenichira. The consequence, however, was that the Vedi disintegrated, and the party, badly bruised by severe state repression, had to start once again from the scratch. By then, postmodernist moods had set in Kerala. Those like Civic Chandran, the last secretary of the Vedi, broke away from the movement citing irreconcilable differences with Marxism, to take up social activism of a new kind. The era of new social movements had begun in Kerala. As for the Vedi, though officially not disbsanded, it never became active again. An experiment, in spite of its initial success, had failed.
Notes
[I am grateful to K N Panikkar and Urmita Ray for their comments on an earlier draft of this essay.]
1 Civic Chandran, interview to Sukrutham, Vol 2, No 3, June 1995, p 8.
2 Cited in Omji George, The Janakiya Samskarika Vedi’ in Kerala, Negations, No 12, October-December 1984, p 11.
3 ‘Samskarika Pravararthakarkku K Venuvinte Sandesam’, Prerana, September-October 1980, Nos 30-31.
4 Kapada Pracharanangalum Yadharthyangalum: Janakiya Samskarika Vedi, Entu, Entinu? (leaflet), p 3.
5 Ibid.
6 ‘Janakiya Samskarika Vediyile Aashaya Samarathinte Pradhanyam’ unsigned article, Prerana, Vol 3, No 14, October 16-31, 1981, p 4.
7 Comrade, Vol 7, Nos 26-27, May 17, 1981, p 6.
8 Janakiya Samskarika Vedi: Naya Prakyapana Rekha, pp 5-6.
9 ‘Thiruthalvadavum Viplavasamskaravum’, unsigned article, Prerana, No 8, July 1980, p 3.
10 Satchidanandan, ‘Kavita Manushyan, Viplavam’ (Introduction), in Pudhupiravi (collection of poems), Trichur, 1980, p 11.
11 ‘Thiruthalvadavum Viplavasamskaravum’, unsigned article, Prerana, No 28, July 1980, p 4. The rather mechanical approach the “established left” in the state took towards culture is proven by a “model poem” it sent to one of the poets associated with its cultural organisation, to emulate. Attoor Ravi Varma, interview to Prerana, Vol 2, No 6, February 15-28, 1985, p 17. Later on, Attoor was to shift his allegiance to the Marxist-Leninist movement in the state which consciously tried to be different in this regard. In his message to the first convention of the Vedi, K Venu, the party leader, assured the cultural activists that “the party will never prescribe what type of artistic creations” they should produce. ‘Samskarika Pravarthakarkku K Venuvinte Sandesam’, Prerana, Nos 30-31, September-October 1980, pp 39-40.
12 Thoppil Bhasi, Ningalenne Communistakki, Ernakulam, 1956.
13 Civic Chandran, ‘Nadugaddika Teaminte Anubhavangalilude’, Prerana, No 28, July 1980, p 11.
14 Ibid.
15 Civic Chandran, ‘Ningalenne Communistakkiyil Ninnu Nadugaddikayilekkulla Dooram’, Introduction, K J Baby, Nadugaddika, Wynad, 1983, pp 14-15.
16 K J Baby, Nadugaddika…, p 64.
17 “Once, a day after a CPI (M) attack, Vedi artists and activists with bandages on, staged the play at the same place where they were attacked. Later under pressure from local people, CPI (M) attackers were made to apologise publicly. Mukunadan C Menon, ‘Kerala: People’s Cultural Forum’, Frontier, Vol 13, No 46, July 11, 1981, p 9.
18 Civic Chandran, ‘Kabani’ in Sumanta Banerjee (ed), Thema Book of Naxalite Poetry, Calcutta, 1987, p 10.
19 Satchidanandan, ‘Kavita, Manushyan…’, p 18.
20 Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan, ‘Kala Kalekku Vendiyo’ in Kala Kaumudi (weekly), No 883, August 15, 1992, p 27. Ironically, later, Kadamanitta was to head the Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham, the cultural front of the CPI (M).
21 Louis Kampf, ‘Towards a Radical Culture’ in Prescilla Long (ed), The New Left: Collection of Essays, Boston, 1969, p 423.
22 ‘Janakiya Samskarika Vediyile Aashaya Samarathinte Pradhanyam’, unsigned article, Prerana, Vol 3, No 14, October 16-31, 1981, p 3.
23 Mangalat Raghavan, ‘Kannur Kathu’, Mathrubhoomi, April 4, 1981
24 Mathrubhoomi, March 24, 1981.
25 ‘People’s Committees – Some New Experiences in Kerala’, Liberation, organ of the CRC CPI (ML), Vol 8, No 3, December 1982, p 55.
26 Gopan (pseudonym for K Venu, who was then underground), ‘The Question Posed by Kenichira – Which Side Are You On?’, Liberation, Organ of the CRC CPI (ML), July-September 1981, Vol 7, Nos 7-9, p 41.
27 Y B Indrachud, quoted in Malayala Manorama, July 10, 1981.
28 The government resorted to Section 17 (1) of the 1908 Criminal Law Amendment Act which the British had used to arrest Tilak on the charge of sedition as well as the Travancore-Cochin Public Safety Act which had been used in the 1940s against the communists.
29 Mathrubhoomi, July 10, 1981.
30 One state committee member who visited Wynad to prepare a report on the’ “Kenichira struggle” was so critical of the annihilation that the party organ refused to publish, forcing him to try elsewhere. In the report, he pointed out that the “annihilation line” of Charu Majumdar meant to release the initiative and class hatred of poor landless peasants looked out of place in an area like Kenichira where the feudal mode of production had given way to a capitalist type of farming. He also disputed the claim of the party that through the annihilation, “people’s will” in the area had been implemented. Instead, he found that those involved in the annihilation sought the support of only sympathisers for carrying it out, making him conclude that instead of the contradiction between the people and the “people’s enemy” getting resolved, only the one between the party and its enemy had been settled through the annihilation. P C Josey, “Kenichira Nalkiya Nishedathmakamaya Uttaram”, Red Guards, Vol 1, No 1, February 1981, p 10.
31 Satchidanandan, letter to Kala Kaumudi (weekly), No 305, June 28, 1981, p 31. Taking a dig at Charu Majumdar in this context, he argued that ‘Kenichira’ and its consequences had been due to the work of “an adventurist group lacking in originality and who considered the views of an activist with low intellectual prowess as infallible”.
32 Mathrubhoomi, June 11, 1981.
33 Janakiya Samskarika Vedi: Naya Prakyapana Rekha, p 2.
34 Satchidanandan, Prerana, No 3, September 1978, p 27.
35 ‘Rithumenonu Snehapoorvam Prashantinte Kathu’, Prerana, Vol 3, No 7, April 1-15, 1981, p 7.
36 Mao, however, had categorically stated that politics constitutes the most important element in the superstructure. To quote him:
Literature and art are subordinated to politics, but in their turn, exert a great influence on politics…When we say that literature and art are subordinate to politics, we mean class politics. Mao-Tse Tung, Selected Works, Vol III, Peking, 1975, p 86.
37 In an article which underlines the Maoist position on the cultural revolution, K Venu writes of how “it was a life and death struggle between the new bourgeoisie and the working class to capture political power.” K Venu, ‘Samskarika Viplavam: Paraspara Virudhamaya Randu Veekshanangal’, Prerana, Vol 3, No 15, November 1-15, 1981, p 21.
38 K N Ramachandran, ‘Prerana, Samskarika Vedi Ippozhum Liberalisathinte Swadheenathil’, Prerana, No 52, May 1982, p 14.
39 For instance, A Soman, a prominent Vedi activist, in a letter to a friend wrote of his anarchic past before joining the movement. A Soman, Letter to Yakub, February 8, no year, Private Records of Mandakini Narayanan, Calicut University Archives. Similarly, Civic Chandran, in an interview, says how he and others in the Vedi were more inspired by existentialism and anarchism rather than Marx and Mao before joining the movement. Civic Chandran, interview in Sukrutham, Vol 2, No 3, June 1995, p 6. In an earlier article, under the guise of a “special political observer”, he had written: “the second phase of the Naxalite movement in Kerala was anything but politics…their thoughts were determined by existentialism and modern literature…spiritual discontent led them to the streets…Not having gone through the test of class struggles and mass movements, these middle class intellectuals might have been against the system, against power, but were not Marxists, not revolutionaries” unsigned article, ‘Naxalittukal Thirichuvarumo’, Vaakku, Vol 1, No 1, August 1984. In the aftermath of the Kenichira annihilation, during a human rights convention at Kozhikode, some Vedi leaders declared that even if “a real working class party” came to power, it would continue to resist injustice, Mathrubhoomi, May 28, 1981. An example of this non-Marxist, anarchist trait which runs through the writings of some of the Vedi members could be seen in an editorial on events in China which ended with the call “let us salute Chiang Ching and other comrades by conducting an uncompromising struggle against all centres of power”, Prerana, No 6, February 15-18, 1981.
40 Wilhelm Reich, Mass Psychology of Fascism, New York, 1964. An example of Reichian influence in literary criticism could be seen in Satchidanandan’s study of Sukumaran’s short stories during this time, Satchidanandan, ‘Sukumarante Prasakthi’ in Muhoorthangal, Kottayam, 1994, pp 193-228.
41 Chittaranjan, ‘Nayaprakyapanarekha: Oru Viyojanakurippu’, Prerana, Nos 54-55, July-August 1982, p 10.
42 George Lukacs, History and Class Consciousness, translated by Rodney Livingstone, London, 1971.
43 Subramanyadas, ‘Adhikara Vyavasthiyile Varghasamaram’, Uttaram, No 2, November 1982, pp 12-14. In this article, he argued that classical Marxism had become outdated to comprehend the complex reality of social life in Kerala, and expressed the view that political terminologies like “working class” and “class struggle” need to be reconsidered. See also his ‘Reethiye Kurichu Thanne’, Prerana, No 16, January 1-15, 1982, p 15.
44 Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, edited and translated by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith, New York, 1971, p 245. 45 Ibid, p 235. 46 Ibid, p 236.
47 Eric J Hobsbawm, ‘Gramsci and Marxist Political Theory’ in Anne Showstack Sassoon (ed), Approaches to Gramsci, London, 1982, p 30.
48 K Venu quoted in Mukundan C Menon, ‘Kerala: People’s Cultural Forum…’ p 8.
Naxalite Movement and Cultural Resistance
Experience of Janakiya Samskarika Vedi in Kerala (1980-82)
In the early 1980s, the Janakiya Samskarika Vedi saw itself as a cultural resistance movement involved in establishing its own cultural sphere of ideas and ethics as opposed to the earlier bourgeois ethos. However, its attempt to clearly separate the realms of the cultural and the political was opposed by adherents within the Vedi and also by other left groups that saw the "seizure" of power and establishment of a left wing hegemony as the overarching goal of the revolution.
However, attempts by the Vedi to assert its own autonomy were hindered by the fact that it had a symbiotic relationship with the radical left political parties. While opposing the dominance of those political parties, it also relied on the latter for support. This article traces the short history of the Vedi, its attempts to chart its own independent existence, autonomous from the "party line" and how it disintegrated in the weight of own contradictions.
Sreejith K
Revolutions do not begin with the thunderclap of a seizure of power – that is their culmination. They start with attacks on the moral-political order and the traditional hierarchy of class statuses. They succeed when the power structure beset by its own irresolvable contradictions can no longer perform legitimately and effectively. It is often forgotten that the state has often in the past been rescued by the moral-political order than the class hierarchy (authority) that the people still accepted. – Franz Shurmann
Left cultural movements have hitherto played a crucial role in the advancement of radical politics. However, the relationship between the party and its cultural wing has not always tended to be smooth. Central to this conflict has been the debate over the relative primacy of culture or politics, and the question of autonomy of the former from the latter.
In this backdrop, this paper seeks to trace the history of Janakiya Samskarika Vedi in Kerala, which in the early 1980s, was engaged in what Gramsci would have called the “War of Position” and which privileged the ethical-cultural aspects of the conquest of power. In the process, an attempt would be made to bring out how its ideal of a “dialectical” relationship with the CPI (ML), a party led by the Bolshevik concept of capturing power – a “War of Movement”, in Gramscian terms – could not resolve the contradictions that manifested in the course of time, ultimately bringing the movement to a premature end.
Origins and Early Years
Prior to the withdrawal of Emergency in 1977, when democratic freedom was at a premium, revolutionary cultural activities did not take root in Kerala. After the Emergency, in a more democratic set-up, the situation changed somewhat. The Emergency had been an eye-opener for the various Naxalite groups in the sense that it made them realise that, in ordinary times, the Indian form of bourgeois democracy does offer some space, however limited, for protest. In the post-Emergency period, in contrast to their sectarian past, the Naxalite groups began to field various legal and semi-legal mass organisations which reflected their new orientation.
In Kerala, the Naxalites reorganised themselves into the Central Reorganisation Committee Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [hereafter CRC CPI (ML)], and resumed the publication of the party organ Comrade which had been banned during the Emergency. More intellectuals were now prepared to side with revolutionary democracy, and Prerana the Malayalam magazine which later became the organ of the Janakiya Samskarika Vedi was started in 1977.
The stories of the excesses committed during the Emergency had turned popular mood against all forms of authoritarianism. In May 1977, while inaugurating a camp for radical cultural activists at Olarikkara, the noted dramatist N N Pillai declared that “there is only one solution, and that is revolution.”1 The statement reflected the mood of the times. The convention had issued a manifesto of revolutionary writers and artists which stressed the need for transforming the production relations of the capitalist system and its ideological and cultural meanings. The concluding paragraph of the manifesto read:
It is the responsibility of revolutionary artists and literary men to discern between progressive and decadent forces in history, to stand with the forces that make progress, to assess their growth, to assimilate them, and to be honest to one’s times. Only thus shall we be able to realise the idea of a militant cultural front and to fight by means of new artistic-literary creations the cultural domination of the ruling classes.2
The period witnessed the proliferation of small theatre groups, Wynadu Samskarika Vedi with its play “Padayani” and Ranachetana through a dramatic presentation of Gorky’s novel Mother achieving notable success. The stage was now set for bringing together organisationally the various revolutionary cultural groups active in different parts of the state. In August 1980, during a convention held with this objective at Antikkad, the Janakiya Samskarika Vedi (hereafter Vedi) came into being.
A state committee was constituted with Kaviyur Balan as state secretary and B Rajeevan, Civic Chandran, K S Sadasivan, amongst others, as members. Most of them had Naxalite leanings. The party’s ties with the Vedi becomes clear in the message of K Venu, state secretary of CRC CPI(ML), read out on this occasion.3
The leadership of the Vedi was familiar with the recent history of Marxist cultural movements where, in most cases, cultural activities had become a mere appendage to the political and economic imperatives of the party. It was thus keen to avoid potential pitfalls. “The cultural front”, it was made categorically clear, “was not meant to become the open face for propaganda work of a secret party.”4 The manifesto of the Vedi states that the view which always gives primacy to the base over the superstructure is non-Marxist and that the relationship between the two, and consequently between the party and the Vedi should be dialectical in nature.
Thus it was clarified that even though “cultural activists should have ideological affinity with that political organisation which upholds working class politics, this unity should not be at the cost of making cultural activities organisationally subjugated to it.”5 The separate domains of the party and the cultural front were clearly demarcated. As one article in Prerana, the Vedi mouthpiece put it, “the political front represents the vanguard for the political liberation of a people, the cultural front gives the lead to their spiritual emancipation.”6 The party was quite happy with this arrangement, as a reply its organ gave to a question on the relationship between the party and the Vedi suggests – “the party and the Vedi work in two different spheres. The party’s main task is to transform the economic base in the production relations, whereas the Vedi stands for transforming the superstructure.”7 However, as we shall see later, this ideal relationship between the two was difficult to achieve, especially during the latter stages of the movement.
Towards a ‘New Democratic Culture’
The manifesto of the Vedi had declared that the task of the revolutionary cultural activists was to create a “new democratic culture” in the country, allying with all the forces of the “new democratic revolution”. It foresaw struggles at different levels, important of which were against:
(i) The still prevalent feudal culture which tries to “take us back to the medieval ages with its emphasis on caste, religion and the promotion of a spiritual atmosphere which hinders the growth of scientific ideas”; (ii) the all pervasive “consumer culture which generates base instincts among people and directs them to a fantasy world far removed from their material existence”; (iii) “Modernism” (as it got expressed in Malayalam literature ) which “inactivates people and creates pessimism and alienation among them”; and (iv) “Revisionism” which endorses a mechanical culture, and while preventing man from realising his full potential and creativity, prepares the ground for the growth of “social fascism”.8
Thus, apart from the fight against the remnants of a feudal culture and a growing consumer capitalist ethos in the state, the Vedi accorded a high priority to the struggle against “modernism” and “revisionism”. “Modernism” in writing was thought to have originated as a kind of reaction against revisionist literature which could not break free of the shackles of bourgeois consumer culture and aesthetics. As an article in Prerana observed:
For the revisionists, human beings get satisfied with the acquisition of consumer goods…Those who see the accumulation of material goods as the sole basis for human emancipation are, in effect, trying to convert the working class into capitalists. Here, the mechanical culture of the revisionists capitulates to the consumer culture of capitalism.9
K Satchidanandan, a poet and an important figure in the Vedi in its heydays wrote that “as revisionism had accepted capitalist institutions and yardsticks while hoping to bring about a revolution through them, it followed the same capitalist market laws in its art as well.”10 In a detailed critique on the cultural policy of the established left, an editorial in the Prerana pointed out that:
The revisionists do not realise that even within culture there are elements of class struggle. That is why they commodify art and culture and sell them in the market; that is why they mechanically attach art and culture to their party politics, and fail time and again.11
Raymond Williams once described left cultural movements ideally as attempts “to defeat that system of meanings and values (which an unequal society has generated) through the most sustained skills of intellectual and educational work”. In its activities, the Vedi conforms to a similar view. It made use of various forms, one of which was the street play, ideally suited for an organisation of its kind as it incurred less expenses and could be staged even without prior notice to the administration.
More importantly, it had better scope than the conventional proscenium theatre to reach the masses. Apart from the dramatisation of famous novels like Gorky’s Mother and Howard Fast’s Spartacus, the Vedi took up local issues and contemporary injustices as its plays MLA, staged during the assembly elections, and Chasnala dealing with the miner’s tragedy amply illustrate.
As part of their critique of the established left in the state the Vedi activists, during this time made a critique of Thoppil Bhasi’s famous play Ningalenne Communistakki12 which was believed to have played an important role during the early phase of the communist movement in the state. Civic Chandran, for instance, wrote that in this play, the cruelty of landlord oppression is shown to be an individual aberration, and as a consequence, feudalism as a system goes unscathed.13
He also portrayed the drama as one where the last cry of feudalism is heard, whence the younger generation in feudal families along with some of their elder members go over to the winning side, i e, communism.14 In a later article, he was to trace the origins of the present day commercial theatre tradition in the state – “a little bit of revolution, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of love” – to Ningalenne Communistakki which had all these ingredients in ample measure to ensure a commercial success.15
Seen in this context, the play Nadugaddika staged by the Vedi in hundreds of places throughout the state constitutes a radical break from the past, not the least because a majority of whom were involved with it were adivasis themselves. Nadugaddika illustrates how the naxalite cultural activists, unlike their predecessors, were able to use the folk traditions and myths of a people to convey, from a working class perspective, the oppression they had been going through for generations. “Gaddika”, a tribal ritual of the Adiyars of Wynad, was used to exorcise evil spirits. Here, the “gaddikakaran” (exorcist) is none other than Varghese, the naxalite leader who was killed by the police in Wynad during the early phase of the movement in the state.
Nadugaddika ends with the tribals reclaiming the red flag from the landlords who had turned communists in 1957, following the party’s victory at the hustings. The ‘gaddikakaran’, at one stage, pointing to the flag, tells the landlord that “this is not meant for making your loin cloth.”16 The Left Front government which had returned to power in the state in 1980, expectedly, did not take kindly to the staging of this play, and CPI(M) attacks on Vedi activists on this account were not rare.17
Malayalam poetry acquired a new meaning during the Vedi days. In their poems, Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan, K G Sankara Pillai, Satchidanandan, Civic Chandran and others did not exhibit any metaphysical anxieties, led as they were, by a harsh political reality. In one of the earliest instances where Varghese, the Naxalite “martyr” finds a place in Malayalam literature, Civic Chandran wrote:
Radhakrishnan, the journalist, just back from the trip
To the hills of Brahmagiri and Narinirangi says
That his tribal guide cherishes warm memories
of a fighter he calls the ‘peruman’
He says that the summer forests of Wynad are waiting for
Their spark
And the rock of Kumbarakuri is bleeding still,
that the corridors of the press club are still
haunted by a pair of eyes gouged out of their sockets.
Radhakrishnan, the journalist, upon the testimony of
Marachathan, his guide,
says for certain that the river Kabani will turn red again.18
To shake the readers out of a complacency bred by familiarity, these poets resorted to what has been called “linguistic shock”. Thus, in their poems, “soft melodies of birds”, for instance, are missing, and instead, we hear only “the roar of landslides and floods.”19 Kadamanitta’s poem ‘Avar Parayunnu’ and Attoor Ravi Varma’s ‘Cancer’ illustrate how these urban middle class poets used morbid symbols of decadence and carefully selected images of revulsion to critique the existing system.
The most famous poem of Kadamanitta in those days was ‘Kurathi’, which, significantly the CPI(M) found to be an ‘extremist’ poem.20 ‘Kurathi’, which narrates the saga of a marginalised tribe was widely used by the Vedi during its poetry evenings and “kavyayatras”. The Vedi also introduced the genre of political poetry represented by the likes of Mayakovsky and Neruda to a larger Malayalee audience. For this, apart from the pages of Prerana, it took recourse to a new form, “poster poetry”, i e, posters filled with the lines of these poets as well as those of communist legends like Mao and Che Geuvara.
Louis Kampf defined the tasks of radical culture as the attempts “to bring about a social revolution; to make institutions democratic; to make us free; to make life more beautiful and humane.”21 For the Vedi too, cultural activities did not remain confined to art and literature, but instead included whatever activities that revolutionised the consciousness of man. As an organisation, it was “committed to create an aggressive cultural consciousness against a system dehumanised from top to bottom.”22
To be more precise, it represented a social movement rather than being a cultural organisation of the conventional type. Its activities ranged from settling domestic discords to organising bonus strikes. In March 1981, the Vedi led an agitation in Kannur against public gambling, which allegedly, “got support from the local police and DYFI activists”.23 The movement led to the banning of gambling during exhibitions. In the process, however, Ramesan, a Vedi activist who had been in the forefront of the struggle was stabbed to death. The killing did not go unprotested, though. On March 23, some Vedi members entered the legislative assembly and after distributing pamphlets, shouted “down with gamblers both inside as well as outside the legislatures”.24
People’s Political Power
Alongside attempts to bring about a “new democratic culture”, the Vedi and the CRC CPI (ML) were engaged, during this time, in setting up what they termed parallel centres of “people’s political power”. Citing instances from the Russian and Chinese revolutionary experiences, and from India’s own santhal rebellion in the mid-19th century upto the Naxalbari uprising, they stressed the need for people’s political power to be established in the course of the revolutionary struggle.
It was argued that involving people with political power would lead to the growth of self-confidence amongst them, whereas in its absence in the post-revolutionary phase, political power could easily lapse into the hands of the party, or worse, “a new ruling class”.25 For the Naxalites, bourgeois courts were institutions meant for the protection of the interests of the propertied classes. They saw in the “people’s courts” and people’s trials which ran counter to the bourgeois system of justice, instruments for the establishment of people’s political power at the local level. They were seen as institutions whereby people could think and decide for themselves on matters affecting them instead of depending on outside agencies. According to the party leadership:
Today the people have begun to understand that people’s political power cannot be established by voting to determine who will oppress them every five years and that it can be brought into existence only by the people in each area seizing power locally to take decisions and implement them in all economic, political and social problems faced in their own locality.26
Attempts in this direction achieved a fair degree of success at Calicut, where in March 1981, the Vedi “tried” a corrupt doctor through a people’s court, an event which also brought to the forefront of social activism the question of medical ethics. The “trial” was well received by various sections with even a former chief justice forced to admit in public that “the people’s trial was the sign of a social revolution” and that it could be viewed as “the resistance of a people against injustice.”27 Not insignificantly, even the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI (M) was constrained, in the wake of the success of the doctor’s trial, to fill up the walls of the state with the graffiti “corrupt bureaucrats should be beaten up”.
The activities of the Vedi had won for the CRC CPI (ML) unprecedented popularity during this phase. At many places, the differences between the two were negligible, and where the party had only a marginal presence, the Vedi assumed the role of a mass front leading many a struggle. However, the contradictions between the two proved to be too fundamental, in the final analysis, for them to be united for long. The party leadership, increasingly wary over the way its “military line” was being sacrificed at the altar of “mass line”, reintroduced the former to the forefront of the struggle through the annihilation of Madathil Mathai, “a people’s enemy” at Kenichira in Wynad in May 1981.
In the aftermath of the Kenichira action, the movement had to face severe state repression. The government resorted to draconian laws even as the holding of “people’s trials” were banned, and Prerana threatened with confiscation.28 On July 9, 1981, T K Ramakrishnan, the home minister, declared in the state assembly that 191 cases had so far been registered against the “extremists” and that 930 arrests were made.29 The movement could not survive this “white terror”!
The Rift Within
More than the state repression, however, it was the irreconcilable differences between the Vedi and the party which brought the movement to an abrupt end. Here, it should be noted that the two did not constitute monolithic structures with no two opinions within them. For instance, there was a small but vociferous section within the party who opposed the “annihilation”, indicating a vigorous two-line struggle on this issue.30 Similarly, inside the Vedi, there were some people who toed the official party line. Thus, when we speak of a party or a Vedi line, it relates to the “dominant” line or the line that prevailed.
The Vedi leadership was quick to denounce the annihilation and dissociate itself from it. Satchidanandan saw elements of fascism in the action, and in a letter to a popular weekly, expressed the view that the annihilation did not “suit the civilised political sensibility of Kerala” and that it “nauseated a big section of the populace”.31 In the days following the annihilation, when the schism between the two widened, their acrimony became public, the Vedi accusing the party of trying to capture the organisation through a fraction, while the latter blamed the former for going public with these differences violating all organisational principles and thereby exhibiting “anarchist” tendencies.
When, in the next few months, the party continued to uphold the annihilation, some members including its state secretary Kaviyur Balan resigned from the Vedi. It was also stated through the press that Nadugaddika which had played a pivotal role in the movement would not be staged hereafter under the party’s banner.32
The break did not occur overnight. The ideological differences between the Vedi and the party had a long history. For instance, on the question of base/superstructure, the party held on to Stalinist orthodoxy which accorded primacy to a self-contained economic sphere, with a secondary, passively reflexive superstructure. The Vedi, on the other hand, tried to strike a balance between this “vulgar” Marxist position and the opposite idealist view that art/literature is an isolated sphere determined by its own laws.33 Connected to this debate was the question of the relative importance of politics and culture within the realm of the superstructure.
In one instance, countering the party line according to which changes in the base get reflected first in politics, the latter being the concentrated expression of these changes, Satchidanadan argued for the simultaneity of expression of changing production relations in all areas of social life.34 The inherent tension that persisted throughout the tenure of Vedi between the cultural and political activists finds expression in an anguished piece written by one of the former in Prerana:
Is the cultural activist inferior by birth. Is not the political activist viewing his cultural counterpart as Gulliver would a Liliput. Is it justified that somebody who has learnt the party programme by heart and who has fortuitously achieved some success in one or two struggles should get more recognition than the cultural activist.35
The differences in perception between the Vedi and the party could be seen in the way the two viewed the cultural revolution in China. The Vedi, influenced as it was by Mao’s assertion that during the socialist phase, emphasis should be laid on the struggle at the superstructural level, characterised it as a revolution in the cultural sphere.36
For the party, however, the cultural revolution, though it had other dimensions as well, was essentially a resistance by the socialist forces under Mao against revisionism in the international communist movement as well as against the resurgent bourgeoisie which had entered the Chinese Communist Party. It was, in fact, a continuation of the class struggle within a socialist society.37
In the realm of culture, the movement had given a blow to the bourgeois belief that arts and the sciences are the monopoly of a few intellectuals, and instead reiterated that it was the working classes who alone are the creators of culture. This lesson, according to the party leadership, was lost on a section of the Vedi who continued to be influenced by bourgeois thinking. It attacked the Prerana editorial board for making the periodical one that was laced with “dry philosophical terms understood by only a handful of middle class intellectuals” and for “not going to the masses”.38
Though the Vedi as a whole had been opposed to the bourgeois system per se, there were sections within it who were not “Marxist” in the true sense of the term. Rather, by their own admission, they had come to the movement carrying the burden of an existentialist and anarchist past.39 Others were influenced by the New Left, which, for the party leadership, constituted an attack on Marxism from within. The party saw as one example of the “anti-Marxism” in the New Left ideology, Wilhelm Reich’s prescription of a sexual revolution to precede a social revolution.40
A Vedi member, clearly under Reich’s influence, in a rejoinder to the Vedi manifesto, had lamented that the party in its rigorous attempts at class war, ignored the sexual needs of its activists.41
The ideas of Lukacs too had attained wide currency within Marxist circles in Kerala during this time. In his History and Class Consciousness, Lukacs had reduced Marxism to sheer methodology. For him, thus, one could forego the basic assumptions of Marx and still claim to be a Marxist, provided he did not relinquish historical materialism.42 Obviously, under his influence, Subramanyadas, a young party/Vedi activist, in a series of articles, questioned the party’s position vis-a-vis, the formation and polarisation of classes in Kerala society, resulting in his getting censured by an offended party leadership.43 In distress, Subramanyadas committed suicide. The revolution had, as its wont, devoured one of its own.
At 24, Subramanyadas had been one of the most outstanding individuals in a movement which had attracted the cream of Malayalee intelligentsia. The tragic irony was that a while earlier, he had been fighting on the side of the party against the “bourgeois liberal” trends within the Vedi. From there, it did not take him too long to jump to the other extreme, a trend that was symptomatic of the petty-bourgeois predilections that informed the movement.
Conclusion
Gramsci had discounted the possibility of a Bolshevik type revolution in the west. Here, unlike in pre-revolution Russia, there was a civil society which involved the “thick web of interpersonal relationships and represents the social surface over which is extended the cultural hegemony of the ruling elites.”44 It is here that the dominant class creates, through its diffusion of values, myths, beliefs and ideals, its hegemony.
According to Gramsci, a subordinate class should be able to elaborate its own ideological system, one competitive with the dominant system of beliefs and values. “In the west,” he says, “a social group can or rather must be in control even before it acquires governing power.”45 The key word in Gramsci, thus, is hegemony as when he says that the struggle between the classes for domination is in essence a “struggle between two hegemonies”.46
However, it is not only in the west that the state rules with the consent of the people. As Eric Hobsbawm observed, “the struggle for hegemony before as well as during the transition of power is not merely an aspect of the western countries but of all revolutionary strategy.”47
In Kerala, where, following lower caste and communist movements in the earlier decades, there was a vibrant civil society, the struggle for hegemony resorted to by the Vedi looked appropriate. Such a struggle was facilitated by the fact that the party to which it was aligned had, during this time, adopted an approach marked by “a strong fight against terrorism and utmost confidence in the masses.”48 However, ideological differences between the two did not allow this state of affairs to continue for long.
In the contest over strategies, “massline” was to become sidelined, and the proponents of the “military line” would have the final say, as reflected in the “annihilation” at Kenichira. The consequence, however, was that the Vedi disintegrated, and the party, badly bruised by severe state repression, had to start once again from the scratch. By then, postmodernist moods had set in Kerala. Those like Civic Chandran, the last secretary of the Vedi, broke away from the movement citing irreconcilable differences with Marxism, to take up social activism of a new kind. The era of new social movements had begun in Kerala. As for the Vedi, though officially not disbsanded, it never became active again. An experiment, in spite of its initial success, had failed.
Notes
[I am grateful to K N Panikkar and Urmita Ray for their comments on an earlier draft of this essay.]
1 Civic Chandran, interview to Sukrutham, Vol 2, No 3, June 1995, p 8.
2 Cited in Omji George, The Janakiya Samskarika Vedi’ in Kerala, Negations, No 12, October-December 1984, p 11.
3 ‘Samskarika Pravararthakarkku K Venuvinte Sandesam’, Prerana, September-October 1980, Nos 30-31.
4 Kapada Pracharanangalum Yadharthyangalum: Janakiya Samskarika Vedi, Entu, Entinu? (leaflet), p 3.
5 Ibid.
6 ‘Janakiya Samskarika Vediyile Aashaya Samarathinte Pradhanyam’ unsigned article, Prerana, Vol 3, No 14, October 16-31, 1981, p 4.
7 Comrade, Vol 7, Nos 26-27, May 17, 1981, p 6.
8 Janakiya Samskarika Vedi: Naya Prakyapana Rekha, pp 5-6.
9 ‘Thiruthalvadavum Viplavasamskaravum’, unsigned article, Prerana, No 8, July 1980, p 3.
10 Satchidanandan, ‘Kavita Manushyan, Viplavam’ (Introduction), in Pudhupiravi (collection of poems), Trichur, 1980, p 11.
11 ‘Thiruthalvadavum Viplavasamskaravum’, unsigned article, Prerana, No 28, July 1980, p 4. The rather mechanical approach the “established left” in the state took towards culture is proven by a “model poem” it sent to one of the poets associated with its cultural organisation, to emulate. Attoor Ravi Varma, interview to Prerana, Vol 2, No 6, February 15-28, 1985, p 17. Later on, Attoor was to shift his allegiance to the Marxist-Leninist movement in the state which consciously tried to be different in this regard. In his message to the first convention of the Vedi, K Venu, the party leader, assured the cultural activists that “the party will never prescribe what type of artistic creations” they should produce. ‘Samskarika Pravarthakarkku K Venuvinte Sandesam’, Prerana, Nos 30-31, September-October 1980, pp 39-40.
12 Thoppil Bhasi, Ningalenne Communistakki, Ernakulam, 1956.
13 Civic Chandran, ‘Nadugaddika Teaminte Anubhavangalilude’, Prerana, No 28, July 1980, p 11.
14 Ibid.
15 Civic Chandran, ‘Ningalenne Communistakkiyil Ninnu Nadugaddikayilekkulla Dooram’, Introduction, K J Baby, Nadugaddika, Wynad, 1983, pp 14-15.
16 K J Baby, Nadugaddika…, p 64.
17 “Once, a day after a CPI (M) attack, Vedi artists and activists with bandages on, staged the play at the same place where they were attacked. Later under pressure from local people, CPI (M) attackers were made to apologise publicly. Mukunadan C Menon, ‘Kerala: People’s Cultural Forum’, Frontier, Vol 13, No 46, July 11, 1981, p 9.
18 Civic Chandran, ‘Kabani’ in Sumanta Banerjee (ed), Thema Book of Naxalite Poetry, Calcutta, 1987, p 10.
19 Satchidanandan, ‘Kavita, Manushyan…’, p 18.
20 Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan, ‘Kala Kalekku Vendiyo’ in Kala Kaumudi (weekly), No 883, August 15, 1992, p 27. Ironically, later, Kadamanitta was to head the Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham, the cultural front of the CPI (M).
21 Louis Kampf, ‘Towards a Radical Culture’ in Prescilla Long (ed), The New Left: Collection of Essays, Boston, 1969, p 423.
22 ‘Janakiya Samskarika Vediyile Aashaya Samarathinte Pradhanyam’, unsigned article, Prerana, Vol 3, No 14, October 16-31, 1981, p 3.
23 Mangalat Raghavan, ‘Kannur Kathu’, Mathrubhoomi, April 4, 1981
24 Mathrubhoomi, March 24, 1981.
25 ‘People’s Committees – Some New Experiences in Kerala’, Liberation, organ of the CRC CPI (ML), Vol 8, No 3, December 1982, p 55.
26 Gopan (pseudonym for K Venu, who was then underground), ‘The Question Posed by Kenichira – Which Side Are You On?’, Liberation, Organ of the CRC CPI (ML), July-September 1981, Vol 7, Nos 7-9, p 41.
27 Y B Indrachud, quoted in Malayala Manorama, July 10, 1981.
28 The government resorted to Section 17 (1) of the 1908 Criminal Law Amendment Act which the British had used to arrest Tilak on the charge of sedition as well as the Travancore-Cochin Public Safety Act which had been used in the 1940s against the communists.
29 Mathrubhoomi, July 10, 1981.
30 One state committee member who visited Wynad to prepare a report on the’ “Kenichira struggle” was so critical of the annihilation that the party organ refused to publish, forcing him to try elsewhere. In the report, he pointed out that the “annihilation line” of Charu Majumdar meant to release the initiative and class hatred of poor landless peasants looked out of place in an area like Kenichira where the feudal mode of production had given way to a capitalist type of farming. He also disputed the claim of the party that through the annihilation, “people’s will” in the area had been implemented. Instead, he found that those involved in the annihilation sought the support of only sympathisers for carrying it out, making him conclude that instead of the contradiction between the people and the “people’s enemy” getting resolved, only the one between the party and its enemy had been settled through the annihilation. P C Josey, “Kenichira Nalkiya Nishedathmakamaya Uttaram”, Red Guards, Vol 1, No 1, February 1981, p 10.
31 Satchidanandan, letter to Kala Kaumudi (weekly), No 305, June 28, 1981, p 31. Taking a dig at Charu Majumdar in this context, he argued that ‘Kenichira’ and its consequences had been due to the work of “an adventurist group lacking in originality and who considered the views of an activist with low intellectual prowess as infallible”.
32 Mathrubhoomi, June 11, 1981.
33 Janakiya Samskarika Vedi: Naya Prakyapana Rekha, p 2.
34 Satchidanandan, Prerana, No 3, September 1978, p 27.
35 ‘Rithumenonu Snehapoorvam Prashantinte Kathu’, Prerana, Vol 3, No 7, April 1-15, 1981, p 7.
36 Mao, however, had categorically stated that politics constitutes the most important element in the superstructure. To quote him:
Literature and art are subordinated to politics, but in their turn, exert a great influence on politics…When we say that literature and art are subordinate to politics, we mean class politics. Mao-Tse Tung, Selected Works, Vol III, Peking, 1975, p 86.
37 In an article which underlines the Maoist position on the cultural revolution, K Venu writes of how “it was a life and death struggle between the new bourgeoisie and the working class to capture political power.” K Venu, ‘Samskarika Viplavam: Paraspara Virudhamaya Randu Veekshanangal’, Prerana, Vol 3, No 15, November 1-15, 1981, p 21.
38 K N Ramachandran, ‘Prerana, Samskarika Vedi Ippozhum Liberalisathinte Swadheenathil’, Prerana, No 52, May 1982, p 14.
39 For instance, A Soman, a prominent Vedi activist, in a letter to a friend wrote of his anarchic past before joining the movement. A Soman, Letter to Yakub, February 8, no year, Private Records of Mandakini Narayanan, Calicut University Archives. Similarly, Civic Chandran, in an interview, says how he and others in the Vedi were more inspired by existentialism and anarchism rather than Marx and Mao before joining the movement. Civic Chandran, interview in Sukrutham, Vol 2, No 3, June 1995, p 6. In an earlier article, under the guise of a “special political observer”, he had written: “the second phase of the Naxalite movement in Kerala was anything but politics…their thoughts were determined by existentialism and modern literature…spiritual discontent led them to the streets…Not having gone through the test of class struggles and mass movements, these middle class intellectuals might have been against the system, against power, but were not Marxists, not revolutionaries” unsigned article, ‘Naxalittukal Thirichuvarumo’, Vaakku, Vol 1, No 1, August 1984. In the aftermath of the Kenichira annihilation, during a human rights convention at Kozhikode, some Vedi leaders declared that even if “a real working class party” came to power, it would continue to resist injustice, Mathrubhoomi, May 28, 1981. An example of this non-Marxist, anarchist trait which runs through the writings of some of the Vedi members could be seen in an editorial on events in China which ended with the call “let us salute Chiang Ching and other comrades by conducting an uncompromising struggle against all centres of power”, Prerana, No 6, February 15-18, 1981.
40 Wilhelm Reich, Mass Psychology of Fascism, New York, 1964. An example of Reichian influence in literary criticism could be seen in Satchidanandan’s study of Sukumaran’s short stories during this time, Satchidanandan, ‘Sukumarante Prasakthi’ in Muhoorthangal, Kottayam, 1994, pp 193-228.
41 Chittaranjan, ‘Nayaprakyapanarekha: Oru Viyojanakurippu’, Prerana, Nos 54-55, July-August 1982, p 10.
42 George Lukacs, History and Class Consciousness, translated by Rodney Livingstone, London, 1971.
43 Subramanyadas, ‘Adhikara Vyavasthiyile Varghasamaram’, Uttaram, No 2, November 1982, pp 12-14. In this article, he argued that classical Marxism had become outdated to comprehend the complex reality of social life in Kerala, and expressed the view that political terminologies like “working class” and “class struggle” need to be reconsidered. See also his ‘Reethiye Kurichu Thanne’, Prerana, No 16, January 1-15, 1982, p 15.
44 Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, edited and translated by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith, New York, 1971, p 245. 45 Ibid, p 235. 46 Ibid, p 236.
47 Eric J Hobsbawm, ‘Gramsci and Marxist Political Theory’ in Anne Showstack Sassoon (ed), Approaches to Gramsci, London, 1982, p 30.
48 K Venu quoted in Mukundan C Menon, ‘Kerala: People’s Cultural Forum…’ p 8.
Posco throws crumbs at people of orissa in PR drive as it readies to swoop down to loot their mineral wealth
Posco throws crumbs at people of orissa before it swoops down
to loot their resources.
POSCO is a transnational steel company, which intends to set
up a 12 million tonne steel plant in India at a capital cost of
around $ 12 billion.
This loot is being facilitated by Orissa goverment and as usual
the people of orrisa will be left with nothing more than mining
dust in their faces and plates.
To read about the Natural Resource Implications of the POSCO deal
----Click here----
This is nothing more than a publicity gimmick that we have seen
corporations indulge from time to time.
Posco befriends pupils, thereby people
Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Oct. 26: It was a proud moment for 35 students of Utkal University, Biju Patnaik University of Technology and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology today as they received the scholarships from the Posco TJ Park Foundation, South Korea.
Befitting the occasion, vice-chancellors of the three varsities were present along with representatives of the Foundation, CMD Posco-India Mr Soung-Sik Cho, chief secretary of Orissa Dr Subas Pani and a host of state government officers.
While Dr Pani and other officers spoke on the efforts of Posco-India and did refer to problems relating to land acquisition being faced by the company, the VCs elaborated on research and HRD of Posco which is acknowledged worldwide.
Mr Soung-Sik Cho said this was part of the long term commitment of Posco to the people of Orissa. Emphasising human resource development, education and research, he said South Korea did not have any natural resource as such and therefore it had built upon human resource.
Resources are limited, creativity unlimited is the inspiring statement at Pohang steel works. The students will receive an annual grant of $500 which will continue till completion of their course. Posco TJ Park Foundation has already awarded research grant of $10,000 to two scholars from India and one of them is from Utkal University. Five students from India have also been sent to Korea under a fellowship programme of the foundation of whom two are from Utkal university.
Another photograph on Page III
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=134643
to loot their resources.
POSCO is a transnational steel company, which intends to set
up a 12 million tonne steel plant in India at a capital cost of
around $ 12 billion.
This loot is being facilitated by Orissa goverment and as usual
the people of orrisa will be left with nothing more than mining
dust in their faces and plates.
To read about the Natural Resource Implications of the POSCO deal
----Click here----
This is nothing more than a publicity gimmick that we have seen
corporations indulge from time to time.
Posco befriends pupils, thereby people
Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Oct. 26: It was a proud moment for 35 students of Utkal University, Biju Patnaik University of Technology and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology today as they received the scholarships from the Posco TJ Park Foundation, South Korea.
Befitting the occasion, vice-chancellors of the three varsities were present along with representatives of the Foundation, CMD Posco-India Mr Soung-Sik Cho, chief secretary of Orissa Dr Subas Pani and a host of state government officers.
While Dr Pani and other officers spoke on the efforts of Posco-India and did refer to problems relating to land acquisition being faced by the company, the VCs elaborated on research and HRD of Posco which is acknowledged worldwide.
Mr Soung-Sik Cho said this was part of the long term commitment of Posco to the people of Orissa. Emphasising human resource development, education and research, he said South Korea did not have any natural resource as such and therefore it had built upon human resource.
Resources are limited, creativity unlimited is the inspiring statement at Pohang steel works. The students will receive an annual grant of $500 which will continue till completion of their course. Posco TJ Park Foundation has already awarded research grant of $10,000 to two scholars from India and one of them is from Utkal University. Five students from India have also been sent to Korea under a fellowship programme of the foundation of whom two are from Utkal university.
Another photograph on Page III
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=134643
Chhattisgarh Maoists have rockets, launchers
Chhattisgarh Maoists have rockets, launchers
Officials say Maoists have arms storage facilities that are as good as those of the police
IANS
Raipur: Maoists in Chhattisgarh have dozens of rockets and launchers capable of shooting down aircraft flying 200 feet above ground level, senior officials in the state home ministry said on Thursday.
"We don't know whether the recent large supply of rockets via Andhra Pradesh reached Maoist militants in Chhattisgarh or not. But it is sure that since 2001 they have dozens of rockets and launchers in their thick forest hideouts in Bastar that border Andhra Pradesh," said a well-placed official.
In one of the biggest arms haul in recent years, police in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh seized at least 600 rockets and a dozen launchers early in September during a raid in the Maoist-stronghold of Mahbubnagar district.
"We do not have confirmed information on whether the rockets seized in Andhra Pradesh were meant for the cadres in Chhattisgarh or whether they managed to get some supply from them. What is certain is that they already have rockets that can hit aircraft up to 200 feet above the ground," he said on condition of anonymity.
Intelligence reports suggest that Maoists managed to get supply of some rockets and launchers in early 2001 from outside the state.
In 2005, Chhattisgarh police seized seven rocket launchers and four mortars and 47 hand grenades in 2005 from the Bastar forest belt.
However, in 2006, till September, just 11 hand grenades have been recovered, but not a single mortar or rocket launcher.
"The Maoists have arms storage facilities that are as good as the police. That's why police hardly manage to seize their terror weapons," the official said.
Police have also had less success in 2006 in apprehending senior cadres of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) as just 41 leaders were detained this year compared to 178 last year.
Moreover, only 168 Maoists affiliated with various frontal bodies of the CPI-Maoist have been arrested this year as against 395 in 2005.
In contrast, Chhattisgarh, the worst affected among 13 Indian states, suffered heavy casualties in 2006 with rebels killing 374 people, including 298 civilians and 34 policemen, till September 2006. This is a sharp rise from the 206 deaths last year, officials said.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=4&articleid=102620062146118591026200621457796
Officials say Maoists have arms storage facilities that are as good as those of the police
IANS
Raipur: Maoists in Chhattisgarh have dozens of rockets and launchers capable of shooting down aircraft flying 200 feet above ground level, senior officials in the state home ministry said on Thursday.
"We don't know whether the recent large supply of rockets via Andhra Pradesh reached Maoist militants in Chhattisgarh or not. But it is sure that since 2001 they have dozens of rockets and launchers in their thick forest hideouts in Bastar that border Andhra Pradesh," said a well-placed official.
In one of the biggest arms haul in recent years, police in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh seized at least 600 rockets and a dozen launchers early in September during a raid in the Maoist-stronghold of Mahbubnagar district.
"We do not have confirmed information on whether the rockets seized in Andhra Pradesh were meant for the cadres in Chhattisgarh or whether they managed to get some supply from them. What is certain is that they already have rockets that can hit aircraft up to 200 feet above the ground," he said on condition of anonymity.
Intelligence reports suggest that Maoists managed to get supply of some rockets and launchers in early 2001 from outside the state.
In 2005, Chhattisgarh police seized seven rocket launchers and four mortars and 47 hand grenades in 2005 from the Bastar forest belt.
However, in 2006, till September, just 11 hand grenades have been recovered, but not a single mortar or rocket launcher.
"The Maoists have arms storage facilities that are as good as the police. That's why police hardly manage to seize their terror weapons," the official said.
Police have also had less success in 2006 in apprehending senior cadres of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) as just 41 leaders were detained this year compared to 178 last year.
Moreover, only 168 Maoists affiliated with various frontal bodies of the CPI-Maoist have been arrested this year as against 395 in 2005.
In contrast, Chhattisgarh, the worst affected among 13 Indian states, suffered heavy casualties in 2006 with rebels killing 374 people, including 298 civilians and 34 policemen, till September 2006. This is a sharp rise from the 206 deaths last year, officials said.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=4&articleid=102620062146118591026200621457796
State Pulse: Chhattisgarh: Fighting the Naxals
State Pulse: Chhattisgarh: Fighting the Naxals
Once in camps, people have no choice but to support the Salwa Judum. Some of them are forced to work as informers against members of their own Maureen Nandini Mitra
Errabore relief camp, Dantewada, September 2, 2006: Ramesh carries a .303 rifle. He's not sure of his age. "May be 16," he says doubtfully, and adds that he hasn't really shot anyone yet. The teenager has had only a week's combat training at the police barracks within the camp, but is officially a special police officer (SPO) of the Chhattisgarh government to fight the Naxalites for a monthly salary of Rs 1,500. Legally, he can't get married or vote, but the government thinks he can handle a gun. If you thought it only happened in Liberia or Congo, welcome to India's world of child warriors. Sponsored by the state.
Though there's currently a lull in offensives from both sides because of heavy rains and flooding, there have been rumours of an attack by the Maoists tonight. So groups of SPOs are making special reconnaissance trips through the camp. They don't want to be caught unawares as on the night of July 16, when about a thousand Naxalites ambushed the camp's southern flank, burning houses, shooting and hacking to pieces 42 people.
"We had heard rumours that day too that there would be an attack but the thanedar wouldn't let us keep our guns. Back then we had to turn in our guns at the police station every evening, but after the attack they let us keep them," says Ramesh. Later, a senior security official said they didn't really trust the boys with the weapons because they tended to be brash and careless.
The Errabore camp is a fallout of the Salwa Judum movement. In Gondi, the local language, the term means purification hunt, rather than peace hunt or peace initiative, as it is often translated by the English media. Some say it started in Dantewada's Kerkeli village on May 6, 2005, when villagers stood up against Naxalites who had come to take a young girl into their fold. (The rebels have a policy of recruiting one cadre from every tribal family, if necessary, by force.) Taken by surprise, the Naxalites backed off.
This emboldened the villagers. Others say the movement dates to a series of meetings in which villagers, who had suffered through a drought and had no rural employment schemes or development projects to see them through (since government projects tended to sweep around Naxalite-dominated areas), began questioning the rebels' enforced boycott of trade in tendu leaf. The Maoists had called tendu leaf boycotts in the past to force prices up, but this time it didn't work. The villagers were upset.
What is clear is that the movement took form only after word of the tribals' expressions of anger reached Mahendra Karma, a Congress MLA, who promptly cashed in. He held a massive rally in the area and urged the tribals to take up arms against the Naxals. Many tribals followed his urging. Armed with bows and arrows they set out in groups to hunt out the rebels in the jungles. Karma had led an earlier people's initiative against the Maoists, called the Jan Jagran Abhiyan. This movement began with the same name but was later re-christened Salwa Judum.
The Congress leader, a tribal himself, began going from village to village in Dantewada, holding rallies and exhorting people to join the movement. His initiative was publicly supported by Chief Minister Raman Singh and Salwa Judum became part of the state government's counter-insurgency strategy. Paramilitary forces were brought in to protect members.
New Delhi chipped in, offering help in the form of extra paramilitary battalions, vehicles, minesweeping equipment and technology to help locate Maoist camps. Several thousand Salwa Judum activists, many of them barely 16 years of age, were appointed SPOs, given some rudimentary training and arms and promised preference for permanent police jobs.
If the movement was ever a spontaneous peace mission, by the tribals, as the state government and Karma describe it, it very soon stopped being so. Most of the Salwa Judum leaders Down To Earth (DTE) met at the Errabore and Dornapal relief camps were either non-tribal or relatively-wealthy tribals. They were schoolteachers, village heads, traders and contractors, people who could be labelled the "local elite", those who suffered most at the hands of the Maoists.
Several detailed reports by human rights groups and independent observers have amply documented the state-sponsored human rights abuses of the Salwa Judum movement. An all-India fact-finding team, comprising members from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand chapters of People's Union for Civil Liberties, People's Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi, Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights, West Bengal, and Indian Association of People's Lawyers, which visited Dantewada in November 2005, said it found "a pattern" in the displacements.
"When Salwa Judum meetings are called, people from neighbouring villages are asked to be present. Heavy security forces accompany the meetings. Villages that refuse to participate, face repeated attacks by the combined forces of Salwa Judum, district forces and a paramilitary Naga battalion, which is stationed in the area," the team's report states.
"Once in camps, people have no choice but to support the Salwa Judum. Some of them are forced to work as informers against members of their own and neighbouring villages and participate in attacks against them, leading to permanent divisions within villages. Families are sometimes being split between Judum supporters and those who wish to remain in their villages."
-Down to earth feature
Once in camps, people have no choice but to support the Salwa Judum. Some of them are forced to work as informers against members of their own Maureen Nandini Mitra
Errabore relief camp, Dantewada, September 2, 2006: Ramesh carries a .303 rifle. He's not sure of his age. "May be 16," he says doubtfully, and adds that he hasn't really shot anyone yet. The teenager has had only a week's combat training at the police barracks within the camp, but is officially a special police officer (SPO) of the Chhattisgarh government to fight the Naxalites for a monthly salary of Rs 1,500. Legally, he can't get married or vote, but the government thinks he can handle a gun. If you thought it only happened in Liberia or Congo, welcome to India's world of child warriors. Sponsored by the state.
Though there's currently a lull in offensives from both sides because of heavy rains and flooding, there have been rumours of an attack by the Maoists tonight. So groups of SPOs are making special reconnaissance trips through the camp. They don't want to be caught unawares as on the night of July 16, when about a thousand Naxalites ambushed the camp's southern flank, burning houses, shooting and hacking to pieces 42 people.
"We had heard rumours that day too that there would be an attack but the thanedar wouldn't let us keep our guns. Back then we had to turn in our guns at the police station every evening, but after the attack they let us keep them," says Ramesh. Later, a senior security official said they didn't really trust the boys with the weapons because they tended to be brash and careless.
The Errabore camp is a fallout of the Salwa Judum movement. In Gondi, the local language, the term means purification hunt, rather than peace hunt or peace initiative, as it is often translated by the English media. Some say it started in Dantewada's Kerkeli village on May 6, 2005, when villagers stood up against Naxalites who had come to take a young girl into their fold. (The rebels have a policy of recruiting one cadre from every tribal family, if necessary, by force.) Taken by surprise, the Naxalites backed off.
This emboldened the villagers. Others say the movement dates to a series of meetings in which villagers, who had suffered through a drought and had no rural employment schemes or development projects to see them through (since government projects tended to sweep around Naxalite-dominated areas), began questioning the rebels' enforced boycott of trade in tendu leaf. The Maoists had called tendu leaf boycotts in the past to force prices up, but this time it didn't work. The villagers were upset.
What is clear is that the movement took form only after word of the tribals' expressions of anger reached Mahendra Karma, a Congress MLA, who promptly cashed in. He held a massive rally in the area and urged the tribals to take up arms against the Naxals. Many tribals followed his urging. Armed with bows and arrows they set out in groups to hunt out the rebels in the jungles. Karma had led an earlier people's initiative against the Maoists, called the Jan Jagran Abhiyan. This movement began with the same name but was later re-christened Salwa Judum.
The Congress leader, a tribal himself, began going from village to village in Dantewada, holding rallies and exhorting people to join the movement. His initiative was publicly supported by Chief Minister Raman Singh and Salwa Judum became part of the state government's counter-insurgency strategy. Paramilitary forces were brought in to protect members.
New Delhi chipped in, offering help in the form of extra paramilitary battalions, vehicles, minesweeping equipment and technology to help locate Maoist camps. Several thousand Salwa Judum activists, many of them barely 16 years of age, were appointed SPOs, given some rudimentary training and arms and promised preference for permanent police jobs.
If the movement was ever a spontaneous peace mission, by the tribals, as the state government and Karma describe it, it very soon stopped being so. Most of the Salwa Judum leaders Down To Earth (DTE) met at the Errabore and Dornapal relief camps were either non-tribal or relatively-wealthy tribals. They were schoolteachers, village heads, traders and contractors, people who could be labelled the "local elite", those who suffered most at the hands of the Maoists.
Several detailed reports by human rights groups and independent observers have amply documented the state-sponsored human rights abuses of the Salwa Judum movement. An all-India fact-finding team, comprising members from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand chapters of People's Union for Civil Liberties, People's Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi, Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights, West Bengal, and Indian Association of People's Lawyers, which visited Dantewada in November 2005, said it found "a pattern" in the displacements.
"When Salwa Judum meetings are called, people from neighbouring villages are asked to be present. Heavy security forces accompany the meetings. Villages that refuse to participate, face repeated attacks by the combined forces of Salwa Judum, district forces and a paramilitary Naga battalion, which is stationed in the area," the team's report states.
"Once in camps, people have no choice but to support the Salwa Judum. Some of them are forced to work as informers against members of their own and neighbouring villages and participate in attacks against them, leading to permanent divisions within villages. Families are sometimes being split between Judum supporters and those who wish to remain in their villages."
-Down to earth feature
Task force on Naxalites to meet in Delhi
Task force on Naxalites to meet in Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 27: A meeting of the task force on Naxalites here today will review the situation arising out of spurt in violence unleashed by ultras.
Till August this year, 115 security personnel and 401 civilians were killed by ultra-Left insurgents compared to the figures of 94 and 364 during the corresponding period last year, sources in the Union Home Ministry said.
They said Chhattisgarh remained the most affected state where Naxal violence registered a sharp rise in the first eight months of 2006 - from 265 incidents last year to 469 till August this year.
Against such a scenario, the task force headed by special secretary (internal security) G S Rajagopal will meet to take stock of the situation and review the measures to contain the problem.
The task force was constituted in October 2004 to deliberate upon the steps needed to deal with the menace more effectively and in a coordinated way.
The members of the task force comprise nodal officers of the nine Naxal-affected states - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - and representatives of Intelligence Bureau, CRPF and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
With reports of inter-state arms procurement by ultras in Andhra Pradesh, the Union Home Ministry has recently constituted a special Naxal desk in the MHA headed by a special secretary, even as the Centre proposed to constitute an EGoM to take a holistic view of the problem and suggest infrastructure development in the affected areas.
Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?rep=2&aid=331693&sid=NAT
New Delhi, Oct 27: A meeting of the task force on Naxalites here today will review the situation arising out of spurt in violence unleashed by ultras.
Till August this year, 115 security personnel and 401 civilians were killed by ultra-Left insurgents compared to the figures of 94 and 364 during the corresponding period last year, sources in the Union Home Ministry said.
They said Chhattisgarh remained the most affected state where Naxal violence registered a sharp rise in the first eight months of 2006 - from 265 incidents last year to 469 till August this year.
Against such a scenario, the task force headed by special secretary (internal security) G S Rajagopal will meet to take stock of the situation and review the measures to contain the problem.
The task force was constituted in October 2004 to deliberate upon the steps needed to deal with the menace more effectively and in a coordinated way.
The members of the task force comprise nodal officers of the nine Naxal-affected states - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - and representatives of Intelligence Bureau, CRPF and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
With reports of inter-state arms procurement by ultras in Andhra Pradesh, the Union Home Ministry has recently constituted a special Naxal desk in the MHA headed by a special secretary, even as the Centre proposed to constitute an EGoM to take a holistic view of the problem and suggest infrastructure development in the affected areas.
Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?rep=2&aid=331693&sid=NAT
Ultras now more sophisticated: PM
Manmohan singh needs a new hobby and he needs to find it soon
because the people are tired of the same
old oft repeated dialogues.
This guy is worse than a stuck record.
Little is he aware about his own economic policies that terrorise
Indians across the land and are thought up by the IMF and World bank
and implemented by Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Ultras now more sophisticated: PM
Agencies
Hyderabad, Oct 26: Terming terrorism as the most dangerous threat to the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said there was an "external dimension" to the internal threat and called upon the police to gear up to meet the new challenges.
"There are subversive forces at work. Economic globalisation and technological development have altered the nature of crime, giving rise to new forms of criminality," he said after reviewing the passing out parade of the 58th batch of IPS probationers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy on the outskirts of the city.
Calling for improved coordination among the states and the use of best technologies to face the multitude of dangers, Singh said, "Today's terrorists are most sophisticated having transnational linkages and adequate resources. Both knowledge and determination are required if we are to succeed against these elements."
The most dangerous threat to the country, he said, was terrorism.
"From an occasional footnote, it has become a hydra-headed monster. There are several strains of terrorism present and you will need to keep abreast of developments in this regard," the Prime Minister told the young officers.
Referring to the situation in the northeast, Jammu and Kashmir and naxal-hit states, he said that the problems in each of these regions were different and a skillful approach was needed to tackle them.
"All this will demand sensitive handling. Understand reasons for disaffection and alienation and you will find some answer to your challenges," he told the officers.
78 IPS probationers, including eight women, participated in the parade as a culmination of 45-week long training at the academy.
Four officers from the Royal Bhutan Police and three from Maldives Police also passed out today.
It was after a gap of 21 years that the passing out parade was reviewed by a Prime Minister. The earlier occasion was when late Rajiv Gandhi reviewed the parade in 1985.
Pointing out how the nature of crime and violence in the society had undergone changes, Singh said sophisticated instrumentalities were now available to criminals.
"This requires knowledge of new disciplines and new ways of tackling such crime. Only a deep understanding of the complexities of forces shaping our polity will enable you to handle your work in an efficient manner," he told the police officers.
Referring to the internal security challenges, Singh said, "We face not one single over-arching threat but a multitude of dangers. Problems are not confined to one state alone and often encompass several states. This requires not just improved coordination between states but also new modes of cooperation requiring the best use of technologies."
Union Ministers Shivraj Patil and S Jaipal Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Governor Rameshwar Thakur, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, state Home Minister K Jana Reddy and Director of the Academy Kamal Kumar were also present on the occasion.
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20061027/2710141.htm
because the people are tired of the same
old oft repeated dialogues.
This guy is worse than a stuck record.
Little is he aware about his own economic policies that terrorise
Indians across the land and are thought up by the IMF and World bank
and implemented by Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Ultras now more sophisticated: PM
Agencies
Hyderabad, Oct 26: Terming terrorism as the most dangerous threat to the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said there was an "external dimension" to the internal threat and called upon the police to gear up to meet the new challenges.
"There are subversive forces at work. Economic globalisation and technological development have altered the nature of crime, giving rise to new forms of criminality," he said after reviewing the passing out parade of the 58th batch of IPS probationers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy on the outskirts of the city.
Calling for improved coordination among the states and the use of best technologies to face the multitude of dangers, Singh said, "Today's terrorists are most sophisticated having transnational linkages and adequate resources. Both knowledge and determination are required if we are to succeed against these elements."
The most dangerous threat to the country, he said, was terrorism.
"From an occasional footnote, it has become a hydra-headed monster. There are several strains of terrorism present and you will need to keep abreast of developments in this regard," the Prime Minister told the young officers.
Referring to the situation in the northeast, Jammu and Kashmir and naxal-hit states, he said that the problems in each of these regions were different and a skillful approach was needed to tackle them.
"All this will demand sensitive handling. Understand reasons for disaffection and alienation and you will find some answer to your challenges," he told the officers.
78 IPS probationers, including eight women, participated in the parade as a culmination of 45-week long training at the academy.
Four officers from the Royal Bhutan Police and three from Maldives Police also passed out today.
It was after a gap of 21 years that the passing out parade was reviewed by a Prime Minister. The earlier occasion was when late Rajiv Gandhi reviewed the parade in 1985.
Pointing out how the nature of crime and violence in the society had undergone changes, Singh said sophisticated instrumentalities were now available to criminals.
"This requires knowledge of new disciplines and new ways of tackling such crime. Only a deep understanding of the complexities of forces shaping our polity will enable you to handle your work in an efficient manner," he told the police officers.
Referring to the internal security challenges, Singh said, "We face not one single over-arching threat but a multitude of dangers. Problems are not confined to one state alone and often encompass several states. This requires not just improved coordination between states but also new modes of cooperation requiring the best use of technologies."
Union Ministers Shivraj Patil and S Jaipal Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Governor Rameshwar Thakur, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, state Home Minister K Jana Reddy and Director of the Academy Kamal Kumar were also present on the occasion.
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20061027/2710141.htm
Orissa govt in the dock over new DIG's 'sick'
For some strange reason this news article reminds of these
lines from a bollywood song.
Gabbar Singh ye kehke gaya
Jo Dar gaya woh mar gaya !
Orissa govt in the dock over new DIG's 'sick' leave
Rajaram Satapathy
BHUBANESWAR: It seems nothing is going right for the Orissa police. Two days after the 'accidental firing' death of south-western range DIG Jaswinder Singh, who was heading the anti-Naxal operation, the administration's helplessness to find an immediate replacement for Singh has become a talking point of the state capital.
The cowardance displayed by Singh's successor S K Nath, Rourkela-based special operations group (SOG) promoted to DIG rank, to take charge of the Maoist-infested region has put the government in the dock
The Orissa government had promoted Nath on Monday, the day Singh was killed, and had asked him to join duty immediately. But Nath reported sick.
"It is a crisis situation and the DIG is the commander of the team ,his claiming of illness has demoralised the men in khaki fighting the Maoists," said a senior official.
According to another official, Nath reporting sick could send a wrong signal that officers hailing from Orissa are preferring to be in safer places leaving the 'tough jobs' to those from outside the state.
Singh's death has raised doubts on the skills of the security personnel and the quality of training they are given.
Two PSOs — who were arrested on charges of killing Singh — had undergone three-month anti-extremist greyhound training at Malkangiri, but one of them had failed to maintain even the basic rule of keeping a cocked pistol pointed towards the ground or the sky.
Government on Wednesday decided to impart training for PSOs on handling advanced weaponry. DGP Amarananda Pattanayak said: "We have been giving training to PSOs. But in the wake of the latest incident, we want to introduce training modules that would make them well-conversant with different kinds of automatic and semi-automatic arms and ammunition."
The state government has also sent a team of crime branch officials to Koraput to probe Singh's death.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/154383.cms
lines from a bollywood song.
Gabbar Singh ye kehke gaya
Jo Dar gaya woh mar gaya !
Orissa govt in the dock over new DIG's 'sick' leave
Rajaram Satapathy
BHUBANESWAR: It seems nothing is going right for the Orissa police. Two days after the 'accidental firing' death of south-western range DIG Jaswinder Singh, who was heading the anti-Naxal operation, the administration's helplessness to find an immediate replacement for Singh has become a talking point of the state capital.
The cowardance displayed by Singh's successor S K Nath, Rourkela-based special operations group (SOG) promoted to DIG rank, to take charge of the Maoist-infested region has put the government in the dock
The Orissa government had promoted Nath on Monday, the day Singh was killed, and had asked him to join duty immediately. But Nath reported sick.
"It is a crisis situation and the DIG is the commander of the team ,his claiming of illness has demoralised the men in khaki fighting the Maoists," said a senior official.
According to another official, Nath reporting sick could send a wrong signal that officers hailing from Orissa are preferring to be in safer places leaving the 'tough jobs' to those from outside the state.
Singh's death has raised doubts on the skills of the security personnel and the quality of training they are given.
Two PSOs — who were arrested on charges of killing Singh — had undergone three-month anti-extremist greyhound training at Malkangiri, but one of them had failed to maintain even the basic rule of keeping a cocked pistol pointed towards the ground or the sky.
Government on Wednesday decided to impart training for PSOs on handling advanced weaponry. DGP Amarananda Pattanayak said: "We have been giving training to PSOs. But in the wake of the latest incident, we want to introduce training modules that would make them well-conversant with different kinds of automatic and semi-automatic arms and ammunition."
The state government has also sent a team of crime branch officials to Koraput to probe Singh's death.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/154383.cms
Achievements of Mao Tse Tung
Achievements of Mao Tse Tung
1.INTRODUCTION
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that was launched in China on May 16th 1966 wrote a historical epoch in the history of mankind. This was initiated by Comrade Mao Tse Tung to defeat the revisionists and create a ground for the ultimate triumph for Socialism. Mao discovered that even in a Socialist State there were capitalist elements who intended to turn the country to the capitalist road. From the example of the U.S.S R he learnt that a Socialist State can turn into a Social-Imperialist or Revisionist state and there can be a restoration of Capitalism. Stalin saved the Socialist State but he hardly made an effective attempt to democratize the Socialist State and initiate broad based mass movements.
True there were great achievements for workers but Stalin hardly gave attention to the superstructure and even violated Democratic Centralism to a great extent. Mao called for a revolt within his own party against the capitalist roaders Liu Shao Chi and Deng Xiaoping who opposed Mao’s line and felt that it was better to be ‘expert’ than ‘red.’ They advocated that profit from production should be the chief goal and opposed communization of land ,professing that peasants should get a private plot. What Sparked of the Cultural revolution was a play called “Hai Jui removed from office’ which defended Peng Te Huai who was removed from the Chinese Army for supporting ranks ,modernization against Communistic policies,and supporting the U.S S R. On 16th May 1966 Mao drafted a circular issued by the Central Committee alerting cadres against the revisionistsMao introduced a 16 points programme and finally gave a call to his followers the ‘Red Guards’ to ‘Bombard the Headquarters.
These were encompassing a broad-based revolutionary democratic programme explaining the masses to be daring above everything else and boldly arouse the masses,let the masses educate themselves in the movement through making the biggest use of big character posters and great debates to argue matters out so that masses can clarify theright and wrong views.It also stressed on applying the classs line of the party,correctly handling the contradictions amongst the people,be on guard against counter-revolutionaries discriminate cadres between good cadres ,those who have made serious mistakes and those who are anti-party or anti-Socialist.It was stressed that the anti-party rightists must be fully exposed, refuted or overthrown but at the same time be given the chance to turn over a new leaf.The programme went on to stress the importance of Cultural Revolutionary Group, committees and Congress’s. Another Important point stressed was educational reform where the old system of education would be completely transformed.
The other points were the question of criticizing by name in the press, policies towards Scientists, technicians and ordinary members of working staffs, question of arrangements of integration with the Socialist Education System and Countryside, stimulating production from a revolutionary perpective,revolutionizing the armed forces and finally establishing Mao Tse Tung Thought as the guide to action in the Cultural Revolution.
On May 25th at the Peking University a big poster was pasted up at Peking University which was the first big ‘Marxist LeninistIt attacked 2 corrupt university officials. Who negated the Cultural Revolution buy curbing mass initiative. The big character poster lit a flame in the hearts of the masses. Character Poster.’
2. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
1. A de-centralized medical system creating Barefoot doctors. The Medical field made the most innovative changes. A worker’s fingers being replaced occurred, something unheard of even in Developed countries. Applying Mao’s line the broken bones were attached Etc.In no third world country before did medicine serve the poor peasantry to that extent.
2.Stopping examinations in schools and colleges and making students learn from the peasants and workers as well as participating in productive labour. Now it was the peasants and workers who taught the students. Factories were attached to schools so that students would learn science from production. In the villages students would learn about agriculture and peasants would explain them their problems and about production.
3.Enabling workers to be masters of Marxist Leninist philosophy through study in factory school which enabled workers to build their own machines and run their own factories.
4..Revolutionary committees launched where the workers and peasants democratic rights were represented. There were 3 in one committees. These were far more effective than the committees in factories in Western Style Democracies. Workers and peasants.
5.The Army served the people doing work like construction, building canals and rotated the jobs of Workers and peasants. They were politically enlightened and trained about the role of revolution and history and politics in connection to Marxism Leninism. The Army defended and protected the mass movements unlike bourgeois states. Ranks were abolished in the military.
6 revolutionizing the Agricultural Communes through mass movements and introducing piecemeal wage system.Tachai is the best Example as well as Shanghai.
7.There were mass rallies where the broad masses could print big character posters. The C.P.C. was never afraid of disorder. “Great Debates’ and anti-Rightist campaigns were held. The masses could voice their demands to punish corrupt officials, oppose bureaucraticsm, fight for press freedom and for democratic Rights. They had the four great ‘freedoms ‘of speaking out Freely, airing views folly, holding great debates, and writing big character posters.
8.A Revolutionary Democratic Army that always stood by the peoples Movements. The Army represented the heart and the soul of the broad masses being based from the basic classes. Once the Cultural Revolution started in earnest, the Army was not allowed to intervene in what emerged as a civil war between the various factions of Red Guards and Red Rebels. The PLA was ordered by Mao to "support the left" by standing aside, even when their arsenals were looted by the civilian combatants.
When the chaos reached its climax, when the Party was in disarray and the economy had come to a virtual standstill, the Army appeared to be the only functioning organization left, and Mao turned to the PLA to restore order. As a result, the PLA emerged from the chaos with greatly increased position and power: senior Army men headed the newly-formed revolutionary committees responsible for local administration; almost half of the Central Committee members elected in 1969 were soldiers; and half of the State Council members in 1971 belonged to the PLA. Ranks were abolished in the Peoples Liberation Army. The Army had to participate in the production in factories and help the peasants in production. They were involved in digging the Countryside, transporting grain and all kinds of furniture on carts, leading Children in drills a school.
All forms of hierarchy and paternalism were removed. A soldier recognized his commanding officer just like a revolutionary committee obeyed it’s leader. Inspite of that the Peoples Liberation Army was recognized as the most disciplined. The Army was indoctrinated with Mao’s thought and taught to support the liberation Struggles of the masses all over the world. The virtues of the Chinese Revolution were explained and nation chauvinism was totally opposed in the teachings. In the Cultural Revolution upheavals the Army always stood by the Revolutionary Committees Army controlled instances when Red Guard Group rivalry took place or civilians were attacked.
Only when factional non –revolutionary tendencies take place did the Army intervene. (An Ultra –left trend took place caused by a certain Red Guard faction) Army in the world. Another feature of the Cultural Revolution was the emphasis on studying Marxist Philosophy. (Taken from Daily life in Revolutionary China Once Lin Biao fell from grace in 1971 and his supporters were purged, the PLA's model function as the "great school of Mao Thought" ceased to be stressed. Instead, the close relations between the Army and the people were propagated once more ("as close as fish and water"). Foreigners were taken to a unit of the P.L.A to learn about the study of the Thought of Mao Tse Tung.The soldiers worked on farms to feed themselves and helped commune members when they needed help.
9.Great Innovations in the field of Art and literature representing the proletariat.
Below are a compilation or collection of notes compiled from a book ‘Daily Life in Revolutionary China’ by a member of the Italian Communist Party Maria Macciocci who visited Socialist China in the heyday of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution which elaborate the points I discussed.
2a.Success of Communes-Tachai Brigade
“The Cultural Revolution does not leave the countryside a subordinate role. It chose constant de-centralisation of the cities over megalpoli,over giant industrial centers where technology and intelligence have triumphed. The Revolution unites the city and the countryside by the mechanization of the latter, by small and medium-sized industries which depend on large ones, by the selection of peasant’s sons for schools, by peasant teachers, by the restructuring of the University, and by the decentralization of medicine.
A trip through the Chinese Communes gave the visitor a chance to see the tensions which one still senses in the cities and which in all likelihood still have their critical aspects, are quite different in the countryside.‿
“The Tachai brigade is the model of all revolutionary politics which has been recounted to the Chinese peasants a million times, by voice and radio. If China has 9 years of steadily better harvest behind it it is partly because the Chinese peasants have learned from their modest comrades of the Tachai brigade what a revolution of the Superstructure is. They have abolished exploitation and implemented Socialist Generosity of collective management. They have counted days of work by work points which a peasant grants himself once a month after a group discussion with the whole brigade. Through communes they shared all their produce and a most fair pricing and distribution system was introduced.
The Tachai Commune was the best Example. In November1964 Mao launched the slogan, “In Agriculture learn from Tachai‿The brigade in the worst physical conditions had just 7 gullies and the intermediate rigregs. Its members lived in scooped out caves. They also had no regular source of water and yields before 1955 were just 750kg.perhectare of millet and Sorghum. Through sheer labour the Tachai brigade solved its problems of land and water, creating farmland out of the rocky, steep slopes, by leveling, moving soil from one spot to the other and creating terraces, joining various small plots together, constructing a 4 mile canal to the village, building water storage facilities against prolonged drought and making dams which prevented flash floods.
Similar things happened around China. Socialist Consciousness of Mao’s thought was what was applied as against the concept of the private plot. Here is a report of a peasant comrade: We don not just admire the political ability, for politics and production go together. The people of Tachai worked together under terrible conditions. They had no modern farm equipment, they had no collective funds, they had a few plows, hoes, picks, shovels, baskets-that’s all they had. Still they transformed their village intoa modern village. They scraped the mountain to replant it with trees, and now it’s fine green. They didn’t have enough grain but they now sell grain too the state. They didn’t have water, and they tamed and channeled the mountain torrents. They didn’t have enough fertilizers, and they used the mid of swamps. They didn’t have houses, and they built house, they didn’t have schools and they built them too.‿
“He went on to explain that in his own brigade before liberation he had 1000 huts of mud and earth. The land belonged to a single landlord and there was one rich peasant. We participated in the movement for co-operatives, and the movement for the founding of peoples communes. Politically we followed a correct course. We built 334 new little houses, we created an irrigation system, and where there was only one mechanical well before, now every house has one. Before there was just one bicycle in the village, now there are 134 bicycles and 82 radios.In this house we have 2 bicycles and 2 radios.‿
“A woman in the Evergreen Commune explained how the old theory of work points was much criticized. She stated how long discussions used to take place about the points and who should get them. “After the Cultural Revolution we learned that if you cultivate the land for the revolution, following the example of Tachai, and not for points. We realized that earlier people paid little attention to the quality of the work. Piecework gave no regard to quality. Now to cultivate 10,000 mou of wheat it takes only one week because of the application of revolutionary ideology Earlier it took 2 weeks to achieve the task.
The People’s liberation Army played a great role by explaining Mao’s Thought. A new pay system has been created. Large differences of pay have been abolished and the principle, “To each according to his work ‘has been better applied. The calculation is not based on a basic work day, which would have the effect of stimulating the peasants to work but the flaw of differentiating among them according to strength, their age, their technical level, the number of people in their families, and would favour quantity more than quality. Now the calculation is based on the effective work day. In effect work points are given to the behaviour of each person.‿
In case of emergency there is a classical example of how the Communes functioned.
“On August 29th, 1969 hail fell. The peasants battled the hailstones for 3 days and re-planted 10,000 mou of land. The Peking Revolutionary Committee and the Peoples Liberation Army ame to their aid. The fields are once again covered in green. This is a tribute to our struggle to transform nature, guided by the Thought of Mao.‿
“With regards to Industrialisation of the Communes the New China Commune was an illustrious example. It cultivates 85,00 mou,of which 75,000 are irrigated and 58,000 are planted with rice.7 factories and 12 agricultural enterprises have been set up. The factories build and repair agricultural machines. Being self-reliant they have built 3 reservoirs which hold 35 million cubic feet of water. They have dug a 40 mile irrigation canal, created an artificial lake, built a dam with a new system of pneumatic locks, and set up 73 electrified irrigation pump centres.In the area of mechanized agriculture the commune has bought or built 68 new tractors,120 rice-planting machines,354 seeding machines, and 1000 harvesters. The health system serves every brigade. Before the Cultural Revolution the commune had to buy rice from the state, while now with irrigation assured thee are no more droughts. More than 80%of the people have electricity and 80%have money in an account.‿
“The production teams in Hsiu Tsun village ahd 42 families There are innumerable children. One peasant Comrade Chen recounted his experience explained that they never had a real house before, which was always destroyed by floods. His mother had eight children but only two of us survived. His 2 other brothers died of hunger and sickness. In 1968 after the Cultural Revolution we built this house, and with the income from our work we were able to buy a bicycle, a sewing machine and furniture. For the first time in our lives we eat what we want, we have clothes, and the children can go to school
2b.Peasant Schools.
“The poor peasants following the directive of Mao took over the operation of a school in Tachai.Liu Shao’s men discouraged them propagating that this would make no change.The peasants criticized the schools They felt that the children of poor peasants could not pass their examinations and had to give up their studies One peasant claimed that that in his brigade there were 28 families and only 3 peasnts out of them got their middle school diplomas. Peasant Children also did not have time to learn the lessons because they worked at home.
“The basic political work was telling the students how much the poor peasants suffered in the old society and made them study the history of their own families and that of the whole village. The Comrades who were in the people’s militia in the commune were sent to the schools in the brigade to educate students about military questions. Lessons were given on agricultural mechanics, mathematics and hygiene.
“Work was evaluated in a new manner. Grades were abolished. When an assignment was done well, the teacher draws a small red Flag in the student’s notebook and writes,‿ Loyalty to Chairman Mao’
“A School’s revolutionary Committee is elected by an assembly at the rank and file level. After an open debate, each member of the Commune writes on a slip of paper who he wants as a representative on the School Revolutionary Committee. Then comes the vote. At the end the Revolutionary Committee examines the results and approves them.The presnt revolutionary Commitee3 out of 5 members are members of he party.
2c. Factories and the Revolutionary Committee.
One worker explained that he was working in a dyeing and weaving workshop in Factory No2since he was 17 years old. His father had died from illness because he didn’t have proper medical care and his salary meant to support 5 people could hardly keep 2 people alive. They had to eat bean curd and potatoes and in the winter had only thin jackets. Workers had hernias and rheumatism and hid their illnesses for fear of being been laid off. However in the liberation period in 1949 the conditions of life were like “ going to heaven.‿
Besides the Revolutionary Committee in the factory the workers representative committee played an instrumental role. It was an organ of red power elected by all the workers and in
charge of the daily problems of the factory. It co-ordinated with the revolutionary committee and with the workers council rep[laced the trade Union. The party has a leading role, the
Revolutionary Committee is responsible for management, and the workers council is in charge of the revolutionary reorganization of work and acts as a control from the base levels on the higher echelons. Piecework wages and incentive bonuses were abolished. The highest salary was 120 yuan,the lowest 50 yuan.The difference between the pay of an engineer and that of a skilled technician was 40 Yuan. A struggle-criticism-transformation movement dealt with the salaries problem(Taken from Daily Life in Revolutionary China).
In revolutionary China peasants built their own houses through co-operative efforts. A peasant explained that before the liberation the peasants had no political power. They merely had a harvest of 450 pounds per mou and had to give 350 to the landlord. After liberation they could purchase a bicycle, a sewing machine and furniture. For the first time in their lives they could get clothes, ate what they wanted and sent their children to school. (Taken from Daily Life in Revolutionary China).
2d.Medicine and Barefoot Doctors
Barefoot doctors performed phenomenal feats. One doctor re-attached 2 fingers on a peasants hand-something unheard of in pre-revolutionary China swearing by Mao TseTung Thought. Similarly poor peasant women had her leg replaced. A professor narrated his experiences of meeting the poor peasants and how it changed his life. The peasants re-educated the professor enabling him to transform his entire outlook. Working in the Countryside made the professor a different person. Despite being over 70 years of age the professor traveled climbing mountains to share the experiences of toiling people. He started how he leant Marxism Leninism from direct contact with peasants rather than books.
One Comrade Lin told reporters where he went to the villages to learn from the poor peasants. He explained how their team stopped in a village where there was a woman who was considered incurable. The family was already preparing for the funeral. Applying Mao Tse Tung Thought he developed a form of medicine that cured the patient. The patient was suffering from chronic Arthritis. Another professor explained that only by being re-educated by the peasants and changing his ideology he cured 20 incurable patients. He elaborated by transforming his world outlook he developed his techniques and that the peasants had cured him of his ‘ ideological sickness.’ There was a child who had a tumour on his arm as large as the head of a foetus. The Doctors cut away the diseased part and re-attached the arm This could never have been done in Pre Revolutionary China. Doctors were able to remove a 100-pound tumour said to be incurable.
An electric mower cut one peasant’s hand and his fingers fell to the ground. The new doctors looked for his fingers, found them and put them on ice. The fingers were re-attached! In the old society this could never have taken place. Another girl who once had a clubfoot was operated. Her tendons were lengthened and now she could carry a load of about 50 pounds on her shoulders. The peasant and the girl attributed their cures to Mao TseTung Thought. This in actual fact meant de-centralization of medicine, which brought doctors to the most remote places, which made them test their skills. The doctors traveled through the mountains, border regions, islands Etc Revolutionary Committees ran hospitals and each ward had it’s own revolutionary committee. (Excerpted From Daily Life in Revolutionary China)
This is a quote from a specialist in internal medicine.
“In the fall of 1968 I went into the countryside to learn from the poor peasants. Once our team stopped in a village where there was a woman who was considered incurable. The family was already preparing for the funeral. I decided I had to pay a call on those women too. I examined her closely and I realized that she had a generalized arthritis; she had not been treated in time and she had swelled up. I asked her family,’ Why don’t you take her over to the doctor?’
Her husband told me angrily that they had taken the sick women on a stretcher to a ciy hospital four years before, that this had cost them much money, but that the hospital had told them she was incurable. Back in her village, the woman took the medicine prescribed for her but he sickness worsened steadily. I learned from her husband that the doctor inn question belonged to the same hospital as I did. When I returned, I looked through the files and found that the doctor who had made the incorrect diagnosis was me‿ Here he lowered his head like a guiltyman. “I was tremendously upset and full of self-contempt.’ Whom do we serve?I always replied to that question in the following way.:
We live in a Socialist Society. It is therefore clear that we serve the workers, peasants and the soldiers. For a young person like me, the important thing is to raise the level of medicine to serve the people. But the story of the sick woman taught me many things. I was medically prepared to cure the sick, bit I just lacked an ideology. That was why first I examined the women superficially and was unable to meet the correct diagnosis.
“I returned to the countryside and took up my work with the barefoot doctors. The treatment I gave her for me the beginning of the struggle of seeing the world differently. After 2 months I had cured the women. She was able to get up.‿
“After I changed my ideology, I cured 20 patients who had been considered incurable. It was the poor peasants who cured me of my ideological sickness, and not I who cured the peasants.‿
One Dr .Ling stated. “In 1968,10,000worker doctors were sent from Shanghai into rural zones. A revolutionary Committee runs the hospital and each ward has it’s own revolutionary committee. Since the re-construction of the party –reorganization, which took place during the last year, the party is in charge of the hospital’s political direction, while administrative matter are handled by the Revolutionary Committee various decisions are approved by the leadership after it has been elected according to democratic election principle of the Paris Commune. Here thee is no trace left of the former hierarchy.
Now thee was a hospital chief and a committee of hospital administration composed of professors and specialists., men who had transformed their conception of the world. The Old director now works as an ordinary doctor. The Peoples Liberation Army Comrades work in administrative work too. There is a three in one combination operating. Specialists and professors are allowed to work in rotation.
Control by the masses is necessary for the good administration of the hospital. The patients are the best judges of this, but they are not allowed to participate in the elections because they are only hee temporarily. However,they can set up groups to study Mao Thought in which patients and doctors work together. The Revolutionary Committee has created a special team, which collects the criticisms and opinions of patients on the operation of the hospital and on the abilities and political spirits of doctors.
We have a safety network of worker-doctors who go to work in particular enterprises. The doctors live in the factories and study what the most recurring illnesses are. They examine inquiries and take preventive measures. Only because they live in the factory can the doctors accomplish this. For example in a chemical factory harmful fumes circulate during production. The doctor who has practical experience of living in the factory knows exactly what has to be done to eliminate toxic gases.
Medical students do a type of medical internship we call open instruction. Students are sent to factories and into the countryside to deepen their knowledge.
Scientists share a comradely relationship with ordinary doctors, nurses, and hospital personnel Scientists carry out struggle-criticism –transformation and are not paid higher salaries than doctors or nurses.
“Western and Chinese medicine is fused The metaphysical aspects of Western Science is cut out. Dialectical materialism teaches us that everything is in movement and transformation. Human knowledge and it’s potential for transforming what seems incurable hat is why we sat that there are no illnesses that are absolutely incurable. Even Cancer will be cured when we learn the natural they obey as has happened with other laws they obey. The movement of transformation in the World of objective reality is without end, and hence man is never done learning the truth from practice.‿
“As we examine the human body, we consider that it is always a unity of opposites. It’s various parts are united, one to the others: They are in opposition and at the same time depend on each other. It is only in dialectically examining the elations between the parts and the whole I all their aspects, and in regulating them, that we can know the disease and cure it. “In the case of fractures we put little wooden splints on the limb to fix the bone after setting it back to position, and we make sure that movement can begin after setting it back to position, and we make sure that movement can begin as soon as the bone has set. It is a question of resolving the contradiction between the stability and movement. By Western methods, the limb is enclosed in a cast to wait for the bones to merge again.
The arm can’t move, and sometimes it takes 3-6 months of absolute immobility. Since we previously did not use x-rays, we did not know that in traditional medicine, exactly how the bone had broken and that was a drawback. In shot, one type of method treat only the fracture and neglect articulation and the overall body. Others do not limit their interest to the beneficial aspect of immobility for setting a bone, but also note he drawbacks of a healing method that prevents the simultaneous reassertion of the bone’s solidarity and the functioning of the whole limb.
Thus in short, the doctor workers of China combine what is positive in Western medicine and what is positive in traditional Western medicine. This is an example of the Unity of Opposites.
“Regarding research for Cancer in medical centres people study plants and prepare local recipes for medicines that are tried in the treatment for cancer. For cancer, too we apply the dialectical process.‿
“Barefoot doctors are all attached to Communes., who divide their time between medicine and soil. Generally they are 25 years old and earn 250 to 300 Yuan,100 from Agricultural Work, the rest in fees. Barefoot doctors earn as much as the manual workers in the Countryside. They treat the less serious diseases, thus the peasant can be treated within his village. Barefoot doctors also make plant medicines which cure burns constipation, stomach aches, diarrhea Etc. The work of the barefoot doctors ensured a basic health system, for where Universities take years to produce a doctor, we take only a few months to train a barefoot doctor.
“In a surgical department for children, there was a child who had a tumour on his arm as large as the head of a foetus. Previously they would have amputated his arm. But what would a worker’s son have done with only one arm? “We cut away the diseased part and re-attached the arm.‿
“We are able to re-attach hands higher up when they have been severed. When one peasant lost a part of his forearm, we attached his hand at the mid-point of the forearm. Not only can we attach completely severed arms, but also fingers cut off by threshers legs severed by trains Etc.
“In the overall context the expression,‿The Thought of Mao Tse Tung meant that due to de-centralisation of medicine doctors wee brought to the remotest places, which made them test their skills, using every means they could find on the high plateaus, in the border regions, on islands, in order to cure people considered incurable.
2e.The Peoples Liberation Army
The Chinese people’s Army is employed in factories, agriculture, medicine, naval construction, the University, culture and theatre. The Chinese Revolutionary Army is virtually amalgamated with the Party.In our society, the most familiar image is a traditional army, that of people who can do nothing but take up arms-soldiers, colonels, and generals who are nothing better than despots in the barracks. The People’s Liberation Army performed the sole duty to serve the broad interests of the Chinese People. It was indoctrinated with class Struggle and educated to guard against any possible counter-revolution. This army was the least “military “of all armies They never reflected any sense of superiority over the Workers and peasants. They were involved in the hardest kinds of work, digging in the countryside, transporting grain and all kinds of furniture on carts, checking tickets at the entrance of a theatre and leading children in drills at School. No other army in the World could have accepted such duties.
The ‘primacy of politics’ was the basis of their entire training. They were indoctrinated to ‘serve the people.’ In the Cultural Revolution the Army played the role of a central pivot. The Cultural Revolution initially triumphed because of the support of the Army. The revolutionary “3 in one combination which seized power during the Cultural Revolution is an alliance in which the army always played an integral role in accordance with the directive. From the summit to he base ,in all sectors where power must be seized, representatives of the armed forces and the militia must participate on the formation of a 3 in one combination. In this army ranks were abolished and the officers,from generals on down. became accustomed to sharing the soldier’s barracks and campbeds.
“ The Cultural Revolution promoted the spirit of the , ‘3 Democracies’ in the political, economic and military spheres .Ordinary combatants were the equals of their leaders and free to criticize them, express opinions about them ,and pass judgement o their work I the army. All the soldiers of a company elect a comitee. This committee participates in the leadership of the company through management of commissary and production services, supervision of stocks, auditing of accounts, and waste disposal. Democracy I the military sphere ,between officers and soldiers and between soldiers, means that mutual aid during instruction is compulsory during combat as it is after battle/The people’s army made the primacy of the political sphere the key principle. All forms of hierarchy and paternalism was eliminated. However it still remained one of the most disciplined armies in the world.‿
“The Soldiers recognized their commanding officers just as a worker recognized the leader of a revolutionary committee. He knew him from his work, and not because of some external rank or stripe.The Participation of the army loyal to Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution was carried out with utmost political determination and always defending the motto of ‘Serve the People ’determination and never paved the path for violent demonstrations contrary to that principle. When the Cultural revolution in certain localities degenerated into open conflict between factions, at first with the use of sidearms, then guns, and eventually mortars, the army lost thousands of men before deciding to use it’s own weapons to suppress factional Struggles.
Throughout the Cultural Revolution the Army tok a very strong guard against ultra-leftism.With the ‘May16th group’the Peoples Liberation Army unmasked the group, through harsh political Struggle, isolating the group.‿
“In the course of the Cultural Revolution the army was called to renew those indissoluble bonds of unity with the people which marked the entire revolutionary Tradition. It gave unconditional support to the proletarian Revolutionaries by grasping revolution and promoting production. This group tried to use Chairman Mao to defeat him. They attacked the British consulate in Peking on August 20th 19067 and went on to ransack the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.‿
From Morning Sun Website
“In our great era, the brilliant thought of Mao Tse-tung lights up the earth and a new generation of communists is rapidly emerging. Not long ago there appeared in China a hero who, like Ouyang Hai and Wang Chieh, gave up his life for the safety of the people. He was Liu Ying-chun, a fighter in an artillery company of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
On the morning of March 15 this year, Liu Ying-chun and his comrades were on foot guiding three horse-drawn gun carriages along a highway in a city suburb. There were people coming and going in the street-children were on their way to school and workers headed for factories and shops. Liu Ying-chun's shaft horse was startled by the horn of a bus at a nearby stop. It panicked and bolted.
Liu Ying-chun, with great presence of mind, shouldered the frightened horse into a side road to prevent it from running into them. The horse rushed madly on. Liu Ying-chun, pulling desperately at the reins, was dragged along the road. People shouted to him to let go the reins. Catching sight of six panic-stricken children in mortal danger ahead of him, Liu Ying-chun wound the reins about his arm and pulled with all his might. The horse reared. With no thought for his own safety, Liu Ying-chun quickly seized the carriage shaft and, thrusting both legs under it, gave the horse's hind legs a vigorous kick. The horse fell, overturning the carriage. Liu Ying-chun was pinned under the cart and seriously injured, but the six children were out of danger.
People standing by were deeply moved by this selfless act of heroism. They rushed over to him and hurried to the nearest hospital with him. In no time hundreds of soldiers and civilians had gathered outside the hospital and were volunteering to donate blood to save the hero. They earnestly begged the doctors to save him. "We will provide anything that is needed. Save him at all costs!" However, his injuries were too grave, and all their efforts were of no avail. Comrade Liu Ying-chun died a glorious death.
Liu Ying-chun was born to a poor peasant family living on the outskirts of Changchun in Kirin Province. He was only 21 years old when he died. With a deep hatred of the class enemy in his heart he joined the P.L.A. in the summer of 1962, at the time when the Chiang Kai-shek brigands were making a raucous clamour about invading the mainland. His love for the Communist Party and Chairman Mao and for socialism was unbounded. In the army, he studied Chairman Mao's works conscientiously and applied what he learned creatively. Nurtured on the thought of Mao Tse-tung he cultivated the proletarian world outlook of one who is a revolutionary both of his own country and of the world, who believes that "Revolution calls for struggle and struggle is happiness", and who wants to. "Live a revolutionary life, and die a revolutionary death".
He was a model in taking Chairman Mao's writings as the supreme guide in all he did. He actively propagated Mao Tse-tung's thought and enlarged the positions it held. He bravely defended it and struggled resolutely against all words and actions contrary to it. He took Lei Feng and Wang Chieh as his models and did whatever Chairman Mao said. He devoted himself utterly to others without any thought of self and served the people heart and soul. He did his best to dedicate his life to the revolutionary cause of the proletariat. He dearly loved the people and performed many services for the workers and his neighbours. But few whom he helped knew his name until after his death when they saw his picture in newspaper.
Liu Ying-chun's short life was one of studying, carrying out, disseminating and defending Mao Tse-tung's thought; of complete service to the people with all his heart and soul. It was the glorious, great and militant life of a proletarian fighter. Like the great communist fighter Lei Feng and other heroic figures, Liu Ying-chun is an outstanding representative of China's younger generation maturing under the thought of Mao Tse-tung. He is a good soldier of Chairman Mao and a good son of the people. He laid down his life, but his spirit will live forever in the hearts of hundreds of millions of people in China, and in the cause of communism!
At present, a movement to learn from Comrade Liu Ying-chun is sweeping the country. It originated in the P.L.A., which is a highly proletarianized army with a powerfully developed fighting spirit, an army formed by Chairman Mao personally. The broad masses of young people, old people, people of various trades and housewives are taking part. They are determined to follow Chairman Mao's teachings in all their actions, as Comrade Liu Ying-chun did.
Study Mao Tse-tung's thought conscientiously, loyally carry it. out, enthusiastically disseminate it and courageously defend it! Always be loyal to the Party, to the people, to Chairman Mao and to the thought of Mao Tse-tung! Make new contributions to the fight against imperialism, modem revisionism and the reactionaries of various countries!
*Lines from a poem entitled Farewell to the God of Plague by Mao Tse-tung. Yao and Shun were two ancient sage kings.
"Owing to the application of Comrade Mao Tse-tung's line on army building, there has prevailed in our army at all times a high level of proletarian political consciousness, an atmosphere of keenness to study the thought of Mao Tse-tung, an excellent morale, a solid unity and a deep hatred for the enemy, and thus a gigantic moral force has been brought into being. In battle it has feared neither hardships nor death, it has been able to charge or hold its ground as the conditions require. One man can play the role of several, dozens or even hundreds, and miracles can be performed."
On the eve of "August 1" Army Day, we visited a unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army called the " Steel Red Second Company", which has a long history. From all we saw and heard during our stay, and from our personal experience, we felt keenly that this company matched the description given by Comrade Lin Piao.
When the company was first organized, Comrade Lin Piao was appointed commander, It played a heroic part in the Nanchang Uprising on August 1, 1927, which was led by the Communist Party of China. In April, 1928, the armies of the Nanchang Uprising came to the Chingkang Mountains, China's first red revolutionary base built up personally by Comrade Mao Tse-tung, and joined forces with the armies of the Autumn Harvest Uprising under the command of Comrade Mao Tse-tung. They were merged to form the Fourth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. “
“Imbued with deep proletarian feelings, the cadres and soldiers of the second company study Chairman Mao's works every day. Chairman Mao's Serve the People, In Memory of Norman Bethune and The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains have enabled the young soldiers to cultivate the outlook of serving the Chinese people and people all over the world with heart and soul. They cherish the revolutionary interests of the Chinese people and people the world over, and assume the burden of the Chinese revolution and the world revolution. They are determined to devote themselves to the final burial of imperialism and to the liberation of the oppressed and exploited people. See how these young soldiers express it: "Keep the people in your heart forever and always keep the revolution in mind. Then you'll be able to cast away all thoughts of personal gain and loss, conquer any kind of difficulty or hardship, challenge ogres of all descriptions, dare to take risks and defy dangers."
In the squads, platoons and the company, records are kept which tell about the bitter, pre-liberation history of the soldiers' families, and about the sufferings of the oppressed and exploited people the world over. Profound class hatred inspires the soldiers with revolutionary fervour. Their hatred for the enemy is concentrated in the muzzles of their guns and they take the drill ground for the battlefield and the target for the real enemy. They practise hard for the people and for the revolution, maintaining their enthusiasm throughout all kinds of adverse weather. Training in perilous mountains and rapid rivers cannot dampen their enthusiasm. Many of them have become "sharp-shooters", "iron feet", "tigers in the forest" and "tough back-bones".
The company has always persisted in the democratic tradition of the people's army, developing widely the three cardinal democracies in political, economic and military affairs. The cadres are modest in listening to the opinions of the soldiers and follow the mass line, while the soldiers consciously observe discipline and are resolute in obeying orders. Everything is done well, quickly and through collective efforts. The cadres and soldiers work closely together, sharing joys and sorrows, and showing consideration for each other. The atmosphere in the company is one of profound class brotherhood and proletarian class feeling.
Keeping in mind Chairman Mao's teachings about respect and concern for the people, the company maintains the closest of ties with them. With their belongings on their backs and carrying their own provisions, the soldiers go to the people's communes to stay, eating, living and working with the members. They help the members study Chairman Mao's works, and spread Mao Tse-tung's thought. They help the people in spring ploughing and autumn harvesting, summer hoeing and winter storing. They train the people's militia and propagate Chairman Mao's thought on people's war. The second company has become near and dear to the commune members. Their relation with the masses of the people is like one between fish and water.
Since these young soldiers have the interests of the people at heart they have taken over from their revolutionary forerunners the task of acting as a "production unit as well as an army". They Open Up waste-land, till the fields, grow vegetables and raise pigs to lighten the people of their burden and to develop industriousness, which is the true mark of the labouring people. In 1965, they produced over 58,000 jin of vegetables, over 3,500 jin of pork and close to 3,000 jin of grain.
At present, the great nation-wide proletarian cultural revolution is surging with strength and vitality. In this great revolutionary torrent, the Red Second Company, raising high the great red banner of Mao Tse-tung's thought, rose with a bound, charged heroically ahead, just as in the old days on the battle field when attacking and seizing enemy positions. Using Mao Tse-tung's thought, the sharpest and most powerful weapon, they fired fiercely at the anti-Party and antisocialist black line, swept away all monsters and demons and severely criticized all the old ideology and culture and all the old customs and habits, which, fostered by the exploiting classes, have poisoned the minds of the people for thousands of years. In this unprecedented, soul-touching, great proletarian Cultural Revolution, they creatively study and apply Mao Tse-tung's thought to temper themselves to be ever more proletarian and ever more militant.
No matter how desperate a last-ditch struggle imperialism, modern revisionism and all reactionaries put up, and no matter how sinister an attack the anti-Party and anti-socialist elements launch, the fighters, armed with Mao Tse-tung's thought, are afraid of nothing. They are determined to "do away with all pests! Our force is irresistible."
2f. Philosophical Study
Workers had their own reading rooms and political study classes. Mao suggested that a course on philosophy be set up, since the workers needed to study theory and apply it in practice. Workers were developing into stereo typed machines. Now the study of philosophy became possible for all the workers All factory groups had their own reading room. The primacy of politics over economics was stressed. particularly with regard to social factors. This study represented the first qualitative leap of the individual in the revolution of the superstructure. Philosophy enabled the masses to become actively politically involved. (Taken from Daily Life in Revolutionary China)
In this regard an important development was the publication of books written by workers, peasants and soldiers in the mid-70’s to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius.4 workers in the Peking Motor Vehicle Plant jointly wrote notes on duel States by Liu Tsung Yuan.7 Shanghai Workers jointly wrote ‘History of the Peasant Revolution in China’, after Studying Source Material on several hundred peasnt uprisingsIn 1974 the dockworkers at the Tahen Shipyard wrote a number of theoretical works such as , “A history of Chinese Philosophy‿, “A Concise History of European Philosohy,‿Manifestations and Characteristics of the present economic Crisis in the Capitalist Countries Etc.Oil Field workers wrote the historic “Battle Sons of Taiching Oilfield ,’a collection of poems by Oilfield Workers.
Quoting Peking Review1966(Taken from Morning Sun website)
Considerable space in newspapers and magazines today is being devoted to the philosophical writings of workers, peasants and soldiers. In vivid language that only people closely linked with practice can use, these writers impress the reader with their clear thinking, scientific analysis and direct approach. From the way this trend is developing it can be said that philosophy in China is entering a new historic stage.
The movement among the workers, peasants and soldiers for the study of Chairman Mao's works is proceeding vigorously across the land. Coming in the midst of China's socialist revolution and socialist construction, this is an important event in the political and ideological life of the nation. It already has made substantial contributions in all fields of work, and as the movement surges ahead, its far-reaching significance will be more readily seen.
Mastering the Laws Governing Every Sphere of Work
The working masses are not interested in study "for the sake of study." They study the works of Mao Tse-tung for the explicit purpose of learning from Chairman Mao -- his Marxist-Leninist stand, viewpoint and method -- to acquire the outlook of working for the revolution and to learn to do a better job in their revolutionary work. In China, Mao Tse-tung's thinking is compared to a telescope and a microscope which help to see things that are far off and things that are normally unobservable. People seek out Chairman Mao's works for answers to specific questions. They use the basic theories they learn from these writings to analyze and solve these problems. Thus, they find their jobs -- such as operating a machine, ploughing or waiting on customers behind a sales-counter -- full of meaning and they do them enthusiastically and creatively.
Among workers, peasants and soldiers there is great zeal to apply consciously what they learn from On Practice, On Contradiction and other philosophical writings by Chairman Mao in summing up their experience in practice, analyzing the contradictions in objective reality, and in discussing the laws governing their own sphere of work so that they can put their everyday work on the basis of making full use of objective laws. This is popularly called "riding on the back of the objective laws," and is capable of producing tremendous strength.
A Great Motivating Force
Marx has said: "Theory too becomes a material force as soon as it grips the masses." This truth has been borne out most vividly by what is taking place in China today. With Mao Tse-tung's thinking as their guide, many workers, peasants and soldiers go about their work with a scientific attitude backed up by great enthusiasm. This helps bring about an increase in the output of grain or industrial goods, successes in technical innovations and good results in political work. It enables workers to play their role as the leading class in the country better, and it enables the former poor and lower-middle peasants to assume leadership in their own villages.
It can be predicted that with the spreading and deepening of this movement, it will give rise to more and greater strength and material wealth. This is a great motivating force for transforming China from poverty to abundance, from technically backward to technically advanced. It is a powerful impetus for propelling the socialist revolution and construction.
Fostering a New Communist Generation
The present study movement also serves as a big school in which a new communist generation is being trained.
While using Mao Tse-tung's thinking to transform the objective world, the working masses find that a fundamental change has taken place in their own minds, in their subjective world.
In the course of exploring the possibilities for introducing technical innovations in the light of Mao Tse-tung's thinking, for instance, many workers and peasants have learnt to use materialist dialectics to analyze questions and have acquired the working style of following the mass line. This also provides a good opportunity for tempering the revolutionary will for wholehearted service to the people and strengthening tenacity in surmounting difficulties.
Many cadres at the grass-roots level -- leaders of factory work groups and commune production teams, Party branch secretaries, and others -- admit that by creatively applying Mao Tse-tung's thinking they have learnt to do a satisfactory job of ideological and organizational work, to view people and things on the basis of the concept of the unity of opposites which is popularly called "the concept of dividing one into two," and to discover the laws in their own field of work so that they are able to transform the backward into the advanced and the advanced into the even more advanced.
In short, with Mao Tse-tung's thinking in command, all kinds of daily work are treated as a science whose laws can be discovered and mastered. This in turn helps to raise the ideological level of people in all kinds of work.
In studying Chairman Mao's works, workers, peasants and soldiers have further enhanced their communist consciousness, knowing that all work is for the revolution and that at their places of duty, no matter what they are, they are doing their share for China's socialist revolution and construction and for the proletarian revolution throughout the world. This is a process in which the working masses are gradually acquiring a communist world outlook, to become a new generation of communist fighters. This is more important than anything, because the fostering of a new communist generation is essential to guarding against revisionism and to carrying the revolution through to the end.
They Also Write Philosophical Articles
In the course of the study movement, thousands and thousands of workers, peasants and soldiers have taken up their pens and written philosophical articles. Applying the Marxist theory of knowledge and the methodology of Marxism learnt through their study of Chairman Mao's works, they deal with their problems in production and work and write in their own everyday language. Many of their writings are down-to-earth, lively and highly original, and stand out in sharp contrast to philosophical theses written by intellectuals divorced from practice. Principles that seem abstruse in many books on philosophy become easy to understand in these writings.
Thus, under the impact of the study movement, philosophy, which was long considered a subject for the classroom, academic circles and research institutes only, is taking root in factories, mines, villages, shops and army units in every corner of the country. Workers, peasants and soldiers have set foot in the domain of philosophy which for thousands of years was the monopoly of intellectuals. Their study and application of Marxist philosophy and their writings on it have proved that philosophy is no mystery and clearly show that as the philosophy of the proletariat, Marxist philosophy can and should be mastered by the masses of workers and peasants.
The movement among the workers, peasants and soldiers for the study of Chairman Mao's works is also proving to be a rich source of development of Marxist philosophy. Their writing in this respect is a spur to philosophical research. An additional important factor is that people specializing in philosophy are put on the mettle and challenged to improve their work. Describing this as "giving a good shove" to our workers philosophy, a recent editorial in the magazine Zhexu Yanjiu (Philosophical Research) called on all such workers to learn modestly from the workers, peasants and soldiers, from their attitude and method in the study of the philosophical writings of Chairman Mao and from their experience in applying his philosophical thinking. It urged them to break away from "form of habit," thoroughly emancipate themselves from the bookish atmosphere of libraries and studies, and make an earnest effort to integrate their research work more closely with reality.
"Renmin Ribao's" Call to Workers in Philosophy
In a similar vein, Renmin Ribao pointed out in a recent editorial: "The practice of class struggle and the struggle for production by the masses of the people is the greatest and richest source of philosophical ideas, indeed the only source. Anyone who cuts himself off from it and secludes himself in the library will never master Marxism however many books he reads. The only possible outcome will be dogmatism and revisionism." By recalling Chairman Mao's injunction about the need to be a student if one is to be a teacher, the editorial said that this is "the only way to solve the contradiction confronting workers in philosophy, the problem of theory divorced from practice." It also said, "In order that philosophy can better serve workers, peasants and soldiers, workers in philosophy must go into the villages, factories, shops and army units to take part in the class struggle and the struggle for production and earnestly learn from the masses."
Seeing the way ahead, our workers in philosophy are ready to answer the call of the times. They are determined to go to factories, farms and army units and stay there for a number of years, study living philosophy in the course of actual struggle, learn to write in the language of the laboring masses and produce philosophical articles that will be easily understood by the working people. They know that only by doing so will they be able to steel themselves into genuine Marxist philosophical workers. They are confident that by traveling on the right road they be able to turn philosophy into a sharper ideological weapon in the hands of the people and make their contributions to the enrichment and development of Marxist philosophy.
Cultural Contribution-From ‘Morning Sun’Website launched by the ‘Longbow Group’
During the vigorous great proletarian cultural revolution, Mao Tse-tung's thought has been propagated and popularized on an unprecedented scale among hundreds of millions of people. Their spiritual outlook has undergone a profound change and numerous stirring happenings have occurred. Among these, for instance, are the deeds of the Ting Lai-yu family Mao Tse-tung's thought propaganda team.
Ting Lai-yu is a poor peasant of the Lunghua brigade in Polo County, Kwangtung Province. His family of eight includes six children, the oldest 14 and the youngest not yet three. Cherishing boundless love for our great leader Chairman Mao, the red sun in our hearts, they enthusiastically propagate Mao Tse-tung's thought in literary and art form. With song and dance, they warmly praise Chairman Mao, the great Chinese Communist Party and the great Chinese People's Liberation Army. The broad masses of workers, peasants and soldiers give them a name: "The 'Whole Family Red' Mao Tse-tung's Thought Propaganda Team".
Before liberation, oppressed by the exploiting class, Ting Lai-yu's family lived a life worse than that of beasts of burden. When he was 13, his parents died one after the other of poverty and illness. His five brothers and sisters either died of starvation or were sold. Within a year, Ting Lai-yu found himself the only survivor of the family. When Ting's wife Chang Chiung was young, she was also sold as a slave-girl to a landlord's family and underwent untold sufferings.
The east is red; the sun rises. After liberation, Ting Lai-yu was emancipated and became master in his own house. He raised a new family and lived a happy life. Now his family again has eight members. Bit the two families, just as the old society and the new, are poles apart. Ting often teaches his children: Now that we are emancipated, don't forget the Communist Party; we owe our happiness to Chairman Mao!
In March 1967, with the enthusiastic help of the People's Liberation Army, a Mao Tse-tung's thought study class was set up in Ting Lai-yu's family. This further promoted their ideological revolutionization and aroused an inexpressibly deep class feeling of loyalty to Chairman Mao. Every member, with the exception of Hung-ping who is less than three, can recite the "good old three" articles and over 100 quotations from Chairman Mao. Every bit they learn, they apply, combining study with application. The invincible thought of Mao Tse-tung is the life-blood of the revolutionary people. They feel that in addition to studying and applying well Mao Tse-tung's thought themselves, they should also propagate it among more people. They study and practise every day. So far they have learned to sing more than 100 revolutionary songs and perform 50-odd minor revolutionary items of literature and art.
They disseminate Mao Tse-tung's thought with soaring enthusiasm, giving expression to their boundless love for and loyalty to the great leader Chairman Mao. Ordinarily they perform for the local poor and lower-middle peasants. When the departments concerned make arrangements for them to go on tour, they think nothing of crossing mountains and rivers to perform for the workers, peasants and soldiers. They are always compiling material about the moving deeds of the poor and lower-middle peasants, which shows their fervent love Chairman Mao, elaborating it and arranging it into new items. Whenever a new instruction of Chairman Mao's is published, they find it set to music in the newspaper, learn to sing it as quickly as possible, sometimes adapting dance movements to it, and propagate it among the revolutionary masses. At present, a total audience of 400,000 have enjoyed their performances. The broad masses of workers, peasants and soldiers acclaim them as "singing what is in the bottom of our hearts and expressing our deep feeling of infinite loyalty to Chairman Mao".
THE 'RED FAMILY'
The "Red Family" Mao Tse-tung Thought propaganda team of Lunghua production brigade, Polo county, Kwangtung province, consists of the 40-year-old poor peasant couple, Ting Lai-yu and Chang Chiung, and their six children from three to fourteen years. The family's two-hour programmes containing dozens of revolutionary items attract hundreds of people every time they perform. Known far and wide, the family is praised by everybody. "The 'Red Family' propaganda team has a style all its own and is well worthy of the name." While none of the Tings has had more than six years' schooling, they have always been an outstanding collective in the living study and application of Mao Tsetung Thought. In the cultural revolution they have raised their loyalty to Chairman Mao to a new height, studying and applying Chairman Mao's recent instructions earnestly and propagating them widely. To do this more effectively, they worked hard with help from People's Liberation Army men and quickly learned some hundred revolutionary songs and prepared more than fifty song and dance items. Everyone in the family takes part in the performances.
At every performance Ting Lai-yu recalls to the audience the bitterness of the past and compares it with today's happiness won under Chairman Mao's leadership - a vivid class education. He also describes how his family studies Chairman Mao's teachings and applies them in daily practice. Their items praising Chairman Mao and propagating his latest instructions make an indelible impression on audiences.
Beloved Chairman Mao, the red sun shining in our hearts;
How many words so deep in our hearts we long to say to you …
This song is not just a performance, it is an expression of the loyalty and deep feeling that all of China's 500 million peasants have for their beloved Chairman Mao.
Now the song and dance "Never Forget Class Suffering; Be Revolutionaries Forever" composed by the family.
The lights dim. Five-year-old Hung-lien, in rags, comes on stage. Wiping away tears of grief and clenching her fists angrily, the little girl exposes the evil old society while the rest of the family sings an accompaniment. "Recalling the old society brings tears to our eyes. Three big mountains* weighed us down. Our family of eight was torn apart. Nowhere could we speak of our bitterness and pour out our grievances…" This typical representation of the bitter class oppression suffered by millions upon millions of labouring people in old China takes the audience back to the dark old days and never fails to move them deeply. Shouts ring out, "Never forget class suffering, always remember blood-and-tears hatred!" "Never forget class struggle!"
"A clap of spring thunder rolls across the sky. Our saving star, the Chinese Communist Party, leads us in revolution. We rise to our feet and win liberation…" Beating of drums and gongs. Two girls in red come onto the brightly lit stage. Waving long red silk scarves, they sing and dance to celebrate liberation. The joyous atmosphere and songs depicting the happiness of the new society contrast sharply with the dark old days of the previous scene. The performance is in fact a re-enactment of the story of the Ting family. This story, familiar to so many, and the realistic atmosphere on the stage move the audience to a deeper understanding of Chairman Mao's teaching, "Never forget class struggle".
"NEVER forget class suffering; be revolutionaries forever!" This firm pledge of the poor and lower -middle peasants is the class and ideological basis for the Tings becoming a "red family".
Before liberation Ting Lai-yu was one of a family of eight. But ground down by poverty and illness under the brutal rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries, his mother and father died when he was fourteen, leaving six boys who either died of hunger or had to flee from famine. Lai-yu himself had to beg for a living and wandered about until he came to Polo county where a peasant family adopted him. His wife, Chang Chiung, sold three times before she was twelve, finished up as a bondservant in a landlord's house. Both had their fill of bitterness in those days.
In the happy new society, Ting Lai-yu and Chang Chiung married and established their own home. Ting had the honour of joining the Communist Party and became a brigade cadre. After some time, there were again eight in his family. The number was the same, but how different the life in the two societies! Thinking back on the past, looking at the happy life today and to the future, Ting Lai-yu and his wife, their eyes filled with tears of gratitude, always say to others, "We owe it all to Chairman Mao."
Chang Chiung bought a big portrait of Chairman Mao with her savings and put it on the wall so that the whole family could see the great leader who was always in their thoughts. Ting put up a couplet:
For ever loyal to Chairman Mao,
Our hearts will not change even if the sea dries up and the stones rot.
They often stand with their children before the portrait and pledge: "Having won liberation, we will always remember the Communist Party; living in happiness, we will never forget Chairman Mao. We wish Chairman Mao a long, long life!"
Here is an example of Ting Lai-yu educating his children:
Someone once asked Hung-lien, "Who gave you that new dress?" "Father bought the cloth and Mother made the dress." The girl's reply disturbed her father. At the family's study meeting, he told the children, "Your mother gave you birth. But it is the Party that educated you, it is Mao Tsetung Thought that nurtures your growth. The rice you eat, the clothes you wear, you owe them all to our Party and Chairman Mao, not to your mother and father. In the old society I also had a mother and father. But I had no food to eat and no clothes to wear. Year in and year out I went hungry and cold. We never had a happy life like yours. You must never forget our bitter past!"
HAVING grown up in poverty, Ting and his wife know well the meaning of "class" and "exploitation" and hate Liu Shao-chi's evil ambition to restore capitalism. When Chairman Mao called on the people to "Fight self, repudiate revisionism", they immediately started a Mao Tsetung Thought study class to put this important instruction into practice. They held meetings and, using their personal experience, repudiated Liu Shao-chi's vicious ideas that "class struggle has died out" and "exploitation has its merits". They told about their childhood suffering and compared it with today's happy life, giving the children a profound class education and turning the family into a classroom for the living study and application of Mao Tsetung Thought. From this time the family began performing revolutionary songs and dances as recreation activities.
Their experience shows that such activities promote the ideo-logical revolutionization of the family.
One day, as Hung-lien and her mother were going to a meeting, somebody called, "Hung-lien, will you sing me a song?" The girl turned round and saw the landlord's wife. She gave the woman a scornful look and walked on. Not knowing who had spoken, the mother asked, "Why don't you sing her a song since it is to propagate Mao Tsetung Thought?" The girl didn't answer, but when they got back home, she criticized her mother. "Mama, you told me to sing for the landlord's wife. You've forgotten 'Who are our enemies?' How could I sing for her?" Pleased to find her daughter taking such a clear class stand, Chang Chiung readily accepted the criticism.
In family education, the parents set a good example with their own conduct. They take the lead in making a living study and application of Chairman Mao's works, in fighting selfishness and fostering devotion to the public interest. The family is determined to place Mao Tsetung Thought in command of everything. "Of hundreds of thousands of books, the most important are Chairman Mao's works. Of hundreds of thousands of roads, the one we take is the revolutionary road pointed out by Chairman Mao." In spite of his difficulty in reading, Ting Lai-yu studies Chair-man Mao's works every day and puts into practice what he has learned.
Once in a flash flood, the river dyke near their home was in danger of collapsing. If the water burst through, the ripening millet would be ruined. Ting Lai-yu was down with a high fever. Chang Chiung, concerned for her husband's health, told him to stay in bed. "No," he said, "Chairman Mao teaches us to have an indomitable spirit. How can I lie in bed with a slight illness when the commune's millet is about to be washed away?" He got up and joined the other commune members in their battle to save the dyke, persisting till victory. A good example inspires great strength. This devotion to the public interest made a deep impression on his children.
In recent months, carrying simple props and holding high a red flag, the Tings have climbed mountains and waded streams to propagate Mao Tsetung Thought. They have given more than 300 performances for audiences totalling 400,000 in factories, communes, army units, schools and government organizations. Their revolutionary action has the support of revolutionary committees everywhere and earned them the name "Red Family" from the workers, peasants and soldiers.
*Three big mountains refer to imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism.
Quoting an Article from Raymond Lotta in Revolution
“Let’s turn to culture. We’re told that the Cultural Revolution led to a cultural wasteland. But the truth is quite different. There was an explosion of artistic activity among workers and peasants—poetry, painting, music, short stories, and even film. Mass art projects and new kinds of popular and collaborative artistic undertakings spread, including to the countryside and remote areas. Large-scale collective sculptural works, like the Rent Collection Courtyard figures, reached a very high level of artistic expression and revolutionary content.
The Cultural Revolution produced what were called “model revolutionary works.‿ They were pacesetters which the people all over China could use as models in their development of numerous and artistic works. Model operas and ballets put the masses on stage front and center. They conveyed their lives, and their role in society and history. These model works were of extraordinarily high level, combining traditional Chinese forms with western instruments and techniques. Significantly, strong women figured prominently in the revolutionary operas.
Different Peking Opera companies would tour in the countryside, helping local culture groups to develop and learning from local performances. Let me read from an account by someone talking about how the model revolutionary works and the general spread of revolutionary culture affected his village.
He says: "I witnessed an unprecedented surge of cultural and sports activities in my own home village, Gao Village. The rural villages, for the first time, organized theater troupes and put on performances that incorporated the contents and structure of the eight model Peking operas with local language and music. The villagers not only entertained themselves, but also learned how to read and write by getting into the text in plays, and they organized sports meets and held matches with other villages. All these activities gave the villagers an opportunity to meet, communicate, fall in love. These activities gave them a sense of discipline and organization, and created a public sphere where meetings and communications went beyond the traditional household and village clans. This had never happened before and it has never happened since."*
2G. Proletarian Revolutionary line Struggle.
The most significant struggle between the revisionist and the proletarian revolutionary line in China was carried out by the party committee of Chaoyang Agricultural College in Liaoning Province.A revolutionary programme was compiled with 10 specific points.
1.Strengthening Working Class leadership in place of bourgeois intellectuals.
2.moving colleges from the towns to the Countryside
3.Peasants were indoctrinated with Socialist Culture. The principle of (From the Communes back to the Communes was to be put in command as against “He who excels in learning can be an official.
4.Putting proletarian politics in command instead of promoting intellectuals..
5,introducing part work part study system instead of regularized courses.
6.Teaching research and scientific production were combined instead of having specialized
education.
7 Now colleges would be closely linked with the 3 great revolutionary movements of class struggle for production and Scientific Achievements.
8Old Agricultural Colleges were for the elite ,the new ones would be for the broad masses and would reach the grassroots.
9Teachers would now be linked to the lives of workers and peasants.In the old Society the teachers were divorced from them..Now the Students would control the colleges.Worker-peasent –soldier tems would control the Universities.
2H.Education
Education was combined with productive labour.Workshops,factories and fields became the learning places for Students. Students received lectures from the peasants.
In Education the examination system was banned. A process of Struggle-Criticism and transformation was carried out in Schools and Universities .A revolutionary 3 in 1 combination was formed with the activists among the students, teachers and workers. This line was first implemented in Tsinghua University. The task of Studying English was connected with Social Practice class of 16 students divided itself into 4 groups and gone with it’s teacher to a nearby commune.
For the examination, each group reported their findings in English.One dealt with a typical family history, another with education in the brigade primary school, still another with the educated youth who have settled down in the brigade, and the 4th with the movements to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius.3 members of the brigade had been invited to attend the examination, and students took turns in interpreting them. Others interpreted for non English Speaking members of the University leadership who attended as observers.For a physics Examination,the students were divided into groups and given a number of questions on Electricity. Then each group went to a different nearby factory to investigate it’s Electric Power set up and, in course of doing so., to find the answers to all the questions. Then they were examined not by the teachers, but by the factory electricians, who decided whether they knew their stuff well.(Taken from Broad Sheet,August 1975Vol.No.12)
Quoting Raymond Lotta‿During the Cultural Revolution, artists, doctors, technical and scientific workers, and all kinds of people were called on to go among the workers and peasants: to apply their skills to the needs of society, to share the lives of the laboring people, to exchange knowledge, and to learn from the basic people.
We are told that going to countryside was a form of punishment against professionals. Well, does that apply to the peasants? Who asked the peasants if they wanted to live in the countryside? The fact is: this policy of sending professionals to the countryside was part of a conscious attempt to break down the lopsidedness of society and to reduce the cultural and resource gaps between town and country.
How was this policy carried out? At the point of a gun? No. First of all, there was an appeal to people's higher interests and aspirations of serving society. Second, ideological struggle was waged. It was made a mass question: what’s more important, that a skilled doctor have the “right‿ to a privileged life in the city, or that health care be made widely available? Third, there were many people who took this up with enthusiasm and commitment and set examples for others. Finally, there was a degree of coercion. The policy of sending people to the countryside was institutionalized. But not all coercion is bad. For instance, is it wrong for a government to mandate school desegregation, even if some object to it?
Now, as I said, many professionals and youth responded with great enthusiasm to this call to go to the countryside. I would strongly recommend that people take a look at a recent book, Some of Us (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2001). It has several essays written by Chinese women, now living in the West, who took part in the Cultural Revolution. They talk about how positive and life-changing this experience was of going to the countryside: how they learned from the peasants, did things they never thought they could, and gained a sense of their strength as women, and how the Cultural Revolution promoted a spirit of critical thinking.
2 i. Implemenation of the Mass Line
“The Cultural Revolution sets in motion the inexhaustible participation of the masses, which accelerates and puts into concrete form the appearance of proletarian democracy of which the Chinese speak. How else are we to define the politicization of the masses, which I saw during the trip? The moment the masses no longer fear coercion from the state apparatus, proletarian democracy begins to establish itself. It is here on the level of consensus, that the mass line conceived by Mao more than 40 years ago undergoes it’s broadest development This unprecedented reliance on the masses might merely conceal a pedagogical and academic character were it not based on social practice, did not explode within the heart of the ideological apparatus.‿
Charles Bettelhiem stated; “The constant reliance on the masses, seems to be the most valid contribution of the Chinese Revolution. MaoTse Tung’s dictatorship of the proletariat in actual fact is the ‘broadest democracy for the masses of the people. The Chinese Revolution reminds us that the dictatorship of the proletariat is nothing other than proletarian democracy, democracy for the broadest masses of the people.‿ Mao had said, “The essence of the revolution in the state bodies consists in securing the links of the masses.‿ Mao always defended the fact that a class does not become truly dominant unless it has made its own ideology the dominant one.
One of Mao’s most important points was, ‘Grasp the revolution and promote production “Mao always insisted tat the contradictions between the forces of production and the relations of production, and their contradictions with the superstructure will continue to exist in every human society as ling as production relations continue to exist. He also fought for revolutionary changes within the superstructure. In his essay ‘On contradiction’ Mao dealt with the question of the continuation of revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. Mao dealt here with the ultimate goal of reducing the power of coercive and ideological apparatus of the state-until the state withered away. By carrying the revolution to the soul by the “Intervention of the masses in the Superstructure‿.
Three in one committees were formed consisting of the revolutionary Party Cadre, revolutionary representatives from the Army and representatives of the revolutionary masses and a continuous process of struggle, criticism-transformation was carried out. “In China the party is the dominant apparatus, under the dictatorship of the Proletariat, and that the ideological apparatus was carried out by the party. But at the same time the party is neither a metaphysical category nor a Thomist Credo. In China the struggle was raging within the party itself.The proletariat intervenes in the party,the ideological apparatus of the power system an elsewhere The dominant party of the proletarian revolution fulfills it’s task ,which is to re-enforce the dictatorship of the proletariat ,by accomplishing it’s own revolution as a ruling apparatus, and by opening it’s structure to the masses.
Criticism of the party and electoral replacements of committees and orther party organizations is done in open, with the participation of workers who are not members. This is the confirmation of the mass line which opens the party the “the new blood of the Proletariat Maoist
2J. Change in Thinking pattern
China went above Stalinist Russia as Mao wished to create an inner, spiritual change in man. Going above Stalin. Mao stressed on revolutionizing the superstructure and not just the base as Stalin did. The Red Guards did not physically attack the capitalist roaders but used the practice of moral persuasion or criticism .
Han Suyin states in her book, ‘China in the year 2001’, “ If there is no change in thinking patterns and habits,there is no material change and progress, for spirit and matter are interlinked, spirit is moulded by contact with the material world and in turn influences the material world. The masses should liberate themselves mentally, but this they must do,nobody can do it for them, least of all by order or by command. No longer slaves but master of their destiny they must ask themselves: How can I be a master? This is by aggrandizing the scope of the soul, deepening the grasp of historical knowledge and thinking faculties. The worker and peasant now realize that within the grasp of power to decide his own motivation, his own spiritual advancement as well as his material progress, and that these two are inseparable.‿‿There was another famous quote of a Chinese Soldier, “Give us a gun and a book as man’s spirit demands more than just material satisfaction.‿
There was a phenomenal transformation in the lives of woman.Women who were earlier bound
on their feet could now serve in the army ,teach in Universties and conduct political Study classes!Women who were earlier Slaves had democratic rights to redress through courts and had crèches to take care of their children went to work.
3.CONTRIBUTION OF THE GANG OF 4
In the period of the late 1960’s the roots of the ‘Maoist gang of 4’ were sprouted who from the early 1970’s to the period of their overthrow in 1976 were the leaders in the struggle against the revisionists and were the chief representatives of Mao Tse Tung Thought. The 4 went head over heels to implement Mao’s line illuminating red torches all over China almost as if a Socialist festival was taking place. The 4 studied every facet of life in connection with Marxism-Leninism Mao TseTung Thought digging into the deepest roots of the ideology. like a scientist trying to put his theories into practice.
The fall of Lin Biao strengthened the right in China and helped the re-instatement of the arch capitalist-roader Deng Xiaoping into the party. There was chaos and a fresh movement was launched to combat Lin Biaos’ ideology.Lin was now classed with Liu Shao –Chi and Deng Xiaoping as a Capitalist roader.One of the most significant struggles o the gang was in Shanghai in the Commune. However Shortly after Comrade Mao’s death the Gang was arrested and the G.P.C.R virtually defeated.Tragically one of the greatest revolutionary advances in the history of mankind was defeated .
Lot of writers of the bourgeois mould distort history by stating that the masses revolted against the Gang of 4 and even certain ranks in the Maoist movement claimed that the Gang was counter –revolutionary. True ,there was great confusion in the masses after the loss of leaders like Chairman Mao,Premier Zho En Lai and Zhu De but the masses always revered the Gang standing up against the wrath of the revisionist and leading them to virtually re-writing history.I however do agree with Critiques who state that the Gang made serious errors and their line was often vitiated by left sectarianism. However remember that in so many revolutionary movements there have been mistakes in regard to mass line. and this was the first time in history where a struggle was actually carried out in a Socialist Society.
25 years ago a historic Court Trial took place of the ‘Gang of 4.’-the followers of Mao’s line. Heroically Comrades Chiang Ching and Chang Chun Chiao defended the Thought of Comrade Mao Tse Tung in a historic Court trial standing upto the capitalist rulers against Revisionism. Chiang Ching rose up defending Comrade Mao Tse Tung like a tigress while Chang Chung Chiao protested in silence but never buckled under pressure from the Chinese rulers..Wang Hongwen and Ya Wenyuan both confessed and surrendered under pressure. It is of no strange coincidence that Comrade Yao Wenyuan, One of the members of the Gang of 4 passed away just a week ago.
We must particularly highlight the contribution of Comrade Chang Chun Chiao.Chiang Ching made an amazing contribution on the Cultural Front,developing proletarian culture to a considerable extent.Chiang Ching was fully engrossed as a political leader during the Cultural RevolutionOnly in the 9th Party Congress was her staus in the Communist Party made official.Chiang Ching addressed meetings of artists and writers in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution.She revolutionized the Peking Opera .A new model Opera was created and Chiang Ching presided over the 25th anniversary celebration of the Yenan Forum.where her model works were performed. Chiang Ching then became the adviser of the Peoples Liberation Army.She made a significant contribution to raising the Cultural level of the Army involving soldiers in political study and writing,producing and performing skits and operas and organizing festivals in local P.L A Units.
Later Chiang Ching carried out greater transformation in the economy, health care, the arts and culture. especially the old educational system, through building revolutionary committees. Now workers,peasants and soldiers enrolled in Universities, educated youth went to the countryside and Party Cadres participated in productive labour,.Chiang Ching asssed the need to launch a mass movement to carry out the process of struggle-criticism, repudiation and transformation in the various departments of work. In one of her speeches to a delegation from the faction-torn province of ANHWEI She struggled to unite and form a great alliance so that power could be seized.She defended the Revolutionary Commitees and opposed their dissolution.
The Shanghai Municipal party committee had become a breeding ground of capitalist roaders.The revolutionaries had a strong base there but did not overall hold power. The capitalist roaders apart from encouraging complacency among the workers encouraged bribery.
In December 1966, in the mass upsurge There was an intense class Struggle amongst workers around giving workers bonuses encouraging economist tendencies and paying increased salaries to foster jealousies amongst workers. The Workers returned the money in protest. The capitalist roaders now tried to halt production and disrupt public services The Workers refused this. They applied the concept that politics had to be in command of economics, that the productive forces could be truly unleashed only by training the masses in the revolutionary line.This application led to astounding achievements in economic development –Shanghai Workers developed the means to build a 10,000 tonne ocean liner ondrey dock intended for a 3000 tonne ship.
In January 1967 millions of rebel workers joined by students and nearby peasants,overthrew theMunicipal Party Committee.They physically stormed and occupied key positions and took over vital Municipal Services. Then organizational form was created whereby power could be consolidated and wielded by the revolutionaries in ord4r to carry out further transformations.A revolutionary three- in -one Committee was formed which in equal numbers had representatives of the masses,party cadres, who were judged to be revolutuionaries following Mao’s line,alos selected by masses,representatives of the Army.Similar Struggles engulfed China nationwideChiang Ching had made a major contribution in the overthrowing .
of the Peking Municipal Committee in 1967 from the hands of the revisionist power-holders.
Rebel workers took over the trade Union headquarters and sealed off the offices of the Union of Labour throughout the nation.Chiang Ching professed a document declaring that all contract and temporary labourers must be permitted to participate in the G.P.C.R. and that anyone dismissed because of this would be re-instated with pay. Chiang Ching supported the movement to seize local political power from the capitalist roaders and build new alternative organs of leadership. She helped initiate 3in one combinations uniting revolutionary party cadre, revolutionary representatives of the Army and representatives of the revolutionary masses to build revolutionary Commitees.
Chiang Ching struggled against an ultra-left tendency to attack the capitalist –roaders and their supporters physically.She advocated ideological and political struggle.‿Struggle by force can only touch the skin and Flesh.,while struggle by reasoning things out can touch the soul.’
Chiang Ching waged a struggle against ultra-left tendencies instigated by the Right openly advocating violence by distorting slogans or by inciting the masses to combat the small capitalist- roaders.She staunchly opposing the slogan,‿ Drag out a handful in the Army.’which was literally obeyed in areas. The Right used this to seize weapons from regular troops. Chiang Ching refuted this in following that line they could not differentiate good from bad.The party, government and the army are all under the leadership of the Party.One could only talk of dragging out a handful of capitalist roaders I the authority and nothing else ,otherwise, it would be unscientfic and the wrong people would be attacked.
Chiang Ching thwarted an ultra-leftist line that came about within the Cultural Revolution group itself when elements like Chen Boda wished to create chaos, advocating the use of Force.A section of Red Guards revolted against the Cultural Revolution Group led by the rightIn the city of Wuhan in 1967 provocation and mutiny took place in military units supporting th right.
In the 1970’s Chiang Ching prominently exposed the revisionist line of Lin Biao and equated it with Confucian doctrine. She also continued making revolutionary transformations in the Cultural Field.
The tenth anniversary of the Revolutionary Peking pera upheld models of New Socialist Culture New Works emerged glorifying Socialist Achievements. Feats I agricultural production, the model developments I Industry such as the Taiching Oilfields and socialist new innovations like barefoot doctors were highlighted.Chiang Ching never compromised between Politics and Art. She exposed a film called ‘The Song of the Gardener’ which upheld the virtues of wise teachers and likens them to refined Flower Cultivators. In contrast the Left made a film highlighting the revolutionary line’ Breaking With Old Ideas’. This film vividly portrays the class Struggle in Society over who gets to go to School and the difficulty of going up against both rigid traditional teachers and curriculum more suited to bourgeois education than the needs of masses transforming society.
Chiang Ching vehemently fought against copying Western Models in the name of becoming,’modern’Model ransformation.She thwarted an attempt by the right ton the Cultural Front as well as a political offensive between 1973 and 1975.She propogated a paper in which refuted the fact that there was ‘absolute music’and that music had no meaning or class content. The pamphlet argued that such a view disguised the bourgeois class character of thes untitled instrumental pieces although some techniques of classical music can be assimilated.Chiang Ching’s Cultural Troupe alos performed a paly on the docks performed for fishermen Qouting Chang Ching, “This opera cannot be presented as one which has as the centre of description ‘middle-of –the –raders.’It should depict the heroic images of the dockers who work on the wharf with their hearts for the motherland and their eyes on the world’.
In 1975 in October in the Tachai Agricultural brigade She refuted Hua Kuo-Feng’s project to mechanise agriculture taking the rightist road in terms of ‘modernisations’.This meant depending on Imperialism, restoring capitalism and re-establishing class differences.
Later a 2line struggle developed in education combating the theory that revolutionizing education held back production. With Comrade Mao the 4 carried out a mass debate and Comrade Chang Chun Chiao playing a major role.His famous quote was, ‘Bring up exploiters and intellectual aristocrats with bourgeois cosciousness and culture-which do you want?Infact Comrade Chang Chin Chiap played the role of a revolutionary Champion.
He was the author of path-breaking theoretical Articles such as on the ‘On Exercising Dictatorship over the bougeoise’, ‘On the 10 major relationships’ and was instrumental in the Shanghai political Economy Study Group as a whole,which authored important works making a class analysis of the economic laws under Socialism.Chang Chun Chiao played the leading role in Shanghai in advancing the Cultural Revolution. And uniting the masss around the correct line.After Chou En Lai’s death on January 12,1976,the Gang of 4 proceeded to accelerate their campaign against Deng,However they were still not strong enough to get Chang Chun Chiao elected as Premier.
In April 1976 the Revisionists openly attacked Comrade Chiang Ching through the Tienanmen riots I order to attack Mao and his policies. In the name of defending Chou En Lai but the P LA thwarted this attempt Deng was removed from all posts for staging the riotsThere were now open confrontations between the rightist and Revolutionary Factions within the party.IN August arms and ammunition was distributed to the million –strong Shangai Militia that had been set up by the Municipal Revolutionary Committee in 1967.
What was significant was that there were Worker-peasant-soldier students with their worker theorists of the ‘factory school’ jointly beating back the revisionist verdicts of the Cultural Revolution.Similarly teachers and students put up big character posters to criticize the attempts to reverse the Cultural Revolution.In June 1976 Commune members and cadres in the Tachai brigade denounced Deng Xiaoping’s crimes.
After Mao’s death on September 9th 1976 the Gang of 4 was toppled by the Rightists who arrested them.They falsely branded the Gang of 4 as revisionists ,claiming that they were enemies of Comrade Mao. After the REvolutinary headquarters were sabotaged the Party carried out a series of attacks on the revolutionary Commitees Etc So popular were the Gang of 4 that plans were made to block out the harbours and airports,to shut down the press and radio, to launch work stoppages and demonstrations and mass rallies mobilizing the militia and men and women and the garrison command. There was armed combat in militia units a week after the 4 were arrested veteran Communist Leader Zhu Yongjia,a close Comrade of Chang Chun Chiao played a major role in the rebellion.
Whatever were their mistakes the Gang of 4 had made a great contribution to the Socialist Economy. It is worth here refuting the slandering of the Western Countries of China’s economy.The economy was growing at a rate of about 5 to 6% a tear in term sof the Gross National Product since 1966.There was steady improvement in the living standards of the people which was shown in the food consumption clothing allowances, improved education and health services, particularly in the countryside ,and consumer goods like bicycles and radios.
Some sectors. like steel ,coal and transport showed erratic output and lower growth rates. However there were technical innovations had been made in thee sectors. It is unfair to compare Socialist China with the Western Countries or Japan. Remember China only had 13,750 miles of railroad track in 1949,a country that was producing 5.5 million tons of oli in 1960,and which in 1976 was stll overwhelmingly poor. China achieved agricultural sufficiency and greatly expanded it’s industrial capabilities. The 4 opposed mechanization of agriculture. They stressed on he principle of self-sufficiency. Vegetable production expanded in China. The 4 gave priority to grain .Not much land was given to forage crops for livestock. and agricultural technology and research was far more advanced with respect to grains than for vegetables .Chinese rice yields reached the highest in the world. The 4 made a goal to make as many provinces self-sufficient in grain as possible, both to reduce costs of transportation borne by the state and build up these strategic grain reserves in the event of war.
Commune leaderships set up ‘Socialist big fairs‿ in which peasants who held private plots and engaged in side-line activities would buy and sell private goods through the collective commercial channels, the supply and marketing co-operatives. This on one hand put the brakes on the speculation that had gotten out of hand at the trade fairs, and on the other, continued to provide peasants with an outlet for private output still necessary and useful at that stage. This countered the principle of free trade.
There were great technical achievements in the City of Shanghai. Shangahai contributed enormously to the national economy with machinery and equipment, accumualtio of funds, and a pool of skilled workers for other parts of the country.A co-operative was created with enterprises that reduced the barriers between different trades and involved over 300 factories hospitals Etc.
The Ultimate climax came in the1981 Trial which started on November 20th 1980 till January 26th 1981.Wang Hong Wen and Yao Wen Yuan capitulated before the court admitting all their charges.Chang Chu Chia remained defiantly silent giving scant respect to the 35 judges .With great courage ComrdaeChiang Ching said, “Most of the members presnt,including your president Jiang Hua,competed wit each other in those adys to critoicize Liu-Shao –Chi.If Iam guilty how about all of you?
Chiang has prepared a 181 page statement stating, “If the left framed up veteran leaders what are you doing now/Whats wrong with the Cultural Revolution, overthrowing the Capitalist headquarters of Liu Shao Chi and Company? I’m not going to admit to any crimes, not because I want to cut myself off from people, but because I am innocent.If I have to admit to anything, I can only say I loat in this struggle for power. You have power now so you can easily fabricate false evidence to support your charges. But if you think you can fool the people of China and worldwide, you are completely mistaken. It is not I but your small gang who is on trial in the court of history.‿
Chiang Ching had displayed nerves of steel in the trial.What she showed was one of the greatest displays of courage ever seen in the Communist Movement by a Women. She wrote an epoch in Communist History by defending the great Comrade Mao Tse Tung’s ideology in the Trial as though she lit up the whole court with a red flame.
Comrade Chiang Ching’s courage in the trial reverberated like a red flame illuminating .Protest rallies were staged worldwide supporting her cause and slandering the Chinese Revisionists.
4.REASONS FOR DEFEAT OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION
We must understand what were factors led to the defeat of the Socialist Road in China.
1.The fact that it was this Cultural Revolution movement was the first revolutionary movement of it’s kind. Capitalism and feudalism already had a long history .For Centuries repressive bourgeoisie society Eg.The era of emperors, monarchs ,then parliamentary governments Etc.existed. The triumph of Socialist Revolution was very recent and thus there had to be errors in the course.
It was an entirely new type of an experiment like a scientist using his latest theories in carrying out a new type of an experiment. hus errors were a natural phenomenon. Socialist Russia had never embarked on such a task and Stalinism sowed the seeds of revisionism. Many remnants of the feudal and bourgeois society were left behind in the minds of people after that thinking was perpetrated for thousands of years .It would perhaps take several revolutions to overcome what was created over generations. There was a deep-rooted Confucian tradition in China.
2.Sino Soviet Border conflict.-China had to combat their ideological problem with the then U.S.S R. They had a border disputes with Russia and that was the period where the Cold War was at it’s peak with the U.S –Vietnam War in full flow.To save their state China had to create relations with bourgeoisie states for tactical purposes.On one hand Socialist China had to combat U.S imperialismon the other hand they had to stand upto the Soviet Social Imperialism.This was a complex problem. China had to fight the ‘lion’ but be aware of the ‘bear.’
3.Creation of the Personality Cult
The revolutionaries had to unite with Lin Biao’s left sectarian approach. Lin immortalized Mao converting Mao’s Red Book into a bible. The phenomenan of a personality Cult is anti-marxist.This failed to consolidate the ranks in a broad –based movement. From the mid 1960’s Lin Biao’s left sectarian formulations and his ultimate path to the capitalist road caused havoc in the Chinese Communist Party. Although Comrade Lin played an effective role in the Socialist Education Movement as well as in the Army when he combated Peng Te Huai’s philosophy of having ranks in the army and advocating modernization in the army.In the 1966-69 period Lin eulogized Comrade Mao to the status of an emperor claming that the Red Book contained magic.
He elevated Comrade Mao to a God to promote himself and wrongly even derived the formulation that the Chinese revolutionary path was the path for all countries. True protracted Peoples War was a major contribution of Comrade Mao Tse Tung but it had to be applied in the context of the situation with regards to a particular country.However after 1969 Lin went towards the right calling for the discontinuation of the G.P.C.R and for an alliance with revisionist Soviet Union.
He opposed Mao and in 1971 attempted to assassinate Mao. However thankfully the coup was averted and Lin was brought down.(plane crashed) The Lin Biao phenomena has to be questioned and one could wonder how Mao ever could unite with Comrade Lin against the right .However this is a phenomena within a Socialist Society so we cannot discredit Comrade Mao.I do not agree that Lin Biaoism was a trend in the 1966-69 Cultural revolution period but he had a predominant influence particularly in the Army.It is difficult imagining that this historic figure was claimed as an outstanding proletarian revolutionary just a few years before his condemnation!
Later the Gang of 4 also made left sectarian errors, unable to unite with the broadest masses. Comrade Mao often rebuked them stating that “You are trying to make the Socialist Revolution but you do not know where the bourgeoisie is-they are right there in the Communist Party‿.Often the Gang gave left sectarian slogans unable to totally unite the broad masses. Often Comrade Mao rebuked them when he stated that they often failed to hit the main revisionist targets stating “You are trying to make the revolution but you do not know where the bourgeoisie is.They are right here in the Communist Party.‿Often the Gang was unable to implement the mass line and raised left sectarian slogans.
4.Persecution of writers , artist, musicians, and sectarian approach to bourgeois philosophers. Sportsmen Etc Even not enough attention was given to psychology or Freudian ideas.
Several writers, poets and artists and sportsmen were wrongly attacked and sent to be reformed.True,there were bourgeois tendencies ,but such elements also had progressive aspects which the cultural revolution leaders often failed to understand.
5.Not enough avenue for democratic criticism or dissent
True,there were broad based revolutionary movements and debates as never seen before and Comrade Mao’s line represented the mass revolutionary democratic line of the broad masses there was lack of a sufficient base for individuals to express criticism of Socialist ideas or other ideas. Socialist Society has to create avenues whereby even people’s criticism of Socialism are taken into consideration and all ideas are expressed freely. Instead of weakening the dictatorship of the Proletariat, this would strengthen it. There was such a strong personality cult around Comrade Mao that such free expression of ideas of minorities was hardly encouraged.(Thee could have been a special cell to question Comrade Mao’s line Etc without opposing the dicatatorship of the proletariat)In this regard it is worth studying Bob Avakian’s contribution in “Phony Communism is dead, Long Live Real Communism!‿
Quoting Bob Avakian
"Under socialism, the masses of people are unleashed to run and transform society towards the goal of communism. This is a society in which you want, and need, to unite and lead broad sections of people to take up the goal of creating a new world. In this regard, Avakian has called attention to the importance of the intellectual, artistic, and scientific spheres in socialist society, and the particular role that intellectuals can play in socialist society.
Intellectuals and intellectual ferment can contribute to the dynamism and wrangling spirit that must characterize socialist society. One of the very positive aspects of intellectual life is the tendency to look at things in new ways and from new angles, to challenge the status quo and hidebound thinking. This needs to be even more the case under socialism. Intellectual and scientific ferment are essential to the search for the truth—to people knowing the world more deeply, so it can be transformed more thoroughly.
The people on the bottom of society have historically been locked out of the realm of “working with ideas.‿ Bourgeois society creates islands and pockets where a minority can engage in the realm of ideas, while the great majority of humanity is exploited and prevented from pursuing intellectual activity. Socialist society has to transform this situation. It has to put an end to exploitation and enable the masses of people to work with ideas and take up all kinds of questions and participate in society in an all-around way. This was something that the Cultural Revolution addressed very powerfully.
At the same time, Avakian has pointed out that socialist society needs to give scope and space to intellectuals, artists, and scientists. You don’t want to maintain and reproduce the ivory tower relations that exist in capitalist class societies. But you don’t want to stifle and straitjacket intellectuals, either. You want to unite with and lead them.
Here it must be said that there has been a problem in previous socialist societies. There has been a tendency to see intellectual activity that is not directly serving or linked to the agenda of the socialist state at any given time as not that important—or as disruptive of that agenda.
Now in bringing forward this understanding and pointing to these weaknesses, Avakian has been retracing the experience of proletarian revolution in the intellectual and scientific realms. In his reenvisioning of socialism, Bob Avakian has been emphasizing the role of dissent in socialist society. Avakian has said that dissent must not only be allowed but actively fostered, and this includes opposition to the government.
This is something quite new in the understanding of communists. Why is dissent so important? Because it reveals defects and problems in the new society…because it contributes to the critical spirit that must permeate socialist society and advances the search for truth…and because dissent can contribute to struggles to further transform society. You won’t get to communism without this kind of upheaval
Avakian has written that it would be a good thing to allow even reactionaries to publish some books and speak out in socialist society. This would contribute to the process through which the masses of people would come to know the world more fully and be able to sort out more thoroughly what does and does not correspond to reality, and what does and does not correspond to their fundamental interests in abolishing exploitation, oppression, and social inequalities. This is an important way in which the masses will be better able to take part in running society and transforming that society and the world as a whole toward the goal of communism.
5. WRONG TRENDS WITH REGARD TO LINE
5A. Importance of Vanguard Party
With all those weaknesses it must be stated that Mao and his comrades did their level best to achieve Socialism. We have to defend the vanguard role of the Leninist Party and have to combat Trotskyite and New Left trends that advocate a multi-party system or oppose the vanguard role of the Leninist Party. Certain intellectuals profess a multi-party system in a Socialist Society. A multi-party system would create chaos and defeat the very concept of proletarian dictatorship How can many parties differ in ideology and claim to be professing proletarian ideology?
Only a tight unified, well Knit Party can lead the proletarian revolution and save the Socialist State.It is the equivalent of a Nazi Government seizing power in Germany in 1933 ,overthrowing Hindenburg’s parliamentary government. Remember how Allende was overthrown in Chile and Arbenz in Guetemala.Allowing bourgeois parties in a Socialist State contradicts Leninism. Lenin developed the concept of the Proletarian party governed by democratic-centralism Remember the Chinese Communist Parties had factions in the pre-revolutionary and post –revolutionary years and through application of mass line or 2 line struggle the party attempted to resolve the problem.(Even if the cultural revolution failed there was a powerful 2 line Struggle)Democratic Revolt must be encouraged but factionalism within a party can destroy the revolutionary interests.
True there is validity in the point that there could have been many lines of struggle uniting against Liu Shao Chi and Deng Xiaoping that should have been given expression to and not only “Mao’s line’. However one must remember that Mao did everything to unite all types of people to confront the bourgeoisie line and it was the mass revolutionary movement or the broad masses who supported him against the revisionists. (Mao even relinquished his post as head of State to Liu Shao Chi)Mao even had factions within his party, which must be noted.Mao further developed Leninism by discovering that even in a Socialist State there are capitalist tendencies and that a revolution had to be carried out in a Socialist State to avert the restoration of Capitalism. Mao went o to say that only hundreds and thousands or revolutions were needed to create an ultimate Communist Society.
5B.Personality Cult versus the Mass line
There is also a tendency which claims that Mao used his personality Cult in place of implementing the mass line.(Mao Tse Tung has been more revered by any leader in any Country in the last Century his works becoming more popular than the Bible.) One Indian Intellectual Rangakayaama wrote a 6 page essay claiming that Mao created a personality cult deliberately I place of upholding the mass line This has to be refuted. Was not Mao Tse Tung Thought a product of the revolutionary mass movement of the broad masses? Was not Comrade Mao’s thought upheld not only by the majority in the party but by the broad masses of China.
Remember, this was a Socialist Society and you cannot equate rallies in China supporting Mao with those of Hitler in Germany or Ayatolah Khomeini in Iran. it is Comrade Mao who discovered the fact that even in dictatorship of the Proletariat there are reactionary and Capitalist elements who wish to reinstate the rule of the bourgeoise.He discovered the theory of “Continuous revolutions under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. If Mao’s personality cult replaced the mass line then how can one explain the many victories in mass movements the broad masses of the Chinese won over the revisionsir elements and rulers I China in Schools, Universities factories and Villlages guided by Mao Tse Tung Thought.One can discredit those movements only if one advocates that Mao Tse Tung Thought was not a fundamental line for liberation of the Chinese People.
Never in the history of mankind did such a revolutionary mass movement take place or such revolutionary democraticisation take place in the field of agriculture, industry and Education. Remember that Mao relinquished his position as head of the State to Liu Shao Chi in 1959.Infact Rangakayamma alleges that Mao replaced the mass line with the Personality Cult. True Mao’s posters and badges were dispayed all over. Slogans like “Chairman Mao will live for 10,000 years resounded, Eulogies were raised stating that Chairman Mao is like ‘ the sun giving light wherever it shines ‘and a ‘great prophet’,Kindergarden students were made to chant “Long Live Mao for 10,000 years and hailing Mao as great ‘helmsman,’ ‘teacher,’ ‘leader’ and ‘commander’ ,all took place. It is also true that the publication of the works of Marx,Engels,Lenin and Stalin Stopped and there was a policy to focus solely on Mao only.
However the Chinese Communist Party rectified this and re-introduced the works of Marx Lenin,Stalin and Engel from the early 1970’s.Remember in the mass rallies the people carried portraits of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. Another mistake was that the line in the Internationale saying, ‘There is no supreme saviour.Not God,not Caesar,not democratic leader. “This was eliminated to hail Mao as a saviour and a liberator. However again the Chinese Communist Party rectified this and re-instated the lines.
It must be remembered that in a country where for 3,000 years the pride of worshipping was prominent and ignorant superstitious practices prevailed (Emperor-worshipping tradition) such a tendency would be existing. The Chinese People had a habit of worshipping emperors and this feudal mindset persisted. This fear and ignorance persisted for Centuries although of course there were major revolts, which took place against Emperors. No doubt it is incorrect but remember Mao did his level best to fight this.
It is worth here recounting a recent book by a bourgeois expert Lee Geigon on China praising the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. In his book “Mao- A re-interpretation he states “The Cultural Revolution weakened the Chinese bureaucracy. It had a positive, long-lasting impact on the Chinese Economy it also created the basis of an anti-authoritarian Culture. Workers and peasants were taking on them selves the rights of self-governments and some Red Guard groups were attempting to build a democratic theory. The Cultural Revolution’s attacks on the party organization, and the viscous response of the party to these criticisms destroyed it’s legitimacy for many people. By breaking down organizational control and forcing people to criticize almost everything they had been told to take for granted especially the Communist Party, Mao helped foster the spirit of independent judgment and reliance.‿
Quoting Raymond Lotta in his defending Socialism Columns in ‘Revolution’One of the major distortions about the Cultural Revolution is that Mao masterminded and manipulated whatever happened. Mao is said to be responsible for every act and struggle that took place. Mao is held responsible for any and all cases of violence. There is a notion that everything issued from a single locus of power and decision-making—from Mao.
Different class and social forces were involved in the Cultural Revolution. There were the genuine Maoists in the party and mass organizations. There were anti-Mao groupings within the party who organized students, workers and peasants. And there were conservative military forces, ultra-left groupings, mass organizations that divided into rebel and conservatives camps, criminal elements, and others. Different social interests and motivations were in play.
Some people used the Cultural Revolution to settle personal grievances. Often, the enemies of Mao within the Party who were coming under political attack would resort to the tactic of pretending to uphold Mao and incite factionalism and violence in the name of the Cultural Revolution. They would do this in order to deflect the struggle away from them and to discredit the revolutionary movement. The reality was that the Cultural Revolution was a complicated struggle over which class would rule society: the proletariat, which in alliance with its allies who make up the great majority of society continues the revolution to transform society, or a new bourgeois class.
Yet through the course of this struggle, Mao and the revolutionary leadership were able to lead it in a certain direction: focusing the political struggle against the top capitalist roaders, further revolutionizing society, and empowering the masses.
The Red Guards were catalysts. They emboldened people to lift their heads, to speak up, and to speak out. Listen to this account from one peasant:
"The Red Guards were very organized. They divided themselves up and visited every household in the village. They read quotations and told us about the Cultural Revolution in Beijing and Shanghai. Never before had we had so many strangers in the village. They asked us about our lives. They wanted to learn from us. They asked us how we are managing things here in the brigade. They entered into discussions with the leading cadres of the brigade and asked about work points [this was the system of payment in the communes]. I got the book of Mao's quotations from them [this was the Red Book].
They distributed it to various households. In the end, we all had it. Those Red Guards meant a lot to us. And we went on reading the quotations after they'd gone. We read and compared those quotations to what was being done here, and came to the conclusion that a lot of things needed changing." (Jan Myrdal and Gun Kessle, China: The Revolution Continued [New York: Vintage, 1972], pp. 106-107)
Quoting Raymond Lotta from ‘Revolution ‘ The bourgeoisie hates the Cultural Revolution that took place in China. They talk about it as "thought control." They paint a picture of crazed Red Guards going on destructive rampages. We are swamped with high-profile studies and memoirs that talk about the Cultural Revolution as violence and retribution. But this was not the fundamental reality of the Cultural Revolution.
First of all, the Cultural Revolution was not a violent free-for-all. The Maoist leadership issued guidance for conducting the Cultural Revolution. One of the main documents, and people should read this, was called the "16- Point Decision." Here are some excerpts from Mao's instructions:
• "Let the masses educate themselves in the movement and learn to distinguish between right and wrong and between correct and incorrect ways of doing things."
• "Concentrate all forces to strike at the handful of ultra-reactionary bourgeois rightists. The main target of the present movement is those within the party who are in authority and are taking the capitalist road."
• "A strict distinction must be made between the two different types of contradictions: those among the people and those between ourselves and the enemy. It is normal for the masses to hold different views. Where there is debate, it should be conducted by reasoning, not by coercion or force"1
This was the orientation. Was there disorder? Yes. Were there excesses and violence? Of course. This was a revolution. But the Maoist revolutionaries tried to keep this movement going in the right direction through all its turmoil: mass debate, mass criticism, and mass political mobilization.
One famous episode illustrates the point. At Tsinghua University, there was considerable factional fighting among students. Eventually it turned violent. In response, the Maoist leadership dispatched a team of unarmed workers to enter the university to help the students sort out and settle their differences.’
5C.Wrong stand of Revolutionary Communist Party U.S.A.
The last tendency to fight is that professed by the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S.A where they claim that the Chinese State placed greater Emphasis on combating Soviet Social Imperialism over U.S.Imperialism.,claiming that U.S S R was the graeter danger and thus capitulating wit U.S.Imperialism.They also claim that China supported the overthrow of Allende in Chile, supported the Shah of Iran,supported Pakistan over the Bangladesh issue in 1971 Etc.
This is false. Socialist China offered support to all revolutionary movements worldwide and never supported dictators or non –progressive people.What China followed was a tactical line of recognizing repressive states or bourgeois states by having political relations. This is different from supporting them ideologically or giving them moral support. Mao met Nixon for exactly this purpose and all kinds of Trotskyites or neo-revisionist claim this was a betrayal of Mao to the World Proletariat. In actual fact the R.C.P U.S.A by making this criticism of Socialist China is claiming China’s International line the time of Comrade Mao to be capitulationist and discrediting Socialist China.
Socialist China gave moral support to Vietnam and the Maoist Parties in Columbia and Peru. True there were tendencies created in the Lin Biaoist era which advocated imitation of the Chinese line but remember China never exhibited big brother Chauvinism with other Communist parties and always told representatives of other countries that they should only interpret the Chinese line to their own conditions and not blindly copy it.
6. DEFENDING CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Whatever the weakness in the International Communist Movement it is a tribute to the Maoist Organizations that they are boldly defending Mao Tse Tung Thought and defending the Great Debate.Organisations in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement including Communist Parties from Peru,Nepal ,Turkey and India have vehemently campaigned in defence of the Cultural Revolution.
In India the major contributions refuting Deng Xiaoping’s revisionist line came from the Central Re-organisation Centre of India of the C.P.I.M.L,(In 1987 there was a split between the K.Venu and K Ramchandran section which became the C.P.I.M.L Red Flag.The Red Flag section for some time in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s defended the Maoists .Later this group degenerated to revisionism) and the U.C.C.R.I.M.L(led by Harbahjan Sohi who split his organization. Later Organisations like the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India and the C.PLR.C.I.M.L consolidated this aspect)) who exposed the fact that the 3 world theory was a creation of Deng Xiaoping and not of Comrade Mao.
One must applaud the efforts of the C.PI. Maoist in India to defend Mao’s line through their regular publications and seminars in most difficult times when Imperialism is winning.2 seminars wee recently launched in Calcutta. Abroad the biggest contributions in defending the Cultural Revolution aspect came from the Revolutionary Communist Party U.S A and the Peruvian Communist Party who upheld Chiang Ching and the other followers.The R.C.P U.S.A carried out famous rallies in 1978 in San Fransisco and New York defending the Maoists.
It is particularly praiseworthy that the R.C.P has so boldly defended Mao’s achievements and the Cultural Revolution through nationwide talks and seminars. There has been a series of talks by Comrade Raymond Lotta which is a must to be read by any cadre or sympathizer. The Revolutionary internationalist Movement too defended the G.P.C.R through International Campaigns. After their rectification campaign in the late 1980’s the Communist Party of Phillipines took a strong position defending the Cultural Revolution.
7. POST 1978 REVISIONIST RULE AND MOVEMENTS SUPPORTING MAO
After 1978 China reverted to the Capitalist road advocating the 4 Modernizations. Communes were dismantled, and all the gains of the Cultural Revolution were reverted. The examination sytem was reverted to, and America was allowed to install factories in China in Free Trade Zones. No longer did Workers have job security According to the State Statistics bureau nearly half a million hectares of land disappeared from cultivation during 1980-1986.In South China, the China Daily said in 1988 ,there are more than 13 million hectares of idle land, half of which was recently in cultivation. Now with growth oriented towards creating private profit many farmers have had to abandon their plots. Only those who obtained farming machinery through political connections became prosperous.
Grain production in 1984 reached a peak of 407 million tones but as William Hinton points out was because of released stocks of collective grain. Thereafter grain production fell. In 1989 the Chinese press routinely talks of stagnation in grain production, of grain shortages, of falling production and finally 20 million peasants were faced with famine. Prices have skyrocketed. Willliam Hinton reported.
“I spent a month in Yenan in the highlands in 1988.My impression was that the situation was pretty desperate. Contracted Crop fields could not provide sufficient food because for one thing, the peasants could not afford fertilizers. As a result they were tilling the mountain slopes as ‘help out land ‘and destroying them in the process Dams, terraces,a nd other collective Engineering works were falling apart. There were abandoned irrigation works It was quite clear that many of them would not have been built in a private Economy and they would not be restored now unless there were re-collectivisation.Peasants we talked to at Random were angry and said that they were better off under the Co-op System.‿In Industry Millions have now been employed in the private sector.
A contract management system has been implemented. Companies running at a loss get swallowed by profit-making concerns. There is now great waste of China’ labour as a result of inappropriate use of technology. A huge percentage of the labour force in urban areas have no real fuction in their workplaces. The workers are wage slav4es again. Migrant workers have risen in number.They have exhaustible working hours. Workers toil in Special Economc Zones which are directed towards Foreign investment In Shanghai many workers toil 24 hours a day in rural garment factories. In many zones workers toi for over 13 hours overtime, and don’t recive overtime pay. Even minimum wages are not maintained. There is everyday retrenchment, and hiring and firing arean everyday affair.
Today the wealth polarization had driven working people in China too about poverty, as a result they have lost their social status and all the rights they enjoyed previously.. Workers have now been deprived of the right to send their children to school, access to heath care,the right to pension, the rights for old-aged people,the right to participate in cultural, recreational and sports activities. Above that because of the waste of water resources and environmental pollution the workers have lost the right to healthy food,clean water and fresh air.
Communist Party members have become billionares. It is simply hypocrisy that they are implementing Socialism when they state that they advocate the theory of the ‘three represents.’
In recent years there have been major strikes in China or protests against the Revisionist policies. In March 2002 workers of Fero-Alloys plant in Liayang gathered workers of 5 other factories to demonstrate for their jobs agains tbe the local leadership of the Communist Party. Police arrested the leading workers, afterwhich workers from 15 other factories joined.T he B.B.C reported that “Upto 5000 protestors gathered everyday at the Taiching Oilfield protesting against cuts in severance pay.The Taiching workers were retrenched on a massive scale .It is an irony that in the Socialist ra the field was developed in the late 50’s and produced 2/5th of China’s oil Requirements.
Not only in Liayang and Taiching but throughout China Chinese working class is in struggle. Workers proudly hold aloft the bannrs of Mao Tse Tung and write slogans such as “Only Socialism can save China‿ and sing the Internationale.(Information from journal “The Comrade")
Recently the ‘Time; magazine reported how workers praise the security and facilities they possessed in the Maoist Era.Imagine this is new coming even from a bourgeois source!
What we have to asses today is the possibility of a new Maoist Movement within China. Revolutionary Communists must give solidarity to all movements upholding the banner of Mao in China and all other democratic movements combating the fascistic policies of the current Chinese rulers. A new Maoist Party has to be re-organised to carry the torch of revolution and enable history to repeat itself.
Let us all stand by the genuine Maoists in China in exposing the hypocrisy of the current revisionist government the 40th Anniversary year and uphold the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution!
The author pays tribute to authors like Edgar Snow, William Hinton ,Felix Greene, Rewi Alley, Maria Macciocci Etc. They visited China and all Communist Revolutionaries and democrats have to thank such writers for their outstanding Contribution in bringing the truth about Socialist China, particularly in the Cultural Revolution period.I particularly owe gratitude to Maria Macciocci in her book “Daily Life I Revolutionary China‿who reported such outstanding achievements in Socialist China in the Cultural Revolution period. They all showed that in that period the greatest revolutionary democratic transformation ever in the history of mankind was taking place.
The author also thanks the Communist Revolutionary publications compiled by the Revolutionary Communist Party U.S.A which did great work in publicly upholding the Cultural Revolution in their publications and books..Bob Avakian made a great contribution in that regard. I recommend readers to read the serialized version of the 14 part series column in the journal ‘Revolution’ (Organ of the R.C.P.U .S.A.)titled “Socialism Is Much Better Than Capitalism, and Communism Will Be A Far Better World" by Raymond Lotta."
I owe my deepest gratitude to the ‘Morning Sun’ Website by the Longbow Group which uphold’s Mao’s achievements like a red flame set alight. I also thank the journals of Indian Revolutionaries who defended Comrade Mao and the Cultural Revolution. Theoretically an Indian Revolutionary Journal the Comrade has one outstanding essay on the mass line. Earlier issues of ‘Red Star’ had very profound ideological defence of the Cultural Revolution Period in context of the mass line..
I recommend readers to read the Following books.
1. ‘Daily Life in Revolutionary China ‘ by Maria Maciocci
2. “The Wall has 2 sides‿by Felix Greene
3. ‘The Long Revolution’by Edgar Snow
4. ‘Fanshen’ by William Hinton
5. ‘The Revolution Continued’by Jan Myrdal
6. ‘China in the year 2001.’by Han Suyin.
Also read the great works of the R.C.P U.S.A like ‘Revolution and Counter-revolution‿(There are lot of mistaken evaluations but overall the book is an outstanding defence of the Cultural Revolution)
I would also like to pay homage to Comrade Yao Wen-Yuan ,a member of the ‘Gang of 4’who died last December.
1.INTRODUCTION
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that was launched in China on May 16th 1966 wrote a historical epoch in the history of mankind. This was initiated by Comrade Mao Tse Tung to defeat the revisionists and create a ground for the ultimate triumph for Socialism. Mao discovered that even in a Socialist State there were capitalist elements who intended to turn the country to the capitalist road. From the example of the U.S.S R he learnt that a Socialist State can turn into a Social-Imperialist or Revisionist state and there can be a restoration of Capitalism. Stalin saved the Socialist State but he hardly made an effective attempt to democratize the Socialist State and initiate broad based mass movements.
True there were great achievements for workers but Stalin hardly gave attention to the superstructure and even violated Democratic Centralism to a great extent. Mao called for a revolt within his own party against the capitalist roaders Liu Shao Chi and Deng Xiaoping who opposed Mao’s line and felt that it was better to be ‘expert’ than ‘red.’ They advocated that profit from production should be the chief goal and opposed communization of land ,professing that peasants should get a private plot. What Sparked of the Cultural revolution was a play called “Hai Jui removed from office’ which defended Peng Te Huai who was removed from the Chinese Army for supporting ranks ,modernization against Communistic policies,and supporting the U.S S R. On 16th May 1966 Mao drafted a circular issued by the Central Committee alerting cadres against the revisionistsMao introduced a 16 points programme and finally gave a call to his followers the ‘Red Guards’ to ‘Bombard the Headquarters.
These were encompassing a broad-based revolutionary democratic programme explaining the masses to be daring above everything else and boldly arouse the masses,let the masses educate themselves in the movement through making the biggest use of big character posters and great debates to argue matters out so that masses can clarify theright and wrong views.It also stressed on applying the classs line of the party,correctly handling the contradictions amongst the people,be on guard against counter-revolutionaries discriminate cadres between good cadres ,those who have made serious mistakes and those who are anti-party or anti-Socialist.It was stressed that the anti-party rightists must be fully exposed, refuted or overthrown but at the same time be given the chance to turn over a new leaf.The programme went on to stress the importance of Cultural Revolutionary Group, committees and Congress’s. Another Important point stressed was educational reform where the old system of education would be completely transformed.
The other points were the question of criticizing by name in the press, policies towards Scientists, technicians and ordinary members of working staffs, question of arrangements of integration with the Socialist Education System and Countryside, stimulating production from a revolutionary perpective,revolutionizing the armed forces and finally establishing Mao Tse Tung Thought as the guide to action in the Cultural Revolution.
On May 25th at the Peking University a big poster was pasted up at Peking University which was the first big ‘Marxist LeninistIt attacked 2 corrupt university officials. Who negated the Cultural Revolution buy curbing mass initiative. The big character poster lit a flame in the hearts of the masses. Character Poster.’
2. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
1. A de-centralized medical system creating Barefoot doctors. The Medical field made the most innovative changes. A worker’s fingers being replaced occurred, something unheard of even in Developed countries. Applying Mao’s line the broken bones were attached Etc.In no third world country before did medicine serve the poor peasantry to that extent.
2.Stopping examinations in schools and colleges and making students learn from the peasants and workers as well as participating in productive labour. Now it was the peasants and workers who taught the students. Factories were attached to schools so that students would learn science from production. In the villages students would learn about agriculture and peasants would explain them their problems and about production.
3.Enabling workers to be masters of Marxist Leninist philosophy through study in factory school which enabled workers to build their own machines and run their own factories.
4..Revolutionary committees launched where the workers and peasants democratic rights were represented. There were 3 in one committees. These were far more effective than the committees in factories in Western Style Democracies. Workers and peasants.
5.The Army served the people doing work like construction, building canals and rotated the jobs of Workers and peasants. They were politically enlightened and trained about the role of revolution and history and politics in connection to Marxism Leninism. The Army defended and protected the mass movements unlike bourgeois states. Ranks were abolished in the military.
6 revolutionizing the Agricultural Communes through mass movements and introducing piecemeal wage system.Tachai is the best Example as well as Shanghai.
7.There were mass rallies where the broad masses could print big character posters. The C.P.C. was never afraid of disorder. “Great Debates’ and anti-Rightist campaigns were held. The masses could voice their demands to punish corrupt officials, oppose bureaucraticsm, fight for press freedom and for democratic Rights. They had the four great ‘freedoms ‘of speaking out Freely, airing views folly, holding great debates, and writing big character posters.
8.A Revolutionary Democratic Army that always stood by the peoples Movements. The Army represented the heart and the soul of the broad masses being based from the basic classes. Once the Cultural Revolution started in earnest, the Army was not allowed to intervene in what emerged as a civil war between the various factions of Red Guards and Red Rebels. The PLA was ordered by Mao to "support the left" by standing aside, even when their arsenals were looted by the civilian combatants.
When the chaos reached its climax, when the Party was in disarray and the economy had come to a virtual standstill, the Army appeared to be the only functioning organization left, and Mao turned to the PLA to restore order. As a result, the PLA emerged from the chaos with greatly increased position and power: senior Army men headed the newly-formed revolutionary committees responsible for local administration; almost half of the Central Committee members elected in 1969 were soldiers; and half of the State Council members in 1971 belonged to the PLA. Ranks were abolished in the Peoples Liberation Army. The Army had to participate in the production in factories and help the peasants in production. They were involved in digging the Countryside, transporting grain and all kinds of furniture on carts, leading Children in drills a school.
All forms of hierarchy and paternalism were removed. A soldier recognized his commanding officer just like a revolutionary committee obeyed it’s leader. Inspite of that the Peoples Liberation Army was recognized as the most disciplined. The Army was indoctrinated with Mao’s thought and taught to support the liberation Struggles of the masses all over the world. The virtues of the Chinese Revolution were explained and nation chauvinism was totally opposed in the teachings. In the Cultural Revolution upheavals the Army always stood by the Revolutionary Committees Army controlled instances when Red Guard Group rivalry took place or civilians were attacked.
Only when factional non –revolutionary tendencies take place did the Army intervene. (An Ultra –left trend took place caused by a certain Red Guard faction) Army in the world. Another feature of the Cultural Revolution was the emphasis on studying Marxist Philosophy. (Taken from Daily life in Revolutionary China Once Lin Biao fell from grace in 1971 and his supporters were purged, the PLA's model function as the "great school of Mao Thought" ceased to be stressed. Instead, the close relations between the Army and the people were propagated once more ("as close as fish and water"). Foreigners were taken to a unit of the P.L.A to learn about the study of the Thought of Mao Tse Tung.The soldiers worked on farms to feed themselves and helped commune members when they needed help.
9.Great Innovations in the field of Art and literature representing the proletariat.
Below are a compilation or collection of notes compiled from a book ‘Daily Life in Revolutionary China’ by a member of the Italian Communist Party Maria Macciocci who visited Socialist China in the heyday of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution which elaborate the points I discussed.
2a.Success of Communes-Tachai Brigade
“The Cultural Revolution does not leave the countryside a subordinate role. It chose constant de-centralisation of the cities over megalpoli,over giant industrial centers where technology and intelligence have triumphed. The Revolution unites the city and the countryside by the mechanization of the latter, by small and medium-sized industries which depend on large ones, by the selection of peasant’s sons for schools, by peasant teachers, by the restructuring of the University, and by the decentralization of medicine.
A trip through the Chinese Communes gave the visitor a chance to see the tensions which one still senses in the cities and which in all likelihood still have their critical aspects, are quite different in the countryside.‿
“The Tachai brigade is the model of all revolutionary politics which has been recounted to the Chinese peasants a million times, by voice and radio. If China has 9 years of steadily better harvest behind it it is partly because the Chinese peasants have learned from their modest comrades of the Tachai brigade what a revolution of the Superstructure is. They have abolished exploitation and implemented Socialist Generosity of collective management. They have counted days of work by work points which a peasant grants himself once a month after a group discussion with the whole brigade. Through communes they shared all their produce and a most fair pricing and distribution system was introduced.
The Tachai Commune was the best Example. In November1964 Mao launched the slogan, “In Agriculture learn from Tachai‿The brigade in the worst physical conditions had just 7 gullies and the intermediate rigregs. Its members lived in scooped out caves. They also had no regular source of water and yields before 1955 were just 750kg.perhectare of millet and Sorghum. Through sheer labour the Tachai brigade solved its problems of land and water, creating farmland out of the rocky, steep slopes, by leveling, moving soil from one spot to the other and creating terraces, joining various small plots together, constructing a 4 mile canal to the village, building water storage facilities against prolonged drought and making dams which prevented flash floods.
Similar things happened around China. Socialist Consciousness of Mao’s thought was what was applied as against the concept of the private plot. Here is a report of a peasant comrade: We don not just admire the political ability, for politics and production go together. The people of Tachai worked together under terrible conditions. They had no modern farm equipment, they had no collective funds, they had a few plows, hoes, picks, shovels, baskets-that’s all they had. Still they transformed their village intoa modern village. They scraped the mountain to replant it with trees, and now it’s fine green. They didn’t have enough grain but they now sell grain too the state. They didn’t have water, and they tamed and channeled the mountain torrents. They didn’t have enough fertilizers, and they used the mid of swamps. They didn’t have houses, and they built house, they didn’t have schools and they built them too.‿
“He went on to explain that in his own brigade before liberation he had 1000 huts of mud and earth. The land belonged to a single landlord and there was one rich peasant. We participated in the movement for co-operatives, and the movement for the founding of peoples communes. Politically we followed a correct course. We built 334 new little houses, we created an irrigation system, and where there was only one mechanical well before, now every house has one. Before there was just one bicycle in the village, now there are 134 bicycles and 82 radios.In this house we have 2 bicycles and 2 radios.‿
“A woman in the Evergreen Commune explained how the old theory of work points was much criticized. She stated how long discussions used to take place about the points and who should get them. “After the Cultural Revolution we learned that if you cultivate the land for the revolution, following the example of Tachai, and not for points. We realized that earlier people paid little attention to the quality of the work. Piecework gave no regard to quality. Now to cultivate 10,000 mou of wheat it takes only one week because of the application of revolutionary ideology Earlier it took 2 weeks to achieve the task.
The People’s liberation Army played a great role by explaining Mao’s Thought. A new pay system has been created. Large differences of pay have been abolished and the principle, “To each according to his work ‘has been better applied. The calculation is not based on a basic work day, which would have the effect of stimulating the peasants to work but the flaw of differentiating among them according to strength, their age, their technical level, the number of people in their families, and would favour quantity more than quality. Now the calculation is based on the effective work day. In effect work points are given to the behaviour of each person.‿
In case of emergency there is a classical example of how the Communes functioned.
“On August 29th, 1969 hail fell. The peasants battled the hailstones for 3 days and re-planted 10,000 mou of land. The Peking Revolutionary Committee and the Peoples Liberation Army ame to their aid. The fields are once again covered in green. This is a tribute to our struggle to transform nature, guided by the Thought of Mao.‿
“With regards to Industrialisation of the Communes the New China Commune was an illustrious example. It cultivates 85,00 mou,of which 75,000 are irrigated and 58,000 are planted with rice.7 factories and 12 agricultural enterprises have been set up. The factories build and repair agricultural machines. Being self-reliant they have built 3 reservoirs which hold 35 million cubic feet of water. They have dug a 40 mile irrigation canal, created an artificial lake, built a dam with a new system of pneumatic locks, and set up 73 electrified irrigation pump centres.In the area of mechanized agriculture the commune has bought or built 68 new tractors,120 rice-planting machines,354 seeding machines, and 1000 harvesters. The health system serves every brigade. Before the Cultural Revolution the commune had to buy rice from the state, while now with irrigation assured thee are no more droughts. More than 80%of the people have electricity and 80%have money in an account.‿
“The production teams in Hsiu Tsun village ahd 42 families There are innumerable children. One peasant Comrade Chen recounted his experience explained that they never had a real house before, which was always destroyed by floods. His mother had eight children but only two of us survived. His 2 other brothers died of hunger and sickness. In 1968 after the Cultural Revolution we built this house, and with the income from our work we were able to buy a bicycle, a sewing machine and furniture. For the first time in our lives we eat what we want, we have clothes, and the children can go to school
2b.Peasant Schools.
“The poor peasants following the directive of Mao took over the operation of a school in Tachai.Liu Shao’s men discouraged them propagating that this would make no change.The peasants criticized the schools They felt that the children of poor peasants could not pass their examinations and had to give up their studies One peasant claimed that that in his brigade there were 28 families and only 3 peasnts out of them got their middle school diplomas. Peasant Children also did not have time to learn the lessons because they worked at home.
“The basic political work was telling the students how much the poor peasants suffered in the old society and made them study the history of their own families and that of the whole village. The Comrades who were in the people’s militia in the commune were sent to the schools in the brigade to educate students about military questions. Lessons were given on agricultural mechanics, mathematics and hygiene.
“Work was evaluated in a new manner. Grades were abolished. When an assignment was done well, the teacher draws a small red Flag in the student’s notebook and writes,‿ Loyalty to Chairman Mao’
“A School’s revolutionary Committee is elected by an assembly at the rank and file level. After an open debate, each member of the Commune writes on a slip of paper who he wants as a representative on the School Revolutionary Committee. Then comes the vote. At the end the Revolutionary Committee examines the results and approves them.The presnt revolutionary Commitee3 out of 5 members are members of he party.
2c. Factories and the Revolutionary Committee.
One worker explained that he was working in a dyeing and weaving workshop in Factory No2since he was 17 years old. His father had died from illness because he didn’t have proper medical care and his salary meant to support 5 people could hardly keep 2 people alive. They had to eat bean curd and potatoes and in the winter had only thin jackets. Workers had hernias and rheumatism and hid their illnesses for fear of being been laid off. However in the liberation period in 1949 the conditions of life were like “ going to heaven.‿
Besides the Revolutionary Committee in the factory the workers representative committee played an instrumental role. It was an organ of red power elected by all the workers and in
charge of the daily problems of the factory. It co-ordinated with the revolutionary committee and with the workers council rep[laced the trade Union. The party has a leading role, the
Revolutionary Committee is responsible for management, and the workers council is in charge of the revolutionary reorganization of work and acts as a control from the base levels on the higher echelons. Piecework wages and incentive bonuses were abolished. The highest salary was 120 yuan,the lowest 50 yuan.The difference between the pay of an engineer and that of a skilled technician was 40 Yuan. A struggle-criticism-transformation movement dealt with the salaries problem(Taken from Daily Life in Revolutionary China).
In revolutionary China peasants built their own houses through co-operative efforts. A peasant explained that before the liberation the peasants had no political power. They merely had a harvest of 450 pounds per mou and had to give 350 to the landlord. After liberation they could purchase a bicycle, a sewing machine and furniture. For the first time in their lives they could get clothes, ate what they wanted and sent their children to school. (Taken from Daily Life in Revolutionary China).
2d.Medicine and Barefoot Doctors
Barefoot doctors performed phenomenal feats. One doctor re-attached 2 fingers on a peasants hand-something unheard of in pre-revolutionary China swearing by Mao TseTung Thought. Similarly poor peasant women had her leg replaced. A professor narrated his experiences of meeting the poor peasants and how it changed his life. The peasants re-educated the professor enabling him to transform his entire outlook. Working in the Countryside made the professor a different person. Despite being over 70 years of age the professor traveled climbing mountains to share the experiences of toiling people. He started how he leant Marxism Leninism from direct contact with peasants rather than books.
One Comrade Lin told reporters where he went to the villages to learn from the poor peasants. He explained how their team stopped in a village where there was a woman who was considered incurable. The family was already preparing for the funeral. Applying Mao Tse Tung Thought he developed a form of medicine that cured the patient. The patient was suffering from chronic Arthritis. Another professor explained that only by being re-educated by the peasants and changing his ideology he cured 20 incurable patients. He elaborated by transforming his world outlook he developed his techniques and that the peasants had cured him of his ‘ ideological sickness.’ There was a child who had a tumour on his arm as large as the head of a foetus. The Doctors cut away the diseased part and re-attached the arm This could never have been done in Pre Revolutionary China. Doctors were able to remove a 100-pound tumour said to be incurable.
An electric mower cut one peasant’s hand and his fingers fell to the ground. The new doctors looked for his fingers, found them and put them on ice. The fingers were re-attached! In the old society this could never have taken place. Another girl who once had a clubfoot was operated. Her tendons were lengthened and now she could carry a load of about 50 pounds on her shoulders. The peasant and the girl attributed their cures to Mao TseTung Thought. This in actual fact meant de-centralization of medicine, which brought doctors to the most remote places, which made them test their skills. The doctors traveled through the mountains, border regions, islands Etc Revolutionary Committees ran hospitals and each ward had it’s own revolutionary committee. (Excerpted From Daily Life in Revolutionary China)
This is a quote from a specialist in internal medicine.
“In the fall of 1968 I went into the countryside to learn from the poor peasants. Once our team stopped in a village where there was a woman who was considered incurable. The family was already preparing for the funeral. I decided I had to pay a call on those women too. I examined her closely and I realized that she had a generalized arthritis; she had not been treated in time and she had swelled up. I asked her family,’ Why don’t you take her over to the doctor?’
Her husband told me angrily that they had taken the sick women on a stretcher to a ciy hospital four years before, that this had cost them much money, but that the hospital had told them she was incurable. Back in her village, the woman took the medicine prescribed for her but he sickness worsened steadily. I learned from her husband that the doctor inn question belonged to the same hospital as I did. When I returned, I looked through the files and found that the doctor who had made the incorrect diagnosis was me‿ Here he lowered his head like a guiltyman. “I was tremendously upset and full of self-contempt.’ Whom do we serve?I always replied to that question in the following way.:
We live in a Socialist Society. It is therefore clear that we serve the workers, peasants and the soldiers. For a young person like me, the important thing is to raise the level of medicine to serve the people. But the story of the sick woman taught me many things. I was medically prepared to cure the sick, bit I just lacked an ideology. That was why first I examined the women superficially and was unable to meet the correct diagnosis.
“I returned to the countryside and took up my work with the barefoot doctors. The treatment I gave her for me the beginning of the struggle of seeing the world differently. After 2 months I had cured the women. She was able to get up.‿
“After I changed my ideology, I cured 20 patients who had been considered incurable. It was the poor peasants who cured me of my ideological sickness, and not I who cured the peasants.‿
One Dr .Ling stated. “In 1968,10,000worker doctors were sent from Shanghai into rural zones. A revolutionary Committee runs the hospital and each ward has it’s own revolutionary committee. Since the re-construction of the party –reorganization, which took place during the last year, the party is in charge of the hospital’s political direction, while administrative matter are handled by the Revolutionary Committee various decisions are approved by the leadership after it has been elected according to democratic election principle of the Paris Commune. Here thee is no trace left of the former hierarchy.
Now thee was a hospital chief and a committee of hospital administration composed of professors and specialists., men who had transformed their conception of the world. The Old director now works as an ordinary doctor. The Peoples Liberation Army Comrades work in administrative work too. There is a three in one combination operating. Specialists and professors are allowed to work in rotation.
Control by the masses is necessary for the good administration of the hospital. The patients are the best judges of this, but they are not allowed to participate in the elections because they are only hee temporarily. However,they can set up groups to study Mao Thought in which patients and doctors work together. The Revolutionary Committee has created a special team, which collects the criticisms and opinions of patients on the operation of the hospital and on the abilities and political spirits of doctors.
We have a safety network of worker-doctors who go to work in particular enterprises. The doctors live in the factories and study what the most recurring illnesses are. They examine inquiries and take preventive measures. Only because they live in the factory can the doctors accomplish this. For example in a chemical factory harmful fumes circulate during production. The doctor who has practical experience of living in the factory knows exactly what has to be done to eliminate toxic gases.
Medical students do a type of medical internship we call open instruction. Students are sent to factories and into the countryside to deepen their knowledge.
Scientists share a comradely relationship with ordinary doctors, nurses, and hospital personnel Scientists carry out struggle-criticism –transformation and are not paid higher salaries than doctors or nurses.
“Western and Chinese medicine is fused The metaphysical aspects of Western Science is cut out. Dialectical materialism teaches us that everything is in movement and transformation. Human knowledge and it’s potential for transforming what seems incurable hat is why we sat that there are no illnesses that are absolutely incurable. Even Cancer will be cured when we learn the natural they obey as has happened with other laws they obey. The movement of transformation in the World of objective reality is without end, and hence man is never done learning the truth from practice.‿
“As we examine the human body, we consider that it is always a unity of opposites. It’s various parts are united, one to the others: They are in opposition and at the same time depend on each other. It is only in dialectically examining the elations between the parts and the whole I all their aspects, and in regulating them, that we can know the disease and cure it. “In the case of fractures we put little wooden splints on the limb to fix the bone after setting it back to position, and we make sure that movement can begin after setting it back to position, and we make sure that movement can begin as soon as the bone has set. It is a question of resolving the contradiction between the stability and movement. By Western methods, the limb is enclosed in a cast to wait for the bones to merge again.
The arm can’t move, and sometimes it takes 3-6 months of absolute immobility. Since we previously did not use x-rays, we did not know that in traditional medicine, exactly how the bone had broken and that was a drawback. In shot, one type of method treat only the fracture and neglect articulation and the overall body. Others do not limit their interest to the beneficial aspect of immobility for setting a bone, but also note he drawbacks of a healing method that prevents the simultaneous reassertion of the bone’s solidarity and the functioning of the whole limb.
Thus in short, the doctor workers of China combine what is positive in Western medicine and what is positive in traditional Western medicine. This is an example of the Unity of Opposites.
“Regarding research for Cancer in medical centres people study plants and prepare local recipes for medicines that are tried in the treatment for cancer. For cancer, too we apply the dialectical process.‿
“Barefoot doctors are all attached to Communes., who divide their time between medicine and soil. Generally they are 25 years old and earn 250 to 300 Yuan,100 from Agricultural Work, the rest in fees. Barefoot doctors earn as much as the manual workers in the Countryside. They treat the less serious diseases, thus the peasant can be treated within his village. Barefoot doctors also make plant medicines which cure burns constipation, stomach aches, diarrhea Etc. The work of the barefoot doctors ensured a basic health system, for where Universities take years to produce a doctor, we take only a few months to train a barefoot doctor.
“In a surgical department for children, there was a child who had a tumour on his arm as large as the head of a foetus. Previously they would have amputated his arm. But what would a worker’s son have done with only one arm? “We cut away the diseased part and re-attached the arm.‿
“We are able to re-attach hands higher up when they have been severed. When one peasant lost a part of his forearm, we attached his hand at the mid-point of the forearm. Not only can we attach completely severed arms, but also fingers cut off by threshers legs severed by trains Etc.
“In the overall context the expression,‿The Thought of Mao Tse Tung meant that due to de-centralisation of medicine doctors wee brought to the remotest places, which made them test their skills, using every means they could find on the high plateaus, in the border regions, on islands, in order to cure people considered incurable.
2e.The Peoples Liberation Army
The Chinese people’s Army is employed in factories, agriculture, medicine, naval construction, the University, culture and theatre. The Chinese Revolutionary Army is virtually amalgamated with the Party.In our society, the most familiar image is a traditional army, that of people who can do nothing but take up arms-soldiers, colonels, and generals who are nothing better than despots in the barracks. The People’s Liberation Army performed the sole duty to serve the broad interests of the Chinese People. It was indoctrinated with class Struggle and educated to guard against any possible counter-revolution. This army was the least “military “of all armies They never reflected any sense of superiority over the Workers and peasants. They were involved in the hardest kinds of work, digging in the countryside, transporting grain and all kinds of furniture on carts, checking tickets at the entrance of a theatre and leading children in drills at School. No other army in the World could have accepted such duties.
The ‘primacy of politics’ was the basis of their entire training. They were indoctrinated to ‘serve the people.’ In the Cultural Revolution the Army played the role of a central pivot. The Cultural Revolution initially triumphed because of the support of the Army. The revolutionary “3 in one combination which seized power during the Cultural Revolution is an alliance in which the army always played an integral role in accordance with the directive. From the summit to he base ,in all sectors where power must be seized, representatives of the armed forces and the militia must participate on the formation of a 3 in one combination. In this army ranks were abolished and the officers,from generals on down. became accustomed to sharing the soldier’s barracks and campbeds.
“ The Cultural Revolution promoted the spirit of the , ‘3 Democracies’ in the political, economic and military spheres .Ordinary combatants were the equals of their leaders and free to criticize them, express opinions about them ,and pass judgement o their work I the army. All the soldiers of a company elect a comitee. This committee participates in the leadership of the company through management of commissary and production services, supervision of stocks, auditing of accounts, and waste disposal. Democracy I the military sphere ,between officers and soldiers and between soldiers, means that mutual aid during instruction is compulsory during combat as it is after battle/The people’s army made the primacy of the political sphere the key principle. All forms of hierarchy and paternalism was eliminated. However it still remained one of the most disciplined armies in the world.‿
“The Soldiers recognized their commanding officers just as a worker recognized the leader of a revolutionary committee. He knew him from his work, and not because of some external rank or stripe.The Participation of the army loyal to Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution was carried out with utmost political determination and always defending the motto of ‘Serve the People ’determination and never paved the path for violent demonstrations contrary to that principle. When the Cultural revolution in certain localities degenerated into open conflict between factions, at first with the use of sidearms, then guns, and eventually mortars, the army lost thousands of men before deciding to use it’s own weapons to suppress factional Struggles.
Throughout the Cultural Revolution the Army tok a very strong guard against ultra-leftism.With the ‘May16th group’the Peoples Liberation Army unmasked the group, through harsh political Struggle, isolating the group.‿
“In the course of the Cultural Revolution the army was called to renew those indissoluble bonds of unity with the people which marked the entire revolutionary Tradition. It gave unconditional support to the proletarian Revolutionaries by grasping revolution and promoting production. This group tried to use Chairman Mao to defeat him. They attacked the British consulate in Peking on August 20th 19067 and went on to ransack the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.‿
From Morning Sun Website
“In our great era, the brilliant thought of Mao Tse-tung lights up the earth and a new generation of communists is rapidly emerging. Not long ago there appeared in China a hero who, like Ouyang Hai and Wang Chieh, gave up his life for the safety of the people. He was Liu Ying-chun, a fighter in an artillery company of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
On the morning of March 15 this year, Liu Ying-chun and his comrades were on foot guiding three horse-drawn gun carriages along a highway in a city suburb. There were people coming and going in the street-children were on their way to school and workers headed for factories and shops. Liu Ying-chun's shaft horse was startled by the horn of a bus at a nearby stop. It panicked and bolted.
Liu Ying-chun, with great presence of mind, shouldered the frightened horse into a side road to prevent it from running into them. The horse rushed madly on. Liu Ying-chun, pulling desperately at the reins, was dragged along the road. People shouted to him to let go the reins. Catching sight of six panic-stricken children in mortal danger ahead of him, Liu Ying-chun wound the reins about his arm and pulled with all his might. The horse reared. With no thought for his own safety, Liu Ying-chun quickly seized the carriage shaft and, thrusting both legs under it, gave the horse's hind legs a vigorous kick. The horse fell, overturning the carriage. Liu Ying-chun was pinned under the cart and seriously injured, but the six children were out of danger.
People standing by were deeply moved by this selfless act of heroism. They rushed over to him and hurried to the nearest hospital with him. In no time hundreds of soldiers and civilians had gathered outside the hospital and were volunteering to donate blood to save the hero. They earnestly begged the doctors to save him. "We will provide anything that is needed. Save him at all costs!" However, his injuries were too grave, and all their efforts were of no avail. Comrade Liu Ying-chun died a glorious death.
Liu Ying-chun was born to a poor peasant family living on the outskirts of Changchun in Kirin Province. He was only 21 years old when he died. With a deep hatred of the class enemy in his heart he joined the P.L.A. in the summer of 1962, at the time when the Chiang Kai-shek brigands were making a raucous clamour about invading the mainland. His love for the Communist Party and Chairman Mao and for socialism was unbounded. In the army, he studied Chairman Mao's works conscientiously and applied what he learned creatively. Nurtured on the thought of Mao Tse-tung he cultivated the proletarian world outlook of one who is a revolutionary both of his own country and of the world, who believes that "Revolution calls for struggle and struggle is happiness", and who wants to. "Live a revolutionary life, and die a revolutionary death".
He was a model in taking Chairman Mao's writings as the supreme guide in all he did. He actively propagated Mao Tse-tung's thought and enlarged the positions it held. He bravely defended it and struggled resolutely against all words and actions contrary to it. He took Lei Feng and Wang Chieh as his models and did whatever Chairman Mao said. He devoted himself utterly to others without any thought of self and served the people heart and soul. He did his best to dedicate his life to the revolutionary cause of the proletariat. He dearly loved the people and performed many services for the workers and his neighbours. But few whom he helped knew his name until after his death when they saw his picture in newspaper.
Liu Ying-chun's short life was one of studying, carrying out, disseminating and defending Mao Tse-tung's thought; of complete service to the people with all his heart and soul. It was the glorious, great and militant life of a proletarian fighter. Like the great communist fighter Lei Feng and other heroic figures, Liu Ying-chun is an outstanding representative of China's younger generation maturing under the thought of Mao Tse-tung. He is a good soldier of Chairman Mao and a good son of the people. He laid down his life, but his spirit will live forever in the hearts of hundreds of millions of people in China, and in the cause of communism!
At present, a movement to learn from Comrade Liu Ying-chun is sweeping the country. It originated in the P.L.A., which is a highly proletarianized army with a powerfully developed fighting spirit, an army formed by Chairman Mao personally. The broad masses of young people, old people, people of various trades and housewives are taking part. They are determined to follow Chairman Mao's teachings in all their actions, as Comrade Liu Ying-chun did.
Study Mao Tse-tung's thought conscientiously, loyally carry it. out, enthusiastically disseminate it and courageously defend it! Always be loyal to the Party, to the people, to Chairman Mao and to the thought of Mao Tse-tung! Make new contributions to the fight against imperialism, modem revisionism and the reactionaries of various countries!
*Lines from a poem entitled Farewell to the God of Plague by Mao Tse-tung. Yao and Shun were two ancient sage kings.
"Owing to the application of Comrade Mao Tse-tung's line on army building, there has prevailed in our army at all times a high level of proletarian political consciousness, an atmosphere of keenness to study the thought of Mao Tse-tung, an excellent morale, a solid unity and a deep hatred for the enemy, and thus a gigantic moral force has been brought into being. In battle it has feared neither hardships nor death, it has been able to charge or hold its ground as the conditions require. One man can play the role of several, dozens or even hundreds, and miracles can be performed."
On the eve of "August 1" Army Day, we visited a unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army called the " Steel Red Second Company", which has a long history. From all we saw and heard during our stay, and from our personal experience, we felt keenly that this company matched the description given by Comrade Lin Piao.
When the company was first organized, Comrade Lin Piao was appointed commander, It played a heroic part in the Nanchang Uprising on August 1, 1927, which was led by the Communist Party of China. In April, 1928, the armies of the Nanchang Uprising came to the Chingkang Mountains, China's first red revolutionary base built up personally by Comrade Mao Tse-tung, and joined forces with the armies of the Autumn Harvest Uprising under the command of Comrade Mao Tse-tung. They were merged to form the Fourth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. “
“Imbued with deep proletarian feelings, the cadres and soldiers of the second company study Chairman Mao's works every day. Chairman Mao's Serve the People, In Memory of Norman Bethune and The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains have enabled the young soldiers to cultivate the outlook of serving the Chinese people and people all over the world with heart and soul. They cherish the revolutionary interests of the Chinese people and people the world over, and assume the burden of the Chinese revolution and the world revolution. They are determined to devote themselves to the final burial of imperialism and to the liberation of the oppressed and exploited people. See how these young soldiers express it: "Keep the people in your heart forever and always keep the revolution in mind. Then you'll be able to cast away all thoughts of personal gain and loss, conquer any kind of difficulty or hardship, challenge ogres of all descriptions, dare to take risks and defy dangers."
In the squads, platoons and the company, records are kept which tell about the bitter, pre-liberation history of the soldiers' families, and about the sufferings of the oppressed and exploited people the world over. Profound class hatred inspires the soldiers with revolutionary fervour. Their hatred for the enemy is concentrated in the muzzles of their guns and they take the drill ground for the battlefield and the target for the real enemy. They practise hard for the people and for the revolution, maintaining their enthusiasm throughout all kinds of adverse weather. Training in perilous mountains and rapid rivers cannot dampen their enthusiasm. Many of them have become "sharp-shooters", "iron feet", "tigers in the forest" and "tough back-bones".
The company has always persisted in the democratic tradition of the people's army, developing widely the three cardinal democracies in political, economic and military affairs. The cadres are modest in listening to the opinions of the soldiers and follow the mass line, while the soldiers consciously observe discipline and are resolute in obeying orders. Everything is done well, quickly and through collective efforts. The cadres and soldiers work closely together, sharing joys and sorrows, and showing consideration for each other. The atmosphere in the company is one of profound class brotherhood and proletarian class feeling.
Keeping in mind Chairman Mao's teachings about respect and concern for the people, the company maintains the closest of ties with them. With their belongings on their backs and carrying their own provisions, the soldiers go to the people's communes to stay, eating, living and working with the members. They help the members study Chairman Mao's works, and spread Mao Tse-tung's thought. They help the people in spring ploughing and autumn harvesting, summer hoeing and winter storing. They train the people's militia and propagate Chairman Mao's thought on people's war. The second company has become near and dear to the commune members. Their relation with the masses of the people is like one between fish and water.
Since these young soldiers have the interests of the people at heart they have taken over from their revolutionary forerunners the task of acting as a "production unit as well as an army". They Open Up waste-land, till the fields, grow vegetables and raise pigs to lighten the people of their burden and to develop industriousness, which is the true mark of the labouring people. In 1965, they produced over 58,000 jin of vegetables, over 3,500 jin of pork and close to 3,000 jin of grain.
At present, the great nation-wide proletarian cultural revolution is surging with strength and vitality. In this great revolutionary torrent, the Red Second Company, raising high the great red banner of Mao Tse-tung's thought, rose with a bound, charged heroically ahead, just as in the old days on the battle field when attacking and seizing enemy positions. Using Mao Tse-tung's thought, the sharpest and most powerful weapon, they fired fiercely at the anti-Party and antisocialist black line, swept away all monsters and demons and severely criticized all the old ideology and culture and all the old customs and habits, which, fostered by the exploiting classes, have poisoned the minds of the people for thousands of years. In this unprecedented, soul-touching, great proletarian Cultural Revolution, they creatively study and apply Mao Tse-tung's thought to temper themselves to be ever more proletarian and ever more militant.
No matter how desperate a last-ditch struggle imperialism, modern revisionism and all reactionaries put up, and no matter how sinister an attack the anti-Party and anti-socialist elements launch, the fighters, armed with Mao Tse-tung's thought, are afraid of nothing. They are determined to "do away with all pests! Our force is irresistible."
2f. Philosophical Study
Workers had their own reading rooms and political study classes. Mao suggested that a course on philosophy be set up, since the workers needed to study theory and apply it in practice. Workers were developing into stereo typed machines. Now the study of philosophy became possible for all the workers All factory groups had their own reading room. The primacy of politics over economics was stressed. particularly with regard to social factors. This study represented the first qualitative leap of the individual in the revolution of the superstructure. Philosophy enabled the masses to become actively politically involved. (Taken from Daily Life in Revolutionary China)
In this regard an important development was the publication of books written by workers, peasants and soldiers in the mid-70’s to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius.4 workers in the Peking Motor Vehicle Plant jointly wrote notes on duel States by Liu Tsung Yuan.7 Shanghai Workers jointly wrote ‘History of the Peasant Revolution in China’, after Studying Source Material on several hundred peasnt uprisingsIn 1974 the dockworkers at the Tahen Shipyard wrote a number of theoretical works such as , “A history of Chinese Philosophy‿, “A Concise History of European Philosohy,‿Manifestations and Characteristics of the present economic Crisis in the Capitalist Countries Etc.Oil Field workers wrote the historic “Battle Sons of Taiching Oilfield ,’a collection of poems by Oilfield Workers.
Quoting Peking Review1966(Taken from Morning Sun website)
Considerable space in newspapers and magazines today is being devoted to the philosophical writings of workers, peasants and soldiers. In vivid language that only people closely linked with practice can use, these writers impress the reader with their clear thinking, scientific analysis and direct approach. From the way this trend is developing it can be said that philosophy in China is entering a new historic stage.
The movement among the workers, peasants and soldiers for the study of Chairman Mao's works is proceeding vigorously across the land. Coming in the midst of China's socialist revolution and socialist construction, this is an important event in the political and ideological life of the nation. It already has made substantial contributions in all fields of work, and as the movement surges ahead, its far-reaching significance will be more readily seen.
Mastering the Laws Governing Every Sphere of Work
The working masses are not interested in study "for the sake of study." They study the works of Mao Tse-tung for the explicit purpose of learning from Chairman Mao -- his Marxist-Leninist stand, viewpoint and method -- to acquire the outlook of working for the revolution and to learn to do a better job in their revolutionary work. In China, Mao Tse-tung's thinking is compared to a telescope and a microscope which help to see things that are far off and things that are normally unobservable. People seek out Chairman Mao's works for answers to specific questions. They use the basic theories they learn from these writings to analyze and solve these problems. Thus, they find their jobs -- such as operating a machine, ploughing or waiting on customers behind a sales-counter -- full of meaning and they do them enthusiastically and creatively.
Among workers, peasants and soldiers there is great zeal to apply consciously what they learn from On Practice, On Contradiction and other philosophical writings by Chairman Mao in summing up their experience in practice, analyzing the contradictions in objective reality, and in discussing the laws governing their own sphere of work so that they can put their everyday work on the basis of making full use of objective laws. This is popularly called "riding on the back of the objective laws," and is capable of producing tremendous strength.
A Great Motivating Force
Marx has said: "Theory too becomes a material force as soon as it grips the masses." This truth has been borne out most vividly by what is taking place in China today. With Mao Tse-tung's thinking as their guide, many workers, peasants and soldiers go about their work with a scientific attitude backed up by great enthusiasm. This helps bring about an increase in the output of grain or industrial goods, successes in technical innovations and good results in political work. It enables workers to play their role as the leading class in the country better, and it enables the former poor and lower-middle peasants to assume leadership in their own villages.
It can be predicted that with the spreading and deepening of this movement, it will give rise to more and greater strength and material wealth. This is a great motivating force for transforming China from poverty to abundance, from technically backward to technically advanced. It is a powerful impetus for propelling the socialist revolution and construction.
Fostering a New Communist Generation
The present study movement also serves as a big school in which a new communist generation is being trained.
While using Mao Tse-tung's thinking to transform the objective world, the working masses find that a fundamental change has taken place in their own minds, in their subjective world.
In the course of exploring the possibilities for introducing technical innovations in the light of Mao Tse-tung's thinking, for instance, many workers and peasants have learnt to use materialist dialectics to analyze questions and have acquired the working style of following the mass line. This also provides a good opportunity for tempering the revolutionary will for wholehearted service to the people and strengthening tenacity in surmounting difficulties.
Many cadres at the grass-roots level -- leaders of factory work groups and commune production teams, Party branch secretaries, and others -- admit that by creatively applying Mao Tse-tung's thinking they have learnt to do a satisfactory job of ideological and organizational work, to view people and things on the basis of the concept of the unity of opposites which is popularly called "the concept of dividing one into two," and to discover the laws in their own field of work so that they are able to transform the backward into the advanced and the advanced into the even more advanced.
In short, with Mao Tse-tung's thinking in command, all kinds of daily work are treated as a science whose laws can be discovered and mastered. This in turn helps to raise the ideological level of people in all kinds of work.
In studying Chairman Mao's works, workers, peasants and soldiers have further enhanced their communist consciousness, knowing that all work is for the revolution and that at their places of duty, no matter what they are, they are doing their share for China's socialist revolution and construction and for the proletarian revolution throughout the world. This is a process in which the working masses are gradually acquiring a communist world outlook, to become a new generation of communist fighters. This is more important than anything, because the fostering of a new communist generation is essential to guarding against revisionism and to carrying the revolution through to the end.
They Also Write Philosophical Articles
In the course of the study movement, thousands and thousands of workers, peasants and soldiers have taken up their pens and written philosophical articles. Applying the Marxist theory of knowledge and the methodology of Marxism learnt through their study of Chairman Mao's works, they deal with their problems in production and work and write in their own everyday language. Many of their writings are down-to-earth, lively and highly original, and stand out in sharp contrast to philosophical theses written by intellectuals divorced from practice. Principles that seem abstruse in many books on philosophy become easy to understand in these writings.
Thus, under the impact of the study movement, philosophy, which was long considered a subject for the classroom, academic circles and research institutes only, is taking root in factories, mines, villages, shops and army units in every corner of the country. Workers, peasants and soldiers have set foot in the domain of philosophy which for thousands of years was the monopoly of intellectuals. Their study and application of Marxist philosophy and their writings on it have proved that philosophy is no mystery and clearly show that as the philosophy of the proletariat, Marxist philosophy can and should be mastered by the masses of workers and peasants.
The movement among the workers, peasants and soldiers for the study of Chairman Mao's works is also proving to be a rich source of development of Marxist philosophy. Their writing in this respect is a spur to philosophical research. An additional important factor is that people specializing in philosophy are put on the mettle and challenged to improve their work. Describing this as "giving a good shove" to our workers philosophy, a recent editorial in the magazine Zhexu Yanjiu (Philosophical Research) called on all such workers to learn modestly from the workers, peasants and soldiers, from their attitude and method in the study of the philosophical writings of Chairman Mao and from their experience in applying his philosophical thinking. It urged them to break away from "form of habit," thoroughly emancipate themselves from the bookish atmosphere of libraries and studies, and make an earnest effort to integrate their research work more closely with reality.
"Renmin Ribao's" Call to Workers in Philosophy
In a similar vein, Renmin Ribao pointed out in a recent editorial: "The practice of class struggle and the struggle for production by the masses of the people is the greatest and richest source of philosophical ideas, indeed the only source. Anyone who cuts himself off from it and secludes himself in the library will never master Marxism however many books he reads. The only possible outcome will be dogmatism and revisionism." By recalling Chairman Mao's injunction about the need to be a student if one is to be a teacher, the editorial said that this is "the only way to solve the contradiction confronting workers in philosophy, the problem of theory divorced from practice." It also said, "In order that philosophy can better serve workers, peasants and soldiers, workers in philosophy must go into the villages, factories, shops and army units to take part in the class struggle and the struggle for production and earnestly learn from the masses."
Seeing the way ahead, our workers in philosophy are ready to answer the call of the times. They are determined to go to factories, farms and army units and stay there for a number of years, study living philosophy in the course of actual struggle, learn to write in the language of the laboring masses and produce philosophical articles that will be easily understood by the working people. They know that only by doing so will they be able to steel themselves into genuine Marxist philosophical workers. They are confident that by traveling on the right road they be able to turn philosophy into a sharper ideological weapon in the hands of the people and make their contributions to the enrichment and development of Marxist philosophy.
Cultural Contribution-From ‘Morning Sun’Website launched by the ‘Longbow Group’
During the vigorous great proletarian cultural revolution, Mao Tse-tung's thought has been propagated and popularized on an unprecedented scale among hundreds of millions of people. Their spiritual outlook has undergone a profound change and numerous stirring happenings have occurred. Among these, for instance, are the deeds of the Ting Lai-yu family Mao Tse-tung's thought propaganda team.
Ting Lai-yu is a poor peasant of the Lunghua brigade in Polo County, Kwangtung Province. His family of eight includes six children, the oldest 14 and the youngest not yet three. Cherishing boundless love for our great leader Chairman Mao, the red sun in our hearts, they enthusiastically propagate Mao Tse-tung's thought in literary and art form. With song and dance, they warmly praise Chairman Mao, the great Chinese Communist Party and the great Chinese People's Liberation Army. The broad masses of workers, peasants and soldiers give them a name: "The 'Whole Family Red' Mao Tse-tung's Thought Propaganda Team".
Before liberation, oppressed by the exploiting class, Ting Lai-yu's family lived a life worse than that of beasts of burden. When he was 13, his parents died one after the other of poverty and illness. His five brothers and sisters either died of starvation or were sold. Within a year, Ting Lai-yu found himself the only survivor of the family. When Ting's wife Chang Chiung was young, she was also sold as a slave-girl to a landlord's family and underwent untold sufferings.
The east is red; the sun rises. After liberation, Ting Lai-yu was emancipated and became master in his own house. He raised a new family and lived a happy life. Now his family again has eight members. Bit the two families, just as the old society and the new, are poles apart. Ting often teaches his children: Now that we are emancipated, don't forget the Communist Party; we owe our happiness to Chairman Mao!
In March 1967, with the enthusiastic help of the People's Liberation Army, a Mao Tse-tung's thought study class was set up in Ting Lai-yu's family. This further promoted their ideological revolutionization and aroused an inexpressibly deep class feeling of loyalty to Chairman Mao. Every member, with the exception of Hung-ping who is less than three, can recite the "good old three" articles and over 100 quotations from Chairman Mao. Every bit they learn, they apply, combining study with application. The invincible thought of Mao Tse-tung is the life-blood of the revolutionary people. They feel that in addition to studying and applying well Mao Tse-tung's thought themselves, they should also propagate it among more people. They study and practise every day. So far they have learned to sing more than 100 revolutionary songs and perform 50-odd minor revolutionary items of literature and art.
They disseminate Mao Tse-tung's thought with soaring enthusiasm, giving expression to their boundless love for and loyalty to the great leader Chairman Mao. Ordinarily they perform for the local poor and lower-middle peasants. When the departments concerned make arrangements for them to go on tour, they think nothing of crossing mountains and rivers to perform for the workers, peasants and soldiers. They are always compiling material about the moving deeds of the poor and lower-middle peasants, which shows their fervent love Chairman Mao, elaborating it and arranging it into new items. Whenever a new instruction of Chairman Mao's is published, they find it set to music in the newspaper, learn to sing it as quickly as possible, sometimes adapting dance movements to it, and propagate it among the revolutionary masses. At present, a total audience of 400,000 have enjoyed their performances. The broad masses of workers, peasants and soldiers acclaim them as "singing what is in the bottom of our hearts and expressing our deep feeling of infinite loyalty to Chairman Mao".
THE 'RED FAMILY'
The "Red Family" Mao Tse-tung Thought propaganda team of Lunghua production brigade, Polo county, Kwangtung province, consists of the 40-year-old poor peasant couple, Ting Lai-yu and Chang Chiung, and their six children from three to fourteen years. The family's two-hour programmes containing dozens of revolutionary items attract hundreds of people every time they perform. Known far and wide, the family is praised by everybody. "The 'Red Family' propaganda team has a style all its own and is well worthy of the name." While none of the Tings has had more than six years' schooling, they have always been an outstanding collective in the living study and application of Mao Tsetung Thought. In the cultural revolution they have raised their loyalty to Chairman Mao to a new height, studying and applying Chairman Mao's recent instructions earnestly and propagating them widely. To do this more effectively, they worked hard with help from People's Liberation Army men and quickly learned some hundred revolutionary songs and prepared more than fifty song and dance items. Everyone in the family takes part in the performances.
At every performance Ting Lai-yu recalls to the audience the bitterness of the past and compares it with today's happiness won under Chairman Mao's leadership - a vivid class education. He also describes how his family studies Chairman Mao's teachings and applies them in daily practice. Their items praising Chairman Mao and propagating his latest instructions make an indelible impression on audiences.
Beloved Chairman Mao, the red sun shining in our hearts;
How many words so deep in our hearts we long to say to you …
This song is not just a performance, it is an expression of the loyalty and deep feeling that all of China's 500 million peasants have for their beloved Chairman Mao.
Now the song and dance "Never Forget Class Suffering; Be Revolutionaries Forever" composed by the family.
The lights dim. Five-year-old Hung-lien, in rags, comes on stage. Wiping away tears of grief and clenching her fists angrily, the little girl exposes the evil old society while the rest of the family sings an accompaniment. "Recalling the old society brings tears to our eyes. Three big mountains* weighed us down. Our family of eight was torn apart. Nowhere could we speak of our bitterness and pour out our grievances…" This typical representation of the bitter class oppression suffered by millions upon millions of labouring people in old China takes the audience back to the dark old days and never fails to move them deeply. Shouts ring out, "Never forget class suffering, always remember blood-and-tears hatred!" "Never forget class struggle!"
"A clap of spring thunder rolls across the sky. Our saving star, the Chinese Communist Party, leads us in revolution. We rise to our feet and win liberation…" Beating of drums and gongs. Two girls in red come onto the brightly lit stage. Waving long red silk scarves, they sing and dance to celebrate liberation. The joyous atmosphere and songs depicting the happiness of the new society contrast sharply with the dark old days of the previous scene. The performance is in fact a re-enactment of the story of the Ting family. This story, familiar to so many, and the realistic atmosphere on the stage move the audience to a deeper understanding of Chairman Mao's teaching, "Never forget class struggle".
"NEVER forget class suffering; be revolutionaries forever!" This firm pledge of the poor and lower -middle peasants is the class and ideological basis for the Tings becoming a "red family".
Before liberation Ting Lai-yu was one of a family of eight. But ground down by poverty and illness under the brutal rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries, his mother and father died when he was fourteen, leaving six boys who either died of hunger or had to flee from famine. Lai-yu himself had to beg for a living and wandered about until he came to Polo county where a peasant family adopted him. His wife, Chang Chiung, sold three times before she was twelve, finished up as a bondservant in a landlord's house. Both had their fill of bitterness in those days.
In the happy new society, Ting Lai-yu and Chang Chiung married and established their own home. Ting had the honour of joining the Communist Party and became a brigade cadre. After some time, there were again eight in his family. The number was the same, but how different the life in the two societies! Thinking back on the past, looking at the happy life today and to the future, Ting Lai-yu and his wife, their eyes filled with tears of gratitude, always say to others, "We owe it all to Chairman Mao."
Chang Chiung bought a big portrait of Chairman Mao with her savings and put it on the wall so that the whole family could see the great leader who was always in their thoughts. Ting put up a couplet:
For ever loyal to Chairman Mao,
Our hearts will not change even if the sea dries up and the stones rot.
They often stand with their children before the portrait and pledge: "Having won liberation, we will always remember the Communist Party; living in happiness, we will never forget Chairman Mao. We wish Chairman Mao a long, long life!"
Here is an example of Ting Lai-yu educating his children:
Someone once asked Hung-lien, "Who gave you that new dress?" "Father bought the cloth and Mother made the dress." The girl's reply disturbed her father. At the family's study meeting, he told the children, "Your mother gave you birth. But it is the Party that educated you, it is Mao Tsetung Thought that nurtures your growth. The rice you eat, the clothes you wear, you owe them all to our Party and Chairman Mao, not to your mother and father. In the old society I also had a mother and father. But I had no food to eat and no clothes to wear. Year in and year out I went hungry and cold. We never had a happy life like yours. You must never forget our bitter past!"
HAVING grown up in poverty, Ting and his wife know well the meaning of "class" and "exploitation" and hate Liu Shao-chi's evil ambition to restore capitalism. When Chairman Mao called on the people to "Fight self, repudiate revisionism", they immediately started a Mao Tsetung Thought study class to put this important instruction into practice. They held meetings and, using their personal experience, repudiated Liu Shao-chi's vicious ideas that "class struggle has died out" and "exploitation has its merits". They told about their childhood suffering and compared it with today's happy life, giving the children a profound class education and turning the family into a classroom for the living study and application of Mao Tsetung Thought. From this time the family began performing revolutionary songs and dances as recreation activities.
Their experience shows that such activities promote the ideo-logical revolutionization of the family.
One day, as Hung-lien and her mother were going to a meeting, somebody called, "Hung-lien, will you sing me a song?" The girl turned round and saw the landlord's wife. She gave the woman a scornful look and walked on. Not knowing who had spoken, the mother asked, "Why don't you sing her a song since it is to propagate Mao Tsetung Thought?" The girl didn't answer, but when they got back home, she criticized her mother. "Mama, you told me to sing for the landlord's wife. You've forgotten 'Who are our enemies?' How could I sing for her?" Pleased to find her daughter taking such a clear class stand, Chang Chiung readily accepted the criticism.
In family education, the parents set a good example with their own conduct. They take the lead in making a living study and application of Chairman Mao's works, in fighting selfishness and fostering devotion to the public interest. The family is determined to place Mao Tsetung Thought in command of everything. "Of hundreds of thousands of books, the most important are Chairman Mao's works. Of hundreds of thousands of roads, the one we take is the revolutionary road pointed out by Chairman Mao." In spite of his difficulty in reading, Ting Lai-yu studies Chair-man Mao's works every day and puts into practice what he has learned.
Once in a flash flood, the river dyke near their home was in danger of collapsing. If the water burst through, the ripening millet would be ruined. Ting Lai-yu was down with a high fever. Chang Chiung, concerned for her husband's health, told him to stay in bed. "No," he said, "Chairman Mao teaches us to have an indomitable spirit. How can I lie in bed with a slight illness when the commune's millet is about to be washed away?" He got up and joined the other commune members in their battle to save the dyke, persisting till victory. A good example inspires great strength. This devotion to the public interest made a deep impression on his children.
In recent months, carrying simple props and holding high a red flag, the Tings have climbed mountains and waded streams to propagate Mao Tsetung Thought. They have given more than 300 performances for audiences totalling 400,000 in factories, communes, army units, schools and government organizations. Their revolutionary action has the support of revolutionary committees everywhere and earned them the name "Red Family" from the workers, peasants and soldiers.
*Three big mountains refer to imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism.
Quoting an Article from Raymond Lotta in Revolution
“Let’s turn to culture. We’re told that the Cultural Revolution led to a cultural wasteland. But the truth is quite different. There was an explosion of artistic activity among workers and peasants—poetry, painting, music, short stories, and even film. Mass art projects and new kinds of popular and collaborative artistic undertakings spread, including to the countryside and remote areas. Large-scale collective sculptural works, like the Rent Collection Courtyard figures, reached a very high level of artistic expression and revolutionary content.
The Cultural Revolution produced what were called “model revolutionary works.‿ They were pacesetters which the people all over China could use as models in their development of numerous and artistic works. Model operas and ballets put the masses on stage front and center. They conveyed their lives, and their role in society and history. These model works were of extraordinarily high level, combining traditional Chinese forms with western instruments and techniques. Significantly, strong women figured prominently in the revolutionary operas.
Different Peking Opera companies would tour in the countryside, helping local culture groups to develop and learning from local performances. Let me read from an account by someone talking about how the model revolutionary works and the general spread of revolutionary culture affected his village.
He says: "I witnessed an unprecedented surge of cultural and sports activities in my own home village, Gao Village. The rural villages, for the first time, organized theater troupes and put on performances that incorporated the contents and structure of the eight model Peking operas with local language and music. The villagers not only entertained themselves, but also learned how to read and write by getting into the text in plays, and they organized sports meets and held matches with other villages. All these activities gave the villagers an opportunity to meet, communicate, fall in love. These activities gave them a sense of discipline and organization, and created a public sphere where meetings and communications went beyond the traditional household and village clans. This had never happened before and it has never happened since."*
2G. Proletarian Revolutionary line Struggle.
The most significant struggle between the revisionist and the proletarian revolutionary line in China was carried out by the party committee of Chaoyang Agricultural College in Liaoning Province.A revolutionary programme was compiled with 10 specific points.
1.Strengthening Working Class leadership in place of bourgeois intellectuals.
2.moving colleges from the towns to the Countryside
3.Peasants were indoctrinated with Socialist Culture. The principle of (From the Communes back to the Communes was to be put in command as against “He who excels in learning can be an official.
4.Putting proletarian politics in command instead of promoting intellectuals..
5,introducing part work part study system instead of regularized courses.
6.Teaching research and scientific production were combined instead of having specialized
education.
7 Now colleges would be closely linked with the 3 great revolutionary movements of class struggle for production and Scientific Achievements.
8Old Agricultural Colleges were for the elite ,the new ones would be for the broad masses and would reach the grassroots.
9Teachers would now be linked to the lives of workers and peasants.In the old Society the teachers were divorced from them..Now the Students would control the colleges.Worker-peasent –soldier tems would control the Universities.
2H.Education
Education was combined with productive labour.Workshops,factories and fields became the learning places for Students. Students received lectures from the peasants.
In Education the examination system was banned. A process of Struggle-Criticism and transformation was carried out in Schools and Universities .A revolutionary 3 in 1 combination was formed with the activists among the students, teachers and workers. This line was first implemented in Tsinghua University. The task of Studying English was connected with Social Practice class of 16 students divided itself into 4 groups and gone with it’s teacher to a nearby commune.
For the examination, each group reported their findings in English.One dealt with a typical family history, another with education in the brigade primary school, still another with the educated youth who have settled down in the brigade, and the 4th with the movements to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius.3 members of the brigade had been invited to attend the examination, and students took turns in interpreting them. Others interpreted for non English Speaking members of the University leadership who attended as observers.For a physics Examination,the students were divided into groups and given a number of questions on Electricity. Then each group went to a different nearby factory to investigate it’s Electric Power set up and, in course of doing so., to find the answers to all the questions. Then they were examined not by the teachers, but by the factory electricians, who decided whether they knew their stuff well.(Taken from Broad Sheet,August 1975Vol.No.12)
Quoting Raymond Lotta‿During the Cultural Revolution, artists, doctors, technical and scientific workers, and all kinds of people were called on to go among the workers and peasants: to apply their skills to the needs of society, to share the lives of the laboring people, to exchange knowledge, and to learn from the basic people.
We are told that going to countryside was a form of punishment against professionals. Well, does that apply to the peasants? Who asked the peasants if they wanted to live in the countryside? The fact is: this policy of sending professionals to the countryside was part of a conscious attempt to break down the lopsidedness of society and to reduce the cultural and resource gaps between town and country.
How was this policy carried out? At the point of a gun? No. First of all, there was an appeal to people's higher interests and aspirations of serving society. Second, ideological struggle was waged. It was made a mass question: what’s more important, that a skilled doctor have the “right‿ to a privileged life in the city, or that health care be made widely available? Third, there were many people who took this up with enthusiasm and commitment and set examples for others. Finally, there was a degree of coercion. The policy of sending people to the countryside was institutionalized. But not all coercion is bad. For instance, is it wrong for a government to mandate school desegregation, even if some object to it?
Now, as I said, many professionals and youth responded with great enthusiasm to this call to go to the countryside. I would strongly recommend that people take a look at a recent book, Some of Us (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2001). It has several essays written by Chinese women, now living in the West, who took part in the Cultural Revolution. They talk about how positive and life-changing this experience was of going to the countryside: how they learned from the peasants, did things they never thought they could, and gained a sense of their strength as women, and how the Cultural Revolution promoted a spirit of critical thinking.
2 i. Implemenation of the Mass Line
“The Cultural Revolution sets in motion the inexhaustible participation of the masses, which accelerates and puts into concrete form the appearance of proletarian democracy of which the Chinese speak. How else are we to define the politicization of the masses, which I saw during the trip? The moment the masses no longer fear coercion from the state apparatus, proletarian democracy begins to establish itself. It is here on the level of consensus, that the mass line conceived by Mao more than 40 years ago undergoes it’s broadest development This unprecedented reliance on the masses might merely conceal a pedagogical and academic character were it not based on social practice, did not explode within the heart of the ideological apparatus.‿
Charles Bettelhiem stated; “The constant reliance on the masses, seems to be the most valid contribution of the Chinese Revolution. MaoTse Tung’s dictatorship of the proletariat in actual fact is the ‘broadest democracy for the masses of the people. The Chinese Revolution reminds us that the dictatorship of the proletariat is nothing other than proletarian democracy, democracy for the broadest masses of the people.‿ Mao had said, “The essence of the revolution in the state bodies consists in securing the links of the masses.‿ Mao always defended the fact that a class does not become truly dominant unless it has made its own ideology the dominant one.
One of Mao’s most important points was, ‘Grasp the revolution and promote production “Mao always insisted tat the contradictions between the forces of production and the relations of production, and their contradictions with the superstructure will continue to exist in every human society as ling as production relations continue to exist. He also fought for revolutionary changes within the superstructure. In his essay ‘On contradiction’ Mao dealt with the question of the continuation of revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. Mao dealt here with the ultimate goal of reducing the power of coercive and ideological apparatus of the state-until the state withered away. By carrying the revolution to the soul by the “Intervention of the masses in the Superstructure‿.
Three in one committees were formed consisting of the revolutionary Party Cadre, revolutionary representatives from the Army and representatives of the revolutionary masses and a continuous process of struggle, criticism-transformation was carried out. “In China the party is the dominant apparatus, under the dictatorship of the Proletariat, and that the ideological apparatus was carried out by the party. But at the same time the party is neither a metaphysical category nor a Thomist Credo. In China the struggle was raging within the party itself.The proletariat intervenes in the party,the ideological apparatus of the power system an elsewhere The dominant party of the proletarian revolution fulfills it’s task ,which is to re-enforce the dictatorship of the proletariat ,by accomplishing it’s own revolution as a ruling apparatus, and by opening it’s structure to the masses.
Criticism of the party and electoral replacements of committees and orther party organizations is done in open, with the participation of workers who are not members. This is the confirmation of the mass line which opens the party the “the new blood of the Proletariat Maoist
2J. Change in Thinking pattern
China went above Stalinist Russia as Mao wished to create an inner, spiritual change in man. Going above Stalin. Mao stressed on revolutionizing the superstructure and not just the base as Stalin did. The Red Guards did not physically attack the capitalist roaders but used the practice of moral persuasion or criticism .
Han Suyin states in her book, ‘China in the year 2001’, “ If there is no change in thinking patterns and habits,there is no material change and progress, for spirit and matter are interlinked, spirit is moulded by contact with the material world and in turn influences the material world. The masses should liberate themselves mentally, but this they must do,nobody can do it for them, least of all by order or by command. No longer slaves but master of their destiny they must ask themselves: How can I be a master? This is by aggrandizing the scope of the soul, deepening the grasp of historical knowledge and thinking faculties. The worker and peasant now realize that within the grasp of power to decide his own motivation, his own spiritual advancement as well as his material progress, and that these two are inseparable.‿‿There was another famous quote of a Chinese Soldier, “Give us a gun and a book as man’s spirit demands more than just material satisfaction.‿
There was a phenomenal transformation in the lives of woman.Women who were earlier bound
on their feet could now serve in the army ,teach in Universties and conduct political Study classes!Women who were earlier Slaves had democratic rights to redress through courts and had crèches to take care of their children went to work.
3.CONTRIBUTION OF THE GANG OF 4
In the period of the late 1960’s the roots of the ‘Maoist gang of 4’ were sprouted who from the early 1970’s to the period of their overthrow in 1976 were the leaders in the struggle against the revisionists and were the chief representatives of Mao Tse Tung Thought. The 4 went head over heels to implement Mao’s line illuminating red torches all over China almost as if a Socialist festival was taking place. The 4 studied every facet of life in connection with Marxism-Leninism Mao TseTung Thought digging into the deepest roots of the ideology. like a scientist trying to put his theories into practice.
The fall of Lin Biao strengthened the right in China and helped the re-instatement of the arch capitalist-roader Deng Xiaoping into the party. There was chaos and a fresh movement was launched to combat Lin Biaos’ ideology.Lin was now classed with Liu Shao –Chi and Deng Xiaoping as a Capitalist roader.One of the most significant struggles o the gang was in Shanghai in the Commune. However Shortly after Comrade Mao’s death the Gang was arrested and the G.P.C.R virtually defeated.Tragically one of the greatest revolutionary advances in the history of mankind was defeated .
Lot of writers of the bourgeois mould distort history by stating that the masses revolted against the Gang of 4 and even certain ranks in the Maoist movement claimed that the Gang was counter –revolutionary. True ,there was great confusion in the masses after the loss of leaders like Chairman Mao,Premier Zho En Lai and Zhu De but the masses always revered the Gang standing up against the wrath of the revisionist and leading them to virtually re-writing history.I however do agree with Critiques who state that the Gang made serious errors and their line was often vitiated by left sectarianism. However remember that in so many revolutionary movements there have been mistakes in regard to mass line. and this was the first time in history where a struggle was actually carried out in a Socialist Society.
25 years ago a historic Court Trial took place of the ‘Gang of 4.’-the followers of Mao’s line. Heroically Comrades Chiang Ching and Chang Chun Chiao defended the Thought of Comrade Mao Tse Tung in a historic Court trial standing upto the capitalist rulers against Revisionism. Chiang Ching rose up defending Comrade Mao Tse Tung like a tigress while Chang Chung Chiao protested in silence but never buckled under pressure from the Chinese rulers..Wang Hongwen and Ya Wenyuan both confessed and surrendered under pressure. It is of no strange coincidence that Comrade Yao Wenyuan, One of the members of the Gang of 4 passed away just a week ago.
We must particularly highlight the contribution of Comrade Chang Chun Chiao.Chiang Ching made an amazing contribution on the Cultural Front,developing proletarian culture to a considerable extent.Chiang Ching was fully engrossed as a political leader during the Cultural RevolutionOnly in the 9th Party Congress was her staus in the Communist Party made official.Chiang Ching addressed meetings of artists and writers in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution.She revolutionized the Peking Opera .A new model Opera was created and Chiang Ching presided over the 25th anniversary celebration of the Yenan Forum.where her model works were performed. Chiang Ching then became the adviser of the Peoples Liberation Army.She made a significant contribution to raising the Cultural level of the Army involving soldiers in political study and writing,producing and performing skits and operas and organizing festivals in local P.L A Units.
Later Chiang Ching carried out greater transformation in the economy, health care, the arts and culture. especially the old educational system, through building revolutionary committees. Now workers,peasants and soldiers enrolled in Universities, educated youth went to the countryside and Party Cadres participated in productive labour,.Chiang Ching asssed the need to launch a mass movement to carry out the process of struggle-criticism, repudiation and transformation in the various departments of work. In one of her speeches to a delegation from the faction-torn province of ANHWEI She struggled to unite and form a great alliance so that power could be seized.She defended the Revolutionary Commitees and opposed their dissolution.
The Shanghai Municipal party committee had become a breeding ground of capitalist roaders.The revolutionaries had a strong base there but did not overall hold power. The capitalist roaders apart from encouraging complacency among the workers encouraged bribery.
In December 1966, in the mass upsurge There was an intense class Struggle amongst workers around giving workers bonuses encouraging economist tendencies and paying increased salaries to foster jealousies amongst workers. The Workers returned the money in protest. The capitalist roaders now tried to halt production and disrupt public services The Workers refused this. They applied the concept that politics had to be in command of economics, that the productive forces could be truly unleashed only by training the masses in the revolutionary line.This application led to astounding achievements in economic development –Shanghai Workers developed the means to build a 10,000 tonne ocean liner ondrey dock intended for a 3000 tonne ship.
In January 1967 millions of rebel workers joined by students and nearby peasants,overthrew theMunicipal Party Committee.They physically stormed and occupied key positions and took over vital Municipal Services. Then organizational form was created whereby power could be consolidated and wielded by the revolutionaries in ord4r to carry out further transformations.A revolutionary three- in -one Committee was formed which in equal numbers had representatives of the masses,party cadres, who were judged to be revolutuionaries following Mao’s line,alos selected by masses,representatives of the Army.Similar Struggles engulfed China nationwideChiang Ching had made a major contribution in the overthrowing .
of the Peking Municipal Committee in 1967 from the hands of the revisionist power-holders.
Rebel workers took over the trade Union headquarters and sealed off the offices of the Union of Labour throughout the nation.Chiang Ching professed a document declaring that all contract and temporary labourers must be permitted to participate in the G.P.C.R. and that anyone dismissed because of this would be re-instated with pay. Chiang Ching supported the movement to seize local political power from the capitalist roaders and build new alternative organs of leadership. She helped initiate 3in one combinations uniting revolutionary party cadre, revolutionary representatives of the Army and representatives of the revolutionary masses to build revolutionary Commitees.
Chiang Ching struggled against an ultra-left tendency to attack the capitalist –roaders and their supporters physically.She advocated ideological and political struggle.‿Struggle by force can only touch the skin and Flesh.,while struggle by reasoning things out can touch the soul.’
Chiang Ching waged a struggle against ultra-left tendencies instigated by the Right openly advocating violence by distorting slogans or by inciting the masses to combat the small capitalist- roaders.She staunchly opposing the slogan,‿ Drag out a handful in the Army.’which was literally obeyed in areas. The Right used this to seize weapons from regular troops. Chiang Ching refuted this in following that line they could not differentiate good from bad.The party, government and the army are all under the leadership of the Party.One could only talk of dragging out a handful of capitalist roaders I the authority and nothing else ,otherwise, it would be unscientfic and the wrong people would be attacked.
Chiang Ching thwarted an ultra-leftist line that came about within the Cultural Revolution group itself when elements like Chen Boda wished to create chaos, advocating the use of Force.A section of Red Guards revolted against the Cultural Revolution Group led by the rightIn the city of Wuhan in 1967 provocation and mutiny took place in military units supporting th right.
In the 1970’s Chiang Ching prominently exposed the revisionist line of Lin Biao and equated it with Confucian doctrine. She also continued making revolutionary transformations in the Cultural Field.
The tenth anniversary of the Revolutionary Peking pera upheld models of New Socialist Culture New Works emerged glorifying Socialist Achievements. Feats I agricultural production, the model developments I Industry such as the Taiching Oilfields and socialist new innovations like barefoot doctors were highlighted.Chiang Ching never compromised between Politics and Art. She exposed a film called ‘The Song of the Gardener’ which upheld the virtues of wise teachers and likens them to refined Flower Cultivators. In contrast the Left made a film highlighting the revolutionary line’ Breaking With Old Ideas’. This film vividly portrays the class Struggle in Society over who gets to go to School and the difficulty of going up against both rigid traditional teachers and curriculum more suited to bourgeois education than the needs of masses transforming society.
Chiang Ching vehemently fought against copying Western Models in the name of becoming,’modern’Model ransformation.She thwarted an attempt by the right ton the Cultural Front as well as a political offensive between 1973 and 1975.She propogated a paper in which refuted the fact that there was ‘absolute music’and that music had no meaning or class content. The pamphlet argued that such a view disguised the bourgeois class character of thes untitled instrumental pieces although some techniques of classical music can be assimilated.Chiang Ching’s Cultural Troupe alos performed a paly on the docks performed for fishermen Qouting Chang Ching, “This opera cannot be presented as one which has as the centre of description ‘middle-of –the –raders.’It should depict the heroic images of the dockers who work on the wharf with their hearts for the motherland and their eyes on the world’.
In 1975 in October in the Tachai Agricultural brigade She refuted Hua Kuo-Feng’s project to mechanise agriculture taking the rightist road in terms of ‘modernisations’.This meant depending on Imperialism, restoring capitalism and re-establishing class differences.
Later a 2line struggle developed in education combating the theory that revolutionizing education held back production. With Comrade Mao the 4 carried out a mass debate and Comrade Chang Chun Chiao playing a major role.His famous quote was, ‘Bring up exploiters and intellectual aristocrats with bourgeois cosciousness and culture-which do you want?Infact Comrade Chang Chin Chiap played the role of a revolutionary Champion.
He was the author of path-breaking theoretical Articles such as on the ‘On Exercising Dictatorship over the bougeoise’, ‘On the 10 major relationships’ and was instrumental in the Shanghai political Economy Study Group as a whole,which authored important works making a class analysis of the economic laws under Socialism.Chang Chun Chiao played the leading role in Shanghai in advancing the Cultural Revolution. And uniting the masss around the correct line.After Chou En Lai’s death on January 12,1976,the Gang of 4 proceeded to accelerate their campaign against Deng,However they were still not strong enough to get Chang Chun Chiao elected as Premier.
In April 1976 the Revisionists openly attacked Comrade Chiang Ching through the Tienanmen riots I order to attack Mao and his policies. In the name of defending Chou En Lai but the P LA thwarted this attempt Deng was removed from all posts for staging the riotsThere were now open confrontations between the rightist and Revolutionary Factions within the party.IN August arms and ammunition was distributed to the million –strong Shangai Militia that had been set up by the Municipal Revolutionary Committee in 1967.
What was significant was that there were Worker-peasant-soldier students with their worker theorists of the ‘factory school’ jointly beating back the revisionist verdicts of the Cultural Revolution.Similarly teachers and students put up big character posters to criticize the attempts to reverse the Cultural Revolution.In June 1976 Commune members and cadres in the Tachai brigade denounced Deng Xiaoping’s crimes.
After Mao’s death on September 9th 1976 the Gang of 4 was toppled by the Rightists who arrested them.They falsely branded the Gang of 4 as revisionists ,claiming that they were enemies of Comrade Mao. After the REvolutinary headquarters were sabotaged the Party carried out a series of attacks on the revolutionary Commitees Etc So popular were the Gang of 4 that plans were made to block out the harbours and airports,to shut down the press and radio, to launch work stoppages and demonstrations and mass rallies mobilizing the militia and men and women and the garrison command. There was armed combat in militia units a week after the 4 were arrested veteran Communist Leader Zhu Yongjia,a close Comrade of Chang Chun Chiao played a major role in the rebellion.
Whatever were their mistakes the Gang of 4 had made a great contribution to the Socialist Economy. It is worth here refuting the slandering of the Western Countries of China’s economy.The economy was growing at a rate of about 5 to 6% a tear in term sof the Gross National Product since 1966.There was steady improvement in the living standards of the people which was shown in the food consumption clothing allowances, improved education and health services, particularly in the countryside ,and consumer goods like bicycles and radios.
Some sectors. like steel ,coal and transport showed erratic output and lower growth rates. However there were technical innovations had been made in thee sectors. It is unfair to compare Socialist China with the Western Countries or Japan. Remember China only had 13,750 miles of railroad track in 1949,a country that was producing 5.5 million tons of oli in 1960,and which in 1976 was stll overwhelmingly poor. China achieved agricultural sufficiency and greatly expanded it’s industrial capabilities. The 4 opposed mechanization of agriculture. They stressed on he principle of self-sufficiency. Vegetable production expanded in China. The 4 gave priority to grain .Not much land was given to forage crops for livestock. and agricultural technology and research was far more advanced with respect to grains than for vegetables .Chinese rice yields reached the highest in the world. The 4 made a goal to make as many provinces self-sufficient in grain as possible, both to reduce costs of transportation borne by the state and build up these strategic grain reserves in the event of war.
Commune leaderships set up ‘Socialist big fairs‿ in which peasants who held private plots and engaged in side-line activities would buy and sell private goods through the collective commercial channels, the supply and marketing co-operatives. This on one hand put the brakes on the speculation that had gotten out of hand at the trade fairs, and on the other, continued to provide peasants with an outlet for private output still necessary and useful at that stage. This countered the principle of free trade.
There were great technical achievements in the City of Shanghai. Shangahai contributed enormously to the national economy with machinery and equipment, accumualtio of funds, and a pool of skilled workers for other parts of the country.A co-operative was created with enterprises that reduced the barriers between different trades and involved over 300 factories hospitals Etc.
The Ultimate climax came in the1981 Trial which started on November 20th 1980 till January 26th 1981.Wang Hong Wen and Yao Wen Yuan capitulated before the court admitting all their charges.Chang Chu Chia remained defiantly silent giving scant respect to the 35 judges .With great courage ComrdaeChiang Ching said, “Most of the members presnt,including your president Jiang Hua,competed wit each other in those adys to critoicize Liu-Shao –Chi.If Iam guilty how about all of you?
Chiang has prepared a 181 page statement stating, “If the left framed up veteran leaders what are you doing now/Whats wrong with the Cultural Revolution, overthrowing the Capitalist headquarters of Liu Shao Chi and Company? I’m not going to admit to any crimes, not because I want to cut myself off from people, but because I am innocent.If I have to admit to anything, I can only say I loat in this struggle for power. You have power now so you can easily fabricate false evidence to support your charges. But if you think you can fool the people of China and worldwide, you are completely mistaken. It is not I but your small gang who is on trial in the court of history.‿
Chiang Ching had displayed nerves of steel in the trial.What she showed was one of the greatest displays of courage ever seen in the Communist Movement by a Women. She wrote an epoch in Communist History by defending the great Comrade Mao Tse Tung’s ideology in the Trial as though she lit up the whole court with a red flame.
Comrade Chiang Ching’s courage in the trial reverberated like a red flame illuminating .Protest rallies were staged worldwide supporting her cause and slandering the Chinese Revisionists.
4.REASONS FOR DEFEAT OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION
We must understand what were factors led to the defeat of the Socialist Road in China.
1.The fact that it was this Cultural Revolution movement was the first revolutionary movement of it’s kind. Capitalism and feudalism already had a long history .For Centuries repressive bourgeoisie society Eg.The era of emperors, monarchs ,then parliamentary governments Etc.existed. The triumph of Socialist Revolution was very recent and thus there had to be errors in the course.
It was an entirely new type of an experiment like a scientist using his latest theories in carrying out a new type of an experiment. hus errors were a natural phenomenon. Socialist Russia had never embarked on such a task and Stalinism sowed the seeds of revisionism. Many remnants of the feudal and bourgeois society were left behind in the minds of people after that thinking was perpetrated for thousands of years .It would perhaps take several revolutions to overcome what was created over generations. There was a deep-rooted Confucian tradition in China.
2.Sino Soviet Border conflict.-China had to combat their ideological problem with the then U.S.S R. They had a border disputes with Russia and that was the period where the Cold War was at it’s peak with the U.S –Vietnam War in full flow.To save their state China had to create relations with bourgeoisie states for tactical purposes.On one hand Socialist China had to combat U.S imperialismon the other hand they had to stand upto the Soviet Social Imperialism.This was a complex problem. China had to fight the ‘lion’ but be aware of the ‘bear.’
3.Creation of the Personality Cult
The revolutionaries had to unite with Lin Biao’s left sectarian approach. Lin immortalized Mao converting Mao’s Red Book into a bible. The phenomenan of a personality Cult is anti-marxist.This failed to consolidate the ranks in a broad –based movement. From the mid 1960’s Lin Biao’s left sectarian formulations and his ultimate path to the capitalist road caused havoc in the Chinese Communist Party. Although Comrade Lin played an effective role in the Socialist Education Movement as well as in the Army when he combated Peng Te Huai’s philosophy of having ranks in the army and advocating modernization in the army.In the 1966-69 period Lin eulogized Comrade Mao to the status of an emperor claming that the Red Book contained magic.
He elevated Comrade Mao to a God to promote himself and wrongly even derived the formulation that the Chinese revolutionary path was the path for all countries. True protracted Peoples War was a major contribution of Comrade Mao Tse Tung but it had to be applied in the context of the situation with regards to a particular country.However after 1969 Lin went towards the right calling for the discontinuation of the G.P.C.R and for an alliance with revisionist Soviet Union.
He opposed Mao and in 1971 attempted to assassinate Mao. However thankfully the coup was averted and Lin was brought down.(plane crashed) The Lin Biao phenomena has to be questioned and one could wonder how Mao ever could unite with Comrade Lin against the right .However this is a phenomena within a Socialist Society so we cannot discredit Comrade Mao.I do not agree that Lin Biaoism was a trend in the 1966-69 Cultural revolution period but he had a predominant influence particularly in the Army.It is difficult imagining that this historic figure was claimed as an outstanding proletarian revolutionary just a few years before his condemnation!
Later the Gang of 4 also made left sectarian errors, unable to unite with the broadest masses. Comrade Mao often rebuked them stating that “You are trying to make the Socialist Revolution but you do not know where the bourgeoisie is-they are right there in the Communist Party‿.Often the Gang gave left sectarian slogans unable to totally unite the broad masses. Often Comrade Mao rebuked them when he stated that they often failed to hit the main revisionist targets stating “You are trying to make the revolution but you do not know where the bourgeoisie is.They are right here in the Communist Party.‿Often the Gang was unable to implement the mass line and raised left sectarian slogans.
4.Persecution of writers , artist, musicians, and sectarian approach to bourgeois philosophers. Sportsmen Etc Even not enough attention was given to psychology or Freudian ideas.
Several writers, poets and artists and sportsmen were wrongly attacked and sent to be reformed.True,there were bourgeois tendencies ,but such elements also had progressive aspects which the cultural revolution leaders often failed to understand.
5.Not enough avenue for democratic criticism or dissent
True,there were broad based revolutionary movements and debates as never seen before and Comrade Mao’s line represented the mass revolutionary democratic line of the broad masses there was lack of a sufficient base for individuals to express criticism of Socialist ideas or other ideas. Socialist Society has to create avenues whereby even people’s criticism of Socialism are taken into consideration and all ideas are expressed freely. Instead of weakening the dictatorship of the Proletariat, this would strengthen it. There was such a strong personality cult around Comrade Mao that such free expression of ideas of minorities was hardly encouraged.(Thee could have been a special cell to question Comrade Mao’s line Etc without opposing the dicatatorship of the proletariat)In this regard it is worth studying Bob Avakian’s contribution in “Phony Communism is dead, Long Live Real Communism!‿
Quoting Bob Avakian
"Under socialism, the masses of people are unleashed to run and transform society towards the goal of communism. This is a society in which you want, and need, to unite and lead broad sections of people to take up the goal of creating a new world. In this regard, Avakian has called attention to the importance of the intellectual, artistic, and scientific spheres in socialist society, and the particular role that intellectuals can play in socialist society.
Intellectuals and intellectual ferment can contribute to the dynamism and wrangling spirit that must characterize socialist society. One of the very positive aspects of intellectual life is the tendency to look at things in new ways and from new angles, to challenge the status quo and hidebound thinking. This needs to be even more the case under socialism. Intellectual and scientific ferment are essential to the search for the truth—to people knowing the world more deeply, so it can be transformed more thoroughly.
The people on the bottom of society have historically been locked out of the realm of “working with ideas.‿ Bourgeois society creates islands and pockets where a minority can engage in the realm of ideas, while the great majority of humanity is exploited and prevented from pursuing intellectual activity. Socialist society has to transform this situation. It has to put an end to exploitation and enable the masses of people to work with ideas and take up all kinds of questions and participate in society in an all-around way. This was something that the Cultural Revolution addressed very powerfully.
At the same time, Avakian has pointed out that socialist society needs to give scope and space to intellectuals, artists, and scientists. You don’t want to maintain and reproduce the ivory tower relations that exist in capitalist class societies. But you don’t want to stifle and straitjacket intellectuals, either. You want to unite with and lead them.
Here it must be said that there has been a problem in previous socialist societies. There has been a tendency to see intellectual activity that is not directly serving or linked to the agenda of the socialist state at any given time as not that important—or as disruptive of that agenda.
Now in bringing forward this understanding and pointing to these weaknesses, Avakian has been retracing the experience of proletarian revolution in the intellectual and scientific realms. In his reenvisioning of socialism, Bob Avakian has been emphasizing the role of dissent in socialist society. Avakian has said that dissent must not only be allowed but actively fostered, and this includes opposition to the government.
This is something quite new in the understanding of communists. Why is dissent so important? Because it reveals defects and problems in the new society…because it contributes to the critical spirit that must permeate socialist society and advances the search for truth…and because dissent can contribute to struggles to further transform society. You won’t get to communism without this kind of upheaval
Avakian has written that it would be a good thing to allow even reactionaries to publish some books and speak out in socialist society. This would contribute to the process through which the masses of people would come to know the world more fully and be able to sort out more thoroughly what does and does not correspond to reality, and what does and does not correspond to their fundamental interests in abolishing exploitation, oppression, and social inequalities. This is an important way in which the masses will be better able to take part in running society and transforming that society and the world as a whole toward the goal of communism.
5. WRONG TRENDS WITH REGARD TO LINE
5A. Importance of Vanguard Party
With all those weaknesses it must be stated that Mao and his comrades did their level best to achieve Socialism. We have to defend the vanguard role of the Leninist Party and have to combat Trotskyite and New Left trends that advocate a multi-party system or oppose the vanguard role of the Leninist Party. Certain intellectuals profess a multi-party system in a Socialist Society. A multi-party system would create chaos and defeat the very concept of proletarian dictatorship How can many parties differ in ideology and claim to be professing proletarian ideology?
Only a tight unified, well Knit Party can lead the proletarian revolution and save the Socialist State.It is the equivalent of a Nazi Government seizing power in Germany in 1933 ,overthrowing Hindenburg’s parliamentary government. Remember how Allende was overthrown in Chile and Arbenz in Guetemala.Allowing bourgeois parties in a Socialist State contradicts Leninism. Lenin developed the concept of the Proletarian party governed by democratic-centralism Remember the Chinese Communist Parties had factions in the pre-revolutionary and post –revolutionary years and through application of mass line or 2 line struggle the party attempted to resolve the problem.(Even if the cultural revolution failed there was a powerful 2 line Struggle)Democratic Revolt must be encouraged but factionalism within a party can destroy the revolutionary interests.
True there is validity in the point that there could have been many lines of struggle uniting against Liu Shao Chi and Deng Xiaoping that should have been given expression to and not only “Mao’s line’. However one must remember that Mao did everything to unite all types of people to confront the bourgeoisie line and it was the mass revolutionary movement or the broad masses who supported him against the revisionists. (Mao even relinquished his post as head of State to Liu Shao Chi)Mao even had factions within his party, which must be noted.Mao further developed Leninism by discovering that even in a Socialist State there are capitalist tendencies and that a revolution had to be carried out in a Socialist State to avert the restoration of Capitalism. Mao went o to say that only hundreds and thousands or revolutions were needed to create an ultimate Communist Society.
5B.Personality Cult versus the Mass line
There is also a tendency which claims that Mao used his personality Cult in place of implementing the mass line.(Mao Tse Tung has been more revered by any leader in any Country in the last Century his works becoming more popular than the Bible.) One Indian Intellectual Rangakayaama wrote a 6 page essay claiming that Mao created a personality cult deliberately I place of upholding the mass line This has to be refuted. Was not Mao Tse Tung Thought a product of the revolutionary mass movement of the broad masses? Was not Comrade Mao’s thought upheld not only by the majority in the party but by the broad masses of China.
Remember, this was a Socialist Society and you cannot equate rallies in China supporting Mao with those of Hitler in Germany or Ayatolah Khomeini in Iran. it is Comrade Mao who discovered the fact that even in dictatorship of the Proletariat there are reactionary and Capitalist elements who wish to reinstate the rule of the bourgeoise.He discovered the theory of “Continuous revolutions under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. If Mao’s personality cult replaced the mass line then how can one explain the many victories in mass movements the broad masses of the Chinese won over the revisionsir elements and rulers I China in Schools, Universities factories and Villlages guided by Mao Tse Tung Thought.One can discredit those movements only if one advocates that Mao Tse Tung Thought was not a fundamental line for liberation of the Chinese People.
Never in the history of mankind did such a revolutionary mass movement take place or such revolutionary democraticisation take place in the field of agriculture, industry and Education. Remember that Mao relinquished his position as head of the State to Liu Shao Chi in 1959.Infact Rangakayamma alleges that Mao replaced the mass line with the Personality Cult. True Mao’s posters and badges were dispayed all over. Slogans like “Chairman Mao will live for 10,000 years resounded, Eulogies were raised stating that Chairman Mao is like ‘ the sun giving light wherever it shines ‘and a ‘great prophet’,Kindergarden students were made to chant “Long Live Mao for 10,000 years and hailing Mao as great ‘helmsman,’ ‘teacher,’ ‘leader’ and ‘commander’ ,all took place. It is also true that the publication of the works of Marx,Engels,Lenin and Stalin Stopped and there was a policy to focus solely on Mao only.
However the Chinese Communist Party rectified this and re-introduced the works of Marx Lenin,Stalin and Engel from the early 1970’s.Remember in the mass rallies the people carried portraits of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. Another mistake was that the line in the Internationale saying, ‘There is no supreme saviour.Not God,not Caesar,not democratic leader. “This was eliminated to hail Mao as a saviour and a liberator. However again the Chinese Communist Party rectified this and re-instated the lines.
It must be remembered that in a country where for 3,000 years the pride of worshipping was prominent and ignorant superstitious practices prevailed (Emperor-worshipping tradition) such a tendency would be existing. The Chinese People had a habit of worshipping emperors and this feudal mindset persisted. This fear and ignorance persisted for Centuries although of course there were major revolts, which took place against Emperors. No doubt it is incorrect but remember Mao did his level best to fight this.
It is worth here recounting a recent book by a bourgeois expert Lee Geigon on China praising the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. In his book “Mao- A re-interpretation he states “The Cultural Revolution weakened the Chinese bureaucracy. It had a positive, long-lasting impact on the Chinese Economy it also created the basis of an anti-authoritarian Culture. Workers and peasants were taking on them selves the rights of self-governments and some Red Guard groups were attempting to build a democratic theory. The Cultural Revolution’s attacks on the party organization, and the viscous response of the party to these criticisms destroyed it’s legitimacy for many people. By breaking down organizational control and forcing people to criticize almost everything they had been told to take for granted especially the Communist Party, Mao helped foster the spirit of independent judgment and reliance.‿
Quoting Raymond Lotta in his defending Socialism Columns in ‘Revolution’One of the major distortions about the Cultural Revolution is that Mao masterminded and manipulated whatever happened. Mao is said to be responsible for every act and struggle that took place. Mao is held responsible for any and all cases of violence. There is a notion that everything issued from a single locus of power and decision-making—from Mao.
Different class and social forces were involved in the Cultural Revolution. There were the genuine Maoists in the party and mass organizations. There were anti-Mao groupings within the party who organized students, workers and peasants. And there were conservative military forces, ultra-left groupings, mass organizations that divided into rebel and conservatives camps, criminal elements, and others. Different social interests and motivations were in play.
Some people used the Cultural Revolution to settle personal grievances. Often, the enemies of Mao within the Party who were coming under political attack would resort to the tactic of pretending to uphold Mao and incite factionalism and violence in the name of the Cultural Revolution. They would do this in order to deflect the struggle away from them and to discredit the revolutionary movement. The reality was that the Cultural Revolution was a complicated struggle over which class would rule society: the proletariat, which in alliance with its allies who make up the great majority of society continues the revolution to transform society, or a new bourgeois class.
Yet through the course of this struggle, Mao and the revolutionary leadership were able to lead it in a certain direction: focusing the political struggle against the top capitalist roaders, further revolutionizing society, and empowering the masses.
The Red Guards were catalysts. They emboldened people to lift their heads, to speak up, and to speak out. Listen to this account from one peasant:
"The Red Guards were very organized. They divided themselves up and visited every household in the village. They read quotations and told us about the Cultural Revolution in Beijing and Shanghai. Never before had we had so many strangers in the village. They asked us about our lives. They wanted to learn from us. They asked us how we are managing things here in the brigade. They entered into discussions with the leading cadres of the brigade and asked about work points [this was the system of payment in the communes]. I got the book of Mao's quotations from them [this was the Red Book].
They distributed it to various households. In the end, we all had it. Those Red Guards meant a lot to us. And we went on reading the quotations after they'd gone. We read and compared those quotations to what was being done here, and came to the conclusion that a lot of things needed changing." (Jan Myrdal and Gun Kessle, China: The Revolution Continued [New York: Vintage, 1972], pp. 106-107)
Quoting Raymond Lotta from ‘Revolution ‘ The bourgeoisie hates the Cultural Revolution that took place in China. They talk about it as "thought control." They paint a picture of crazed Red Guards going on destructive rampages. We are swamped with high-profile studies and memoirs that talk about the Cultural Revolution as violence and retribution. But this was not the fundamental reality of the Cultural Revolution.
First of all, the Cultural Revolution was not a violent free-for-all. The Maoist leadership issued guidance for conducting the Cultural Revolution. One of the main documents, and people should read this, was called the "16- Point Decision." Here are some excerpts from Mao's instructions:
• "Let the masses educate themselves in the movement and learn to distinguish between right and wrong and between correct and incorrect ways of doing things."
• "Concentrate all forces to strike at the handful of ultra-reactionary bourgeois rightists. The main target of the present movement is those within the party who are in authority and are taking the capitalist road."
• "A strict distinction must be made between the two different types of contradictions: those among the people and those between ourselves and the enemy. It is normal for the masses to hold different views. Where there is debate, it should be conducted by reasoning, not by coercion or force"1
This was the orientation. Was there disorder? Yes. Were there excesses and violence? Of course. This was a revolution. But the Maoist revolutionaries tried to keep this movement going in the right direction through all its turmoil: mass debate, mass criticism, and mass political mobilization.
One famous episode illustrates the point. At Tsinghua University, there was considerable factional fighting among students. Eventually it turned violent. In response, the Maoist leadership dispatched a team of unarmed workers to enter the university to help the students sort out and settle their differences.’
5C.Wrong stand of Revolutionary Communist Party U.S.A.
The last tendency to fight is that professed by the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S.A where they claim that the Chinese State placed greater Emphasis on combating Soviet Social Imperialism over U.S.Imperialism.,claiming that U.S S R was the graeter danger and thus capitulating wit U.S.Imperialism.They also claim that China supported the overthrow of Allende in Chile, supported the Shah of Iran,supported Pakistan over the Bangladesh issue in 1971 Etc.
This is false. Socialist China offered support to all revolutionary movements worldwide and never supported dictators or non –progressive people.What China followed was a tactical line of recognizing repressive states or bourgeois states by having political relations. This is different from supporting them ideologically or giving them moral support. Mao met Nixon for exactly this purpose and all kinds of Trotskyites or neo-revisionist claim this was a betrayal of Mao to the World Proletariat. In actual fact the R.C.P U.S.A by making this criticism of Socialist China is claiming China’s International line the time of Comrade Mao to be capitulationist and discrediting Socialist China.
Socialist China gave moral support to Vietnam and the Maoist Parties in Columbia and Peru. True there were tendencies created in the Lin Biaoist era which advocated imitation of the Chinese line but remember China never exhibited big brother Chauvinism with other Communist parties and always told representatives of other countries that they should only interpret the Chinese line to their own conditions and not blindly copy it.
6. DEFENDING CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Whatever the weakness in the International Communist Movement it is a tribute to the Maoist Organizations that they are boldly defending Mao Tse Tung Thought and defending the Great Debate.Organisations in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement including Communist Parties from Peru,Nepal ,Turkey and India have vehemently campaigned in defence of the Cultural Revolution.
In India the major contributions refuting Deng Xiaoping’s revisionist line came from the Central Re-organisation Centre of India of the C.P.I.M.L,(In 1987 there was a split between the K.Venu and K Ramchandran section which became the C.P.I.M.L Red Flag.The Red Flag section for some time in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s defended the Maoists .Later this group degenerated to revisionism) and the U.C.C.R.I.M.L(led by Harbahjan Sohi who split his organization. Later Organisations like the Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India and the C.PLR.C.I.M.L consolidated this aspect)) who exposed the fact that the 3 world theory was a creation of Deng Xiaoping and not of Comrade Mao.
One must applaud the efforts of the C.PI. Maoist in India to defend Mao’s line through their regular publications and seminars in most difficult times when Imperialism is winning.2 seminars wee recently launched in Calcutta. Abroad the biggest contributions in defending the Cultural Revolution aspect came from the Revolutionary Communist Party U.S A and the Peruvian Communist Party who upheld Chiang Ching and the other followers.The R.C.P U.S.A carried out famous rallies in 1978 in San Fransisco and New York defending the Maoists.
It is particularly praiseworthy that the R.C.P has so boldly defended Mao’s achievements and the Cultural Revolution through nationwide talks and seminars. There has been a series of talks by Comrade Raymond Lotta which is a must to be read by any cadre or sympathizer. The Revolutionary internationalist Movement too defended the G.P.C.R through International Campaigns. After their rectification campaign in the late 1980’s the Communist Party of Phillipines took a strong position defending the Cultural Revolution.
7. POST 1978 REVISIONIST RULE AND MOVEMENTS SUPPORTING MAO
After 1978 China reverted to the Capitalist road advocating the 4 Modernizations. Communes were dismantled, and all the gains of the Cultural Revolution were reverted. The examination sytem was reverted to, and America was allowed to install factories in China in Free Trade Zones. No longer did Workers have job security According to the State Statistics bureau nearly half a million hectares of land disappeared from cultivation during 1980-1986.In South China, the China Daily said in 1988 ,there are more than 13 million hectares of idle land, half of which was recently in cultivation. Now with growth oriented towards creating private profit many farmers have had to abandon their plots. Only those who obtained farming machinery through political connections became prosperous.
Grain production in 1984 reached a peak of 407 million tones but as William Hinton points out was because of released stocks of collective grain. Thereafter grain production fell. In 1989 the Chinese press routinely talks of stagnation in grain production, of grain shortages, of falling production and finally 20 million peasants were faced with famine. Prices have skyrocketed. Willliam Hinton reported.
“I spent a month in Yenan in the highlands in 1988.My impression was that the situation was pretty desperate. Contracted Crop fields could not provide sufficient food because for one thing, the peasants could not afford fertilizers. As a result they were tilling the mountain slopes as ‘help out land ‘and destroying them in the process Dams, terraces,a nd other collective Engineering works were falling apart. There were abandoned irrigation works It was quite clear that many of them would not have been built in a private Economy and they would not be restored now unless there were re-collectivisation.Peasants we talked to at Random were angry and said that they were better off under the Co-op System.‿In Industry Millions have now been employed in the private sector.
A contract management system has been implemented. Companies running at a loss get swallowed by profit-making concerns. There is now great waste of China’ labour as a result of inappropriate use of technology. A huge percentage of the labour force in urban areas have no real fuction in their workplaces. The workers are wage slav4es again. Migrant workers have risen in number.They have exhaustible working hours. Workers toil in Special Economc Zones which are directed towards Foreign investment In Shanghai many workers toil 24 hours a day in rural garment factories. In many zones workers toi for over 13 hours overtime, and don’t recive overtime pay. Even minimum wages are not maintained. There is everyday retrenchment, and hiring and firing arean everyday affair.
Today the wealth polarization had driven working people in China too about poverty, as a result they have lost their social status and all the rights they enjoyed previously.. Workers have now been deprived of the right to send their children to school, access to heath care,the right to pension, the rights for old-aged people,the right to participate in cultural, recreational and sports activities. Above that because of the waste of water resources and environmental pollution the workers have lost the right to healthy food,clean water and fresh air.
Communist Party members have become billionares. It is simply hypocrisy that they are implementing Socialism when they state that they advocate the theory of the ‘three represents.’
In recent years there have been major strikes in China or protests against the Revisionist policies. In March 2002 workers of Fero-Alloys plant in Liayang gathered workers of 5 other factories to demonstrate for their jobs agains tbe the local leadership of the Communist Party. Police arrested the leading workers, afterwhich workers from 15 other factories joined.T he B.B.C reported that “Upto 5000 protestors gathered everyday at the Taiching Oilfield protesting against cuts in severance pay.The Taiching workers were retrenched on a massive scale .It is an irony that in the Socialist ra the field was developed in the late 50’s and produced 2/5th of China’s oil Requirements.
Not only in Liayang and Taiching but throughout China Chinese working class is in struggle. Workers proudly hold aloft the bannrs of Mao Tse Tung and write slogans such as “Only Socialism can save China‿ and sing the Internationale.(Information from journal “The Comrade")
Recently the ‘Time; magazine reported how workers praise the security and facilities they possessed in the Maoist Era.Imagine this is new coming even from a bourgeois source!
What we have to asses today is the possibility of a new Maoist Movement within China. Revolutionary Communists must give solidarity to all movements upholding the banner of Mao in China and all other democratic movements combating the fascistic policies of the current Chinese rulers. A new Maoist Party has to be re-organised to carry the torch of revolution and enable history to repeat itself.
Let us all stand by the genuine Maoists in China in exposing the hypocrisy of the current revisionist government the 40th Anniversary year and uphold the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution!
The author pays tribute to authors like Edgar Snow, William Hinton ,Felix Greene, Rewi Alley, Maria Macciocci Etc. They visited China and all Communist Revolutionaries and democrats have to thank such writers for their outstanding Contribution in bringing the truth about Socialist China, particularly in the Cultural Revolution period.I particularly owe gratitude to Maria Macciocci in her book “Daily Life I Revolutionary China‿who reported such outstanding achievements in Socialist China in the Cultural Revolution period. They all showed that in that period the greatest revolutionary democratic transformation ever in the history of mankind was taking place.
The author also thanks the Communist Revolutionary publications compiled by the Revolutionary Communist Party U.S.A which did great work in publicly upholding the Cultural Revolution in their publications and books..Bob Avakian made a great contribution in that regard. I recommend readers to read the serialized version of the 14 part series column in the journal ‘Revolution’ (Organ of the R.C.P.U .S.A.)titled “Socialism Is Much Better Than Capitalism, and Communism Will Be A Far Better World" by Raymond Lotta."
I owe my deepest gratitude to the ‘Morning Sun’ Website by the Longbow Group which uphold’s Mao’s achievements like a red flame set alight. I also thank the journals of Indian Revolutionaries who defended Comrade Mao and the Cultural Revolution. Theoretically an Indian Revolutionary Journal the Comrade has one outstanding essay on the mass line. Earlier issues of ‘Red Star’ had very profound ideological defence of the Cultural Revolution Period in context of the mass line..
I recommend readers to read the Following books.
1. ‘Daily Life in Revolutionary China ‘ by Maria Maciocci
2. “The Wall has 2 sides‿by Felix Greene
3. ‘The Long Revolution’by Edgar Snow
4. ‘Fanshen’ by William Hinton
5. ‘The Revolution Continued’by Jan Myrdal
6. ‘China in the year 2001.’by Han Suyin.
Also read the great works of the R.C.P U.S.A like ‘Revolution and Counter-revolution‿(There are lot of mistaken evaluations but overall the book is an outstanding defence of the Cultural Revolution)
I would also like to pay homage to Comrade Yao Wen-Yuan ,a member of the ‘Gang of 4’who died last December.
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