CARRY FORWARD THE BANNER OF COMMUNISM · each one has his knife up the sleeves, waiting to backstab the other at the opportune moment. Each one strives to snatch other’s market

Carry Forward the Banner of Communism 1

CARRY FORWARDTHE BANNER OF

COMMUNISM

PROVASH GHOSH

Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)

Carry Forward the Banner of Communism2

Carry forward the Banner of Communism

First Published : 22 November, 20112nd Print: 10 March, 2012

Published by : Manik MukherjeeSocialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)48 Lenin Sarani, Kolkata 700013

Printed at : Ganadabi Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.52B Indian Mirror Street, Kolkata 700013

Price : Rs. 5.00


Publisher’s Note

Comrade Provash Ghosh, General Secretary,SUCI(C) spoke at the conclusion of the ExtraordinaryCongress of the Party on 25 November, 2010 atMahajati Sadan, K olkata. The full text of his speech waspublished in our english organ ‘Proletarian Era’, 12December, 2010. The speech is now published in a bookform.

22 November, 2011 Manik Mukherjee48, Lenin Sarani Member, Polit BureauKolkata-700013 SUCI (Communist)



CARRY FORWARDTHE BANNER OF

COMMUNISM

Comrades,

We all know with what a noble and revolutionaryobject and by conducting what an arduous, difficult andtortuous struggle with firm determination and strongcommitment to the revolutionary ideology and theoppressed people of India and the world, our leader,teacher, guide and a great Marxist thinker of this era,Comrade Shibdas Ghosh founded this party in 1948 andin the process elaborated, concretized, developed andfurther enriched Marxism-Leninism. Till his death in1976 he had led, developed and guided this party. ThenComrade Nihar Mukherjee, a life-long revolutionary,the closest compatriot of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, tookup the responsibility of leading the party and under hisleadership the party grew further. We also know historyhas bestowed upon our party a great responsibility atthis critical hour of human civilization.

The responsibility assigned to me, I know, is not anindividual responsibility, but a collective one. On thebasis of collective guidance, advice and cooperation ofthe members of the polit bureau and central committee,


of all the comrades here and outside, and the classconscious proletariat of our country, I have to performthis responsibility. I can assure you I shall continue,intensify and heighten my struggle to acquire therequired standard with all of your cooperation andguidance.

Comrades, we all see that world imperialism-capitalism is continuing to be in a dying condition. Infact it is writhing in the grip of the ever deepening, everwidening, ever lasting crisis. Whatever measures thecapitalists-imperialists take to come out of the crisis,those are creating more problems for them as wasobserved by Comrade Shibdas Ghosh long ago. He said‘‘So, it is giving birth to crises, one after another. Onemeasure is taken by the bourgeoisie to come out from,to get out of the impasse of a crisis only to re-enterinto a much graver crisis.’’ Since the days whencapitalism reached the stage of moribund capitalism,that is imperialism, the rulers have taken recourse tocolonialism, neo-colonialism, two world wars, manyregional and local wars, militarization of the economy,protectionism in trade, so-called free trade andglobalisation, outsourcing of business processes,dumping, currency manipulation etc., one after another,but none could solve the basic irreconcilablecontradiction and endemic crisis of capitalism-imperialism. Now, the condition of the world capitalismis just like a drowning man struggling to catch a straw.The crisis is now so all-pervading that even if AdamSmith, Ricardo, Keynes to present-day bourgeoiseconomists are brought together to find out solutions,they too are to fail.


Take the example of USA, the chieftain of worldcapitalism. During the last 3 years, 10 million or onecrore workers have been retrenched in USA. More than40 million people now live there below poverty line.This is only the official report. Its dollar empire iscrumbling, self-proclaimed master of the unipolarworld is tottering. Similar is the condition in Europe.Most of the European countries are suffering fromsovereign debt crisis. Now and then, the imperialist-capitalist leaders are found to be huddled together todiscuss ways to solve the crisis. In front of the camerathey shake hands with each other with smiling faces, buteach one has his knife up the sleeves, waiting tobackstab the other at the opportune moment. Each onestrives to snatch other’s market. This is going on.Depression of the market is continuing. Occasionally,the rulers try to console themselves and declare thatrecession is receding. But soon the state of theeconomy stares at their faces and they are compelled toadmit that it is a fragile recovery, anemic recovery.They are afraid to withdraw economic stimulus packageor the ventilation supporting a dying patient. Now it isevident that neither the socalled social security nor theconsumer credit network could solve the market crisis.Rather measures of economic stimulus, tax reductionof corporates, gradual reduction of social security fundallaction, wage freeze, wagecuts, job cuts, excessivedefence budget to feed militarization of economy, andthe wider network of credit have led to unprecedentedsovereign debt crisis, inflation, price rise,unemployment problems resulting in all roundrecession in all imperialist-capitalist countries. World


capitalism is gasping. But we know it will not dieautomatically. In nature, natural laws operate andaccordingly changes occur. But in human societydepending upon the contradiction between productiveforces and production relation, the laws ofdevelopment operate differently. There is a role ofhuman consciousness, which sometimes acceleratesand sometimes retards the process of development. Inclass divided societies while productive forces strive todevelop, the obtaining production relations work asbrake. The necessity appears to change the productionrelation in order to remove the fetters to developmentof productive forces. Objective necessity reflected inhuman mind through the process of interaction istranslated in the form of human consciousness, i.e.leaping from the realm of necessity to the realm offreedom. The question — when the production relationwill be changed — depends upon the role of theproductive forces, particularly the human aspect of theproductive forces i.e. upon the labouring people. Solong they are not conscious enough, are notsubjectively prepared, capitalism will not dieautomatically. It will continue to generate crisis aftercrisis, bringing in its wake untold sufferings to thepeople in all aspects of life, i.e., economic, politics,culture and ethics. The fallout is not only seen in everincreasing unemployment, retrenchment, inflation andprice rise, cultural ethical degeneration but consequentupon the government’s economic stimulus to thecorporates from public exchequer, there is furtherattack in the form of tax hike, wage cut; slashing ofbudget allocation in public service schemes as well as


further fascization of political set up trampling downminimum democratic norms and ethically dehumani-zation of people. You see that the present capitalistcrisis has also evoked popular protests in USA, Europeand other countries. In France, Spain, Greece, Britainand other countries, spontaneous waves of workers’ andpeople’s movements and strikes are surging forth.These are unprecedented. Here the role of the vanguardis essential. Long back Great Lenin pointed out thattrade union movement does not automatically developinto revolutionary movement. Trade Union movementonly provides trade union consciousness from within,revolutionary political consciousness is to be broughtfrom without. That is the task of the vanguard. Thatis the task of the real Marxist party.

But we know the world communist movement todayis passing through a very difficult period. In the pastalso the world communist movement had faced manyserious problems and reverses since the proclamationof the historic Communist Manifesto in 1848. GreatMarx had to disband the First Communist Internationaldue to the subversive role of the anarchists led byBakunin. Great Lenin had to dissociate himself from theSecond Communist International due to thedegeneration and treachery of the social democrats.Later, we know, Lenin founded the Third CommunistInternational after the successful socialist revolution inRussia which established a society without classexploitation for the first time in human history. Weknow how Great Stalin like a rock defended, protectedand developed socialism in Soviet Union, defeated thefascist forces in the Second World War, how under his


leadership world communist movement had spreadthroughout the world and anti-imperialist struggles inthe colonial countries got momentum. We also knowComrade Mao Zedong, another great communist leader,made chinese revolution successful through a long andtortuous historic battle. But, it is painful that since thelater half of 1950’s, modern revisionism led byrenegade Krushchev began to surface in the worldcommunist movement. The sway of modern revisionismultimately led to the counter-revolution in East Europe,Russia and China. As a result, the world communistmovement has suffered tremendously from confusions,frustrations, disarray and disintegration. But, here, wethe leaders & workers of SUCI (C) though felt seriouspain at this development, we did not succumb fall victimto confusion or pessimism, because we were armedwith the thoughts and teachings of Comrade ShibdasGhosh. He, way back in 1948, could foresee somedangers brewing in the world communist movement andaccordingly prepared our mind to face any eventuality.Further, he denounced the formu-lations of 20thcongress and had warned “it will open the floodgate ofrevisionism”. He termed the attack against Stalin as aserious attack on Lenin and Leninism and therebyagainst socialist system and world communistmovement. He provided a profound Marxist analysis ofthe root causes of this revisionist degeneration and theideological weapon to fight it. So we, armed with thissharp & developed Marxist-Leninist weapon, could facethe situation boldly, and during this adverse period too,our party has advanced and is advancing.

In this connection, it may be recalled that in the


history of human progress, every new ideology, everynew progressive movement till the final victory, had topass through the phases of defeat and defeat, thenvictory and again defeat. Even religious ideals, whosepreachers were considered by the believers as God-sent,had to face this. If you take the instance of bourgeoisdemocratic revolution, then beginning from theRenaissance to final victory, it took more than 300years. We know that from slavery to capitalism, allsocial changes were merely the change of one type ofexploitation by another, yet those took so many years tochange from one to another. But the object of socialistrevolution was to eliminate exploitation of man by manand abolish private ownership, which was in existence indifferent forms for thousands of years. Henceobjectively socialism, in its 80 years of existence in the20th century had to battle against hangover of thousandof years of exploitative system. The present setback,therefore, is not something beyond comprehension orunnatural. But we must keep in mind that socialismemerged out of the inexorable laws of social change.None can stop its ultimate victory. By drawingnecessary lessons from the present setbacks on thebasis of correct understanding of Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought, struggle for socialism andworld communist movement will revive again with morestrength and vigour as an irresistible tide. It is ourhistoric responsibility to develop revolutionarymovement in our country and to help and strengthenrevolutionary movements in other countries too. Howcan we do it? I am not to provide any guideline.Guideline is already provided by our great teacher


Comrade Shibdas Ghosh.I can only remind you certainpoints from the teachings of Comrade Shibdas Ghoshas I have realised them. And I will point out certainlapses on our part too. I cannot go into a detaileddiscussion as time is very short.

In our youth, when we started our revolutionarywork in the early 1950’s, Marxism was very popularthroughout the world. We were drawn by the current ofpopular support to the communist cause. But nowMarxism is under attack from the schools of idealism,mysticism, sophism and the attack is more virulant thanour time. As communists, we have to defeat the attackof all these schools of reactionary thought. And thesharpest weapon in our hands is Comrade ShibdasGhosh Thought. So, comrades must master Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought. Comrade ShibdasGhosh used to remind us again and again that Marxismis more powerful than all the weapons the imperialists-capitalists do have in their arsenal. We have tounderstand and assimilate it so that we can creativelyapply it in practice. Learning Marxism does not meangoing only through some books and quoting from thetexts. Knowing the three principles of dialectics,theories of contradiction etc. from books are notenough. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh clearly stated thatfrom Marx and Lenin’s teachings or their formulationshe had taken the kernel, the methodology, not simplytheir conclusions or analyses of a given situation. Hehad learnt the Marxist method, the dialectical method,the process of thinking in analyzing a situation, injudging things. From books we learn dialecticalprinciples, i.e., the general laws in abstraction. But,


through practice on the basis of theoretical knowledgeacquired, one has to know how those laws operate in thereal world in a particular way, in a peculiar form at agiven situation. Unless one can grasp it, one will not beable to discern the operation of dialectical laws in agiven phenomenon and handle a situation successfully.We know everything in this world is in constant motion,in a state of change through a law governed process.How the general laws, i.e. the three principles ofdialectics are in operation in a particular givenphenomenon, what are the internal and externalcontradictions and how the one is influencing the other,whether the nature of contradiction is antagonistic ornon-antagonistic, what is the principal contradiction andthe principal aspect of the contradiction — all theseone cannot understand by merely going through books.These are to be learnt from real lives through constantconsistent struggle applying the science of Marxismconcretely and creatively. And again Comrade ShibdasGhosh pointed out that without attaining higherproletarian culture, we cannot grasp Marxism, wecannot dialectically integrate theory and practice. Soattainment of higher proletarian culture is necessary.Elaborating further on this he said : the values, withwhich we join the party, are humanist values. It played arevolutionary role in society during the period ofwestern bourgeois democratic revolution and to someextent in our freedom struggle. But moribundcapitalism no longer nurtures those values, rather isdestroying them. Proletarian values and culture do notfall from the air. It is born in continuity and break withthe humanist values. But today the modern bourgeoisie


has destroyed all moral-ethical values to dehumanizethe people. It is very difficult to find out even thevestiges of humanist values today, which once wasupheld by the bourgeoisie. And that sordid picture isreflected in social and political conduct, even in familyand personal lives today. With much pain ComradeShibdas Ghosh said : we have lost our link with the highstandard of humanist values of rennaissance andfreedom struggle. Thus we have become rootless. Hetaught us that by acquiring and in the course exhaustingthe humanist moral values, we could in its continuityand effecting necessary break, acquire new and higherproletarian culture. He, therefore, gave immenseimportance to our learning and relearning from the lifestruggles and values in the lives of the pioneers ofRenaissance and the leaders and martyrs of freedomstruggle. We have to begin with those humanist values.But the humanist values wont help us much to advancefurther in revolutionary struggle of the working class.‘Revolutionary interest first, personal interestsecondary’ was the call of not only the freedommovement or the bourgeois democratic revolution, butwas also of proletarian revolution in backward capitalistcountry of czarist Russia and semi-colonial semi-feudalcountry of China. But now for us, in a relativelyadvanced capitalist country it will not be enough after acertain period. With furhter intensification ofrevolutionary class struggles and mass movements, thenecessity arises to free oneself not only from personalproperty but even from personal property mentalcomplex to attain complete identification withproletarian revolution, the class and the party. It is a


very difficult struggle. But today without this struggleone cannot realise and apply the Marxian scienceproperly. It is a very important battle.

In our party there are many honest comrades whopossess personal property though very little. Again thereare comrades who can give up personal property, but notyet able to be free from ‘private property mentalcomplex’ in respect of personal fame, post, love,affection, relationships, likes-dislikes etc. Propertycomplex centering round all these exist in us in a verysubtle form. Here lies the danger. Many of us studyComrade Shibdas Ghosh’s teachings, his celebratedwork On Communist Code of Conduct. But how manyof us are prepared to accept our critic as a teacher, howmany of us are prepared to note first of all our ownshortcomings and only others’ qualities, not theirdefects; how many of us are prepared not to takeindividual reading or draw individual impression withoutveryfying it collectively; how many of us are preparedto submit to the collective decision happily; how manyof us are ready to learn from junior comrades, from themasses? It is good that many a comrades are joining theparty with their families. Their struggle should be tobecome the members of the single party family as thereshould not be any separate family within party family.Within the party, on some issues many comrades doreflect personal family outlook. It works in a verysubtle way. We often fail to make difference betweenlove and weakness. Love, affection must be based onrevolutionary principles, ideology and ethics. Again, welike only appreciation, appeasement not criticism. Weindulge in self-glorification, become victim of inflated


ego. These problems are there. By this I do not meanthat all our comrades are behaving in this way. There arealso a considerable number of good comrades, who arebright, struggling and are advancing very well to attainthe higher proletarian culture. In ethics they are alsoreflecting more and more higher standard.

Comrades, don’t forget that we are surrounded bydegraded capitalist environment. It always tries tocorrupt and pollute us economically, politically,culturally. So always we must be alert. As a person ofthis society we join the party virtually with the virusesof capitalism in our culture. It is easier to recognize theenemy outside than to detect it within myself. This isvery difficult too. Unless we find it and eliminate it, thedanger remains. Again, this struggle should becontinued till one’s death. Because so long the breedingground remains alive, and if we are unalert andcomplacent, there will be continuous attacks in differentforms, even in more subtle forms, destroying ourideological and moral vitality. We cannot forget that inSoviet Union and China problems of degenerationstarted to develop from the rank of the leadership itself.The very central committee of CPSU after Stalin’sdemise started degenerating. The same thing occurredin China. That is why Comrade Nihar Mukherjee askedthe comrades and even the people several times inpublic meetings — ‘criticize me whenever you find anyfault of mine’. Saving the leadership is the mostimportant task. Critical attitude and dialectical relationbetween leaders and rank & file cannot grow withoutdeveloped understanding of Marxism and higherproletarian culture. Comrade Stalin warned against


slackening of ideological struggle and said that it wasthe prime task of the party and if neglected, there wouldbe irreparable damage to the party and the socialiststate. Out of complacence, the soviet party leaders andcadres did not pay heed to it. Now the disastrousconsequences is known to all. Most of ourorganizational bodies also neglect ideological struggle.I too neglected it when I was the secretary of the WestBengal State committee. Today I realise it. We feelmore concerned with mass movements and practical dayto day programmes. These are not to be neglected. Butprime importance should be given to ideologicalstruggle. We must know how to combine theideological, ethical, organisational struggles andconduct those in close integration with class & massstruggles. Comrades must find time to study, toexchange views while conducting day to day work andstruggles. Otherwise in future when present polit bureaumembers including some elderly members of thecentral committee will not be there owing to theoperation of the natural laws, only books of ComradeShibdas Ghosh will not save the party. That was whyComrade Nihar Mukherjee while in death-bed hadconducted serious inner-party struggle and took somehard decisions to save the party from future danger. Andyou know that.

We should not study classics or other importantliterature at random, in a haphazard manner or just likea scholar. We must study systematically, critically andby integrating it with the burning problems of people‘slives and day-to-day practical struggles. Mark theimportant points, note which are clear to you and which


are not, on which points you need clarification. Studyindividually and collectively. If you study individually,bring it in collective discussion to ascertain whetheryour understanding is correct. One pertinent point here.As we have not properly defined there is amisconception among many comrades that by classicswe mean only the writings of Marx, Engels, Lenin,Stalin and Mao. No, this is wrong. Classics mean thosecelebrated writings which provide fundamentalprinciples and guidelines and which are universal.Important and valuable works of Comrade ShibdasGhosh also belong to this category.

Collective reading, study classes, study circles,schools of politics must be organized regularly andperiodically. Besides, we should select some importantquestions confronting the revolutionary movement,inform the comrades beforehand so that they canprepare themselves and then involve them in discoursein presence of a leader. Role of a leader will only be toensure that deliberations are conducted properly and tohelp the erring comrades in correcting themselves.Moreover, constant common discussion on theoreticalquestions should be encouraged and developed. Ourmental make-up and attitudes do create hindrance toour advancement in ideological struggle. Firstly, thereis a deep-rooted thinking in society that as wealth isonly for a rich few, not for all, so also the cultivation ofknowledge is the exclusive preserve of only a giftedfew. Secondly, our lack of seriousness in search fortruth and serious study is particularly fostered andencouraged by the ruling class. Thirdly, too muchpressure of practical work and failure to adjust both


theoretical and practical works prevents comrades fromundertaking continuous study. Fourthly, the leaders whothemselves neglect study, do not encourage others tostudy. So to improve ideological standard, we mustovercome all these by relentless struggle.

As communists, we must know that all the Marxistleaders including Comrade Shibdas Ghosh urged us tolive with the masses, mix with the masses and to winover the masses. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh even said thatevery party member should be the leader of a section ofthe masses. That should be the essential qualificationfor all members of the party. He said: win over thepeople by love and friendship. Stereotyped politicaldiscussion does not help, earn their respect by yourbehavior, character, culture, by your devoted service inhelping them in their day to day problems. Attract themand involve them in work. He also said, involve a newcontact in such a work where he or she feels interested,and becomes more close to party. May be all at oncewill not become a DSO, DYO or MSS activist. So youare to develop hundreds of cultural, social, welfareorganizations, say for example, music and drama club,literary society, sports and science organizations, etc.Involve the ordinary members of mass organizations,ordinary supporters of the party in these activities andthrough these gradually try to imbue them withrevolutionary ideology and culture.

Senior leaders should consider junior comrades astheir children. Help them to develop with fatherly andmotherly affection. We used to see in our earlier daysthat when a child was born, the mother and the fatherunderwent a change. The child became the centre of


their whole attention and concern. Leaders also mustengage their minds in that way. Junior comrades willcommit mistakes again and again just like a child. Achild while learning to walk tumbles and repeatedly fallsdown, but again gets up and strives to walk. The eldersdo not stop them rather encourage them to walk. Thatshould be our attitude to our junior comrades. Wecannot forget that we too committed many mistakes.Even today we are committing mistakes. We very wellremember how our leaders, particularly ComradeShibdas Ghosh helped us to develop with immenseaffection, devotion, patience and care. Comrade ShibdasGhosh time and again said: while criticizing juniorcomrades do not dampen their spirit and initiative,rather encourage them, help them to develop self-initiative and creative thinking. Let them apply theirbrain, let them think, let them perpare their planning; donot intervene lest it obstructs the initiative. Of coursecoordination and centralism must be maintained.Collectively we will decide and individually we shallimplement. Again, collectively we shall exchange ourexperiences and through that enrich our futuredecisions. We need individual initiative, but notindividualistic initiative. It is difficult to differentiatethe two. So long one is not free from individualism,problem of individualistic inititative would remain.Leaders should carefully and continuously educate theerring comrades with perseverance and patience,without dejection and grudge. In the process the ability,skill and wisdom of the leaders would also develop.

In party bodies also, there are problems ofindividualism. I cannot accept, say, Debbabu’s (comrade


Debaprosad sarkar, member, central committee)suggestions, because he is only a cc member and I amthe general secretary or a polit bureau member. This ismy individualism, this is my ego. Comrade ShibdasGhosh had shown that in the name of democracy whatworks in bourgeois parties is formal democracy.Formal aspects (conference, committee meeting,decision on the basis of majority votes) are there, butnot the essence, the real democracy. In a factorybureaucrats or managers direct the affairs of the factoryand the workers are to blindly obey them. The bourgeoisparties also function in that way. Bourgeois formaldemocracy is just like that. In bourgeois democracyindustrialists, bourgeois leaders, bureaucrats are active,people are compelled to remain passive. You know allthese from Comrade Shibdas Ghosh’s speeches. I neednot repeat or elaborate it here. Proletarian democracydevelops on the basis of proletarian culture. More I amfree from individualism and personal factor, more I canacquire proletarian culture, accordingly more I am ableto contribute to collective body functioning. Thecollective body is like a medical board. Reports ofblood, urine, stool, heart, etc. get collected; doctors sittogether, examine those reports, exchange opinions onthose among themselves and finally concludescientifically. Remember, examples are alwaysimperfect and here this example is only to help youunderstand the point.

Wherever we initiate work or struggle to achievesomething, we must not expect immediate success. Thatwill bring frustration. What are the lessons of history?Failure, failure and again failure, and then comes the


success. It does not of course mean that failures anddefeats automatically lead to success or victory. Onehas to study the causes of every failure and defeat, learnfrom those. By that we can turn failures into pillars ofsuccess or can turn defeat into victory. We shouldremember that for achieving success, desire is noteverything. Objective conditions, which also undergochanges, must be studied scientifically. A peasant maynot know the ABC of the theories of agriculturalscience, but does apply the science empirically incultivation. He studies the soil to ascertain whether itis suitable for rice or wheat cultivation, studies thenature, selects the season to sow and accordingly goesfor cultivation. After tilling he uses water from eitherrain or irrigation, and applies manure. To help the plantsgrow, he has to remove the weeds and attend to manyother things. Then comes the appropriate time forharvesting. But if there is a natural calamity like droughtor excessive rain, all efforts go in vain. The poorpeasant draws necessary lessons and accordinglyprepares for next cultivation. This is so in every aspectof human activity. In confronting nature, menunknowingly apply science, even if in a rudimentaryform. If one is conscious and wants to understand theoperation of all the principles of dialectics or laws ofcontradictions, one can surely find those in nature andhuman activities. When we try to convince a person onsome points, we should first understand what at thegiven time his internal and external contradictions areand of those which one is dominant at that time. Again,of his internal and external contradictions, which one ispositive in accepting the revolutionary idea and which


one is working against it. How principal contradictionand principal aspect of contradiction operatingconcretely with all its pecularities in him. With thesejudgments we should initiate discussion. If ourjudgment is correct, there is every possibility that theperson will open his mind to listen, to receive andaccept our ideas gradually. In the beginning do not gofor a long discussion. Your discussion should be brief,lively and attractive. Remember that association,friendship and love are more helpful vehicle inimparting revolutionary ideas to a person. Anunprepared mind will not receive even a good idea. Sowe should not do things in a haste. Even when a personadvances well due to your efforts, all of a sudden, like anatural disaster, some internal or externalcontradictions or both may cause a setback for him. Youmust be prepared for that and act accordingly. All thesethings also hold true in building both organization andmovements.

As communists we must critically study all politicaland topical events. We must be able to apply Marxistmethodology to know the role of different classes inthese events, distinguish the different aspects of thelives of these classes, i.e. their intellectual, political,social, ethical lives. We must know the economic,social, cultural nature and features of different sectionsof the people. We must be aware of the deceptions ofthe ruling class, bourgeois parties and social democratsand know how they camouflage their design with sweet-sounding words. We should be capable of gauging themood of the masses from their voices, faces and evensighs. We should try to understand not only what the


people say, but also what the people want to say butcannot express in words. As communists we must, tothe best of our capacity, protest and organizemovements against any oppression and injustice.Organizationally and individually, we must always beprepared for any eventuality so that we can adapt andremould ourselves to any situation. It is difficult, if notimpossible always to foresee everything, to knowbeforehand when the lull period of movement will giveway to a period of turbulence.

Comrades, it is good that we are organizingmovements in many states. In almost all the states,comrades have been organizing movements on burningissues of the people. A large number of people aregetting involved also. Movements enhance the standardsof the comrades, it widens the horizon of their outlook,it steels them, it enhances their ability, firms up theirwill. Comrades get changed in the midst of struggle. Instudy classes you get the line. But it is to beimplemented. Leadership from the cc level to thelowest bodies must check those activities. Checkingmust be systematic and all embracing. Continuouschecking means finding out the defects, lapses,problems and providing remedies as well. The system ofchecking is very weak in our party. That is our fault. Wetake many programmes, but of those how many areimplemented wholeheartedly, how many in a halfheartedmanner or stopped in the midway, how many comradesget involved, what are the problems or difficulties orwhat are the experiences, what abilities, qualities orshortcomings are reflected by the comrades in thestruggles, each in his way, — we do not examine these


things properly. We do not keenly note how the lowerbodies are functioning. Even if their functioning isregular, they may not function in a democratic way. If itdoes not, we should find out the reasons and strive toremove those. This is necessary. It is also necessarythat while organizing and leading a mass struggle wemust apply our anti-capitalist revolutionary line in themovement, not in a mechanical but in a living way, sothat people are convinced from their practicalexperiences. Only achieving some demands and gettingpublic appreciations for the party is not enough. It isvery important that while organising and leading class &mass struggles we are able to be engaged in convincingthe people, workers, peasants, students and women thatthe root cause of all the problems are capitalism whichmust be replaced by socialism through a revolutionaryupsurge by developing revolutionary political power ofthe people. Change of govt. through election is nosolution. We must see that the people get convincedthat the bourgeois and the social democratic parties arein fact, serving capitalism and that only the SUCI(Communist) armed with Marxism-Leninism-ShibdasGhosh Thought is serving the real interest of the toilingpeople. This should become the people’s realisationthrough the experiences that they would get from theclass and mass struggles. In the midst of struggles, wemust strive to transform the people culturally also. Thatmeans they are to be freed from religious-idealisticoutlook, nationality, caste & craft complex and fromparliamentary illusions; they have to become capable tojudge everything from a class conscious proletarianoutlook. It is a difficult and arduous task no doubt, but


we communists are prepared to do all necessary as wellas difficult tasks in the interest of revolution. In thisway gradually we must educate the people.

There is another point. We find many left-mindedpeople and intellectuals, now being disillusioned withCPI(M), CPI, CPI (ML) are supporting our movements,a section are joining our movements also, some of themare even supporting our party. There is another section,non-left but liberal democrats, humanists; they are alsocoming forward in support of people’s movements. Weshould try to involve them to the extent they are readyto join. It is a new feature developing in our country. Weknow that the petty-bourgeois democrats vacillatebetween capitalism and socialism, between revolutionand parliamentary democracy. We must utilize thoseelements who in some way help proletarian movements,at the same time would fight those who are against theproletarian cause. Class struggles and mass movementswill get many allies, may be temporary, unreliable,vacillating and undependable. Here I will quote ateaching of Lenin from his book ‘Leftwing communism— an infantile disorder’ – “It is possible to conquer themore powerful enemy only by exerting the utmosteffort and by necessarily, thoroughly, carefully,attentively and skillfully taking advantage of every,even the smallest fissure among the enemies. …Bytaking advantage of every, even the smallestopportunity of organizing a mass ally, even thoughthis ally be temporary, vacillating, unstable,unreliable and conditional.” Comrades shouldunderstand it; otherwise they would not be able to fightconfusions. Lenin also said, “To refuse to work”, note


it very carefully, “to refuse to work in the reactionarytrade unions means leaving the insufficientlydeveloped or backward masses of the workers underthe influence of the reactionary leaders, the agents ofthe bourgeoisie, the labour aristocrat., …In order tobe able to help the masses and to win the sympathy,confidence, and support of the masses, it is necessaryto brave all difficulties and to be unafraid ofpinpricks, obstacles, insults and persecution of theleaders. …And it is imperatively necessary to workwherever the masses are found. Every sacrifice mustbe made, the greatest obstacles must be overcome inorder to carry on agitation and propagandasystematically, perseveringly and persistently,patiently, precisely in those institutions and societies,associations — even the most reactionary — to whichproletarian and semi-proletarian masses belong.”Comrades must understand these invaluable teachingsof Comrade Lenin. Comrade Stalin, Comrade MaoZedong and Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, — all giantcommunist leaders had shown brilliantly how toimplement this teaching of Comrade Lenin in a givensituation. We should not suffer from dogmatism and atthe same time should not sink in opportunism. Only theneeds of revolutionary struggle, democratic movementsand class struggle at a given time will decide who are tobe considered as an ally and for how long.

Now regarding class & mass fronts I like to referfew problems in brief. We will have to depute morecomrades in the two class fronts, i.e. trade union frontand peasants and agricultural workers’ front. Our partyis a working class party. Working class i.e. workers and


agricultural workers are the leading force of revolution.Poor peasants, lower middle class are our allies. It istrue that in these two fronts also, we are developing butthe progress is slow and not all uniform. Let us givemore emphasis here.

Our women front is developing, but it is mostlyconfined among the middle class women. Their sphereof activities must be extended to workers, peasants, anddowntrodden masses. Male comrades should struggle tofree themselves from patriarchal sense of superiorityand help in the unhindered development of the femalecomrades. The party is to develop organizations ofdifferent sections of toiling people having differentproblems. Employees’ fronts, teachers’ fronts are to beemphasized upon. Different forums on different issuesare also to be developed.

It is notable that whenever proper efforts are made,large number of students and youth join our party.Comrade Nihar Mukherjee also had emphasized upondeveloping Komsomol, students’ front, youth front.They are our future. The party needs young cadres. It isgood that some states are giving proper emphasis. Someare still lagging behind. All the states should giveadequate attention to these organisations. Some stateparty organisations are advancing, but some are notadvancing adequately. The advanced states will have torelease some comrades to work in the weaker states, atleast for a temporary period, if not permanently, forexploration. Within a state also, some districts aredeveloped, some are not. The developed or advanceddistricts should release comrades to develop the weakerdistricts. Comrades must be educated so that they can


protest instantaneously against any oppression,repression, injustice as a revolutionary. They should notwait for a party circular. Indian workers should knowhow the workers of France, Germany are fighting. Itshould be discussed with them. West Bengal comradesshould know how comrades of Kerala, Karnataka,Haryana and other states are organizing peasantmovements and what to learn from them. Everywherethis sort of discussion is necessary. Party comrades andmass front activists should carry the news of thosestruggles to the common people. Students’ front shouldmobilize opinion among the students in favour ofmovements of the workers, peasants and women andvice versa. Otherwise how will solidarity develop? Inabsence of solidarity, only sectarian outlook will thrive.

Nothing is static, development and change arecontinuous and we will have to remould ourselvesaccordingly. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh asked us toengage ourselves for 24 hours in revolutionaryactivities. Then he added: By this I don’t mean you willnot take food, you will not sleep, you will not exchangeemotions with children, wife and your friends andcomrades, but your mind should not be occupied withall these things, you should be fully engrossed inrevolutionary thinking and works, otherwise you cannotfulfill your revolutionary responsibility. He taught us inthis way. Similarly we need a band of young leaders. PBmembers are old, CC members, PC members are alsoold. Most of them are above sixty. So, young steeledleaders are necessary. We have to help the struggle foremergence of new leadership. Comrade ManikMukherjee is sick. Comrade Ranjit Dhar is also sick.


Comrade Krishna Chakraborty is not so physically abletoday. He has explored a good number of states in India.Comrade Asit Bhattacharyya has explored the easternpart of our country. They are also old. We need alsosome able comrades to go to foreign countries. Worldcommunist movement needs to be acquainted withComrade Shibdas Ghosh’s thoughts — the developedunderstanding of Marxism-Leninism. So a good numberof capable propagandists and organizers are necessaryfor work within and outside our country.

Comrades, I shall conclude with an appeal ofComrade Shibdas Ghosh. I’ll read it for you. In 1974 headdressed a meeting of the party workers in this hall andsaid, “out of discontent of workers, peasants and allexploited masses, revolution will again and again tryto surge ahead in waves after waves. In waves afterwaves it will try to burst forth. The contradictionwithin the society will deepen and sharpen manytimes more, calling for radical transformation of thisorder. It will beseech our consciousness, it will appealto humanity that revolution is the necessity. Still,revolution will not come, again and again it willrecede, it will go astray and reaction will again andagain gain by that — revolution will not see the lightuntil the revolutionary party emerges, capableenough to lead the revolution.”

Further he said in this speech, “Earlier, too, I said,that the coming days are very important to us. You areto build this party fast within a very short period, withthe political and organizational strength necessary toprovide leadership to revolution. We could not haveachieved this task earlier even if we had


contemplated it. But now, with our present numericalstrength, if all of us — each and every leader andcadre — strive to put it into reality, with adequatecontemplation, we shall succeed to achieve it. To thatend, every worker present here shall have to carry outhis respective work without turning away from it, withindividual initiative and intellect — no matterwhether you can achieve it or not, you succeed or fail.… with this objective — be it in a club, a peasant andagricultural workers’ organization, a slumdwellers’welfare association, a literary forum, a poets’ forum,a gymnasium, a trade union, or a worker’s welfareassociation, or if you are conducting political classeswith the workers — in whatsoever way, you aremixing with the people, trying to rally them aroundyou and free and wean them from the wrong politicalline and draw them into the fold of the party’spolitics. This is the task to be accomplished by you, inyour respective sphere, each with full initiative and tothe best of ability.’’ (Tribute to a RevolutionaryCharacter, Selected Works, Vol.-3)

Now Comrades, here are the portraits of Marx,Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Shibdas Ghosh, thesix giant communist leaders hung above. We know theirhistoric struggle. We know their invaluablecontributions in history. And we are their sons anddaughters. We are to advance their struggle for theemancipation of the exploited people. When we die,we’ll have to die with the full satisfaction that we couldperform our duties as their worthy students. You havebeen gifted a memento containing photos of the firstelected 7 CC members of our party at the founding


convention. Look at them. All of them were then below30 yrs. Under the leadership of Comrade Shibdas Ghoshwhat a history they have created! Look at this assemblyin this big hall. How big it is, though only electeddelegates and observers are present here. Outside thishall, there are thousands of party activists in the country.If we all stand up like one man with firm determination,what we can achieve that is understandable to you all.We cannot act like one man only by good wishes. Forthat a determined struggle is necessary to acquire oneprocess of thinking, uniformity in thinking, oneness inapproach and singleness of purpose based on Marxianscience. That too needs constant common associationconstant common discussion, and constant commonactivity and making these habitual in our day-to-day life.This will develop, strengthen and heighten the standardand functioning of democratic centralism within theparty.

So, remember the teachings of Comrade ShibdasGhosh, apply those in your life. That should be ourmode of existence. Continue relentless revolutionarystruggle to develop yourself. Carry forward the bannerof communism. With this I conclude.

Red salute to you all

Long live Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought

Red salute to the great leader of the ProletariatComrade Shibdas Ghosh

Inquilab Zindabad

SUCI (Communist) Zindabad

Long live Proletarian Internationalism

Documents

CARRY FORWARD THE BANNER OF COMMUNISM · each one has his knife up the sleeves, waiting to backstab the other at the opportune moment. Each one strives to snatch other’s market