The validity and Current Relevance of the October Revolution of 1917 for the 21st century
Brussels, 4-6 May 2007
www.icsbrussels.org , ics[at]icsbrussels.org
The type of Party needed to respond to the challenges of the 21st century –Concrete experiences of Party building in the working class and among the youth.
By Nepalese People’s Progressive Forum, Belgium
Dear Comrades,
We would like to thank the organiser the Worker's Party of Belgium for providing us to express our opinion on this International Communist Seminar in Brussels. We extend our heartfelt revolutionary greetings to all the delegates here and the revolutionary people around the world on behalf of the revolutionary masses of people of Nepal.
The set of topics of this seminar "The validity and current relevance of the October Revolution of 1917 for the 21st century – the type of party needed to respond to the challenges of the 21st century - concrete experiences of party building in the working class and among the youth" covers up comprehensive aspects required to make revolution in any country in today's world. These topics are interrelated, interdependent and complimentary to each other. Very often discussed in the International Communist Movement about are the subjects as what is capitalism, what is imperialism, what is exploitation and so forth. But, rarely touched is 'how to make revolution!' The primary task of the proletarian is not only to understand but to change the world, as Marx had brilliantly pointed out 'the bourgeoisies have understood the world but the main point is to change it'.
The duty of the proletariat is not only to understand how the economic, political and social phenomenon moving under the mode of capitalist production, social relation generated by this capitalist production, and methods of thinking under such social relations, which the bourgeoisie intellectuals limit itself around it, but to change these course of phenomenon to change the world for freedom of human being. This is the question of understanding the dialectical relation between 'necessity and freedom'. As long as the proletariat is confined and limited itself by the bourgeoisie ideology, opportunist politics, pragmatic methodology, it will never understand the necessity to change the world, and will never put itself to achieve such freedom to change the world. The need today is to break away from all these alien ideologies to Marxism, and grasp the scientific ideology hitherto developed to the highest stage of Marxism: that is Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. In spite of the reach experiences in the 20th century revolutionary struggle against revisionism, economism, gradualism, reformism, parliamentary cretinism and performance of stereotype bourgeoisie politics, against which the great leaders of the proletariat Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao had struggled hard and defeated, the left movement today is falling back to the same trap. Today, in the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution, and in the stage of imperialism, that is acting like a global state, two wrong tendencies in the international communist movement are prevalent, there are the right opportunist and ultra leftist currents; on which the various degrees of right opportunist trends are most dangerous.
Having fought against non-Marxist trends of spontaneous, perplexity and uncertainty, Lenin put forward a thesis "two tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution" of Russia. This thesis lays out a comprehensive political, organizational and military line to make Socialist revolution. This thesis emphasises on fundamental principals of proletarian revolution, which are comprehensive, interconnected interdependent and complementary to each other and are not only valid and relevant for today's revolutionary movement, but are also the fundamental principles of revolution. These principles contain dialectical relation between political and military line of proletarian revolution. As Lenin put forwarded are the Formation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Peasantry and the Election of the Constituent Assembly. The election of the constituent assembly is defined as pressure from up and pressure from down, and this pressure from down is defined as preparation of insurrection. This was the fundamental essence and fundamental line of 1917 October revolution, and this science in a perfect way is being applied in the concrete reality of the Nepalese revolutionary People's War.
Development of People’s War in Nepal cannot be separated from the vigorous two line struggle and forceful class struggle. Alike the international Communist Movement, the Nepalese Communist Movement was also mired into reformism, revisionism, economism, sectarianism, right opportunism, post modernism, dogmato-revisionism and parliamentarian cretinism. These kind of revisionist and neo-revisionist, trends were defeated ideologically, politically prevalent in the Nepalese society as well as within the Communist Party of Nepal. As Lenin said, only he is Marxist who extends the recognition of class struggle to the recognition of the dictatorship of the proletariat, today we can profoundly say: only he is Communist who makes departure from Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to accomplish Socialist Revolution and advance to Communism by exercising the dictatorship of the proletariat in smashing the old state and to make world proletarian revolution. Lack in clarity in this question will take to revisionism.
A discussion has very often taken place on the need of organisation in relation to make revolution. Lenin had stressed on a radical, disciplined vanguard Party of the proletariat. Mao Tsetung has made compressively a scientific analysis that a revolutionary party, a people’s army under the leadership of the vanguard and the united front are the key elements to make revolution. Communist Party of Nepal has emphasised on four preparations, namely ideological political preparation, organisational preparation, logistical preparation and preparation for struggle. From three slogans of Lenin to the key elements of Mao Tsetung and to the four preparations for revolution are the interconnected elements to make revolution. Today, many theoretical questions are posed before the proletarian Party, why the Great Socialist States as Russia and China fall right after the death of Stalin and Mao Tsetung, why the Red Army and the People’s Liberation Army could not prevent counterrevolution, rather it became the tools of counterrevolutionary bourgeoisie to suppress the revolutionary masses? CPN Maoist has analysed that along with the revolutionary state mechanism corresponding to the proletarian line of the Party, the Party needs to be constantly rectified and developed among the masses of people.
Lenin had time and again stressed on militant struggle. Further, Mao Tsetung developed it to the level that if people have no people’s army, people have nothing. It is only struggle that is so powerful that rallies the masses around the world behind it. Whether one agrees or not on the political line of the forces carrying out life and death resistance in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq, these resistances have compelled all the nationalist, democratic and revolutionary forces as well as general masses of people to support it. As Mao taught us wherever there is repression there is resistance. Our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq have been resisting the US imperialist war juggernaut for there is direct repression. The proletarian have consciously carrying out revolutionary people’s war in Nepal, Peru, India, Philippine, Turkey while fighting against their own reactionary states, puppets and lackeys of imperialism and hegemonism. Here, the experiences of the revolutionary People’s war, the national liberation resistance and the national democratic movement have clearly illustrated that if a Communist Party is to lead youth, workers and other strata of the masses of people, it can lead only through organising a radical struggle with a concrete strategy and tactics to smash old state and establish new, scientific and socialist one.
As Lenin pointed out that the correctness or otherwise determines the revolutionary struggle, the correctness or otherwise will determine if we can defeat imperialism, accomplish Socialist revolution and bring the Socialist State into being. Hence this International Communist Seminar must inspire us to transform ourselves to cast away all reformist illusions and grasp Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the scientific ideology of the international proletarian class.
Dear comrades,
I would like to talk in brief on the political development in Nepal. Alike in the Russian history, at the very historical juncture of the Nepali politics, the election of the constituent assembly has been the central issue of the entire nation. It is not only the central issue for the country but also for imperialism and expensionism. Three main trends are prevalent to direct CA for their political propose. One trend wants to establish feudal monarchy, the other wants to maintain status quo or bring back to 1990 parliamentarian situation and the Maoist want to mobilise entire people to accomplish New Democratic Revolution and advance to socialism.
The US imperialism and the Indian expensionism along with the feudal monarchy are working overnight to defeat the revolutionary people. And, the communist Party of Nepal Maoist is now raising slogan like peace, bread and development. Both the foreign and domestic reactionary elements are conspiring against the aspiration of the people, which is leading the entire nation to a popular armed insurrection.
Once this insurrection is completed under the leadership of the Maoist Party, a Socialist State will be brought into being in Nepal, following the accomplishment of the New Democratic Revolution.
With revolutionary greetings to all the delegates on this seminar once again!
Nepalese People’s Progressive Forum, Belgium
International Communist Seminar Brussels
May 2007