GUIDING THOUGHT OF REVOLUTION: THE HEART OF MAOISM

GUIDING THOUGHT OF REVOLUTION:

THE HEART OF MAOISMSpring 2013

GUIDING THOUGHT OF REVOLUTION:THE HEART OF MAOISM

This document – project has been promoted by the following organization and parties:

Organization of the Workers of Afghanistan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, principally Maoist)Communist Party Marxist Leninist Maoist – Bangladesh

Communist Party Marxist Leninist Maoist – France

This document has been supported by the Marxist Leninist Maoist Center of Belgium.

Spring 2013

“Revolutions give rise to a thought that guides them, which is the result of the application of the universaltruth of the ideology of the international proletariat to the concrete conditions of each revolution; a guidingthought indispensable to reach victory and to conquer political power and, moreover, to continue therevolution and to maintain the course always towards the only, great goal: Communism.”

Communist Party of Peru, On Gonzalo thought.

The present document is a projectto introduce to the concept of“guiding thought” throughquestions and answers onindividuals which have played agreat role in their own country,precisely in formulating a“thought”.

This project is called to progressand to win in completeness, in thequality of the explanations, butalso in the quantity of individualswhose life is here shortlypresented.Indeed, in each country, classstruggle generates individuals whoproceed to the analysis of theirown social and national reality,understanding the contradictionsthey live in, paving the way forprogress through revolution, i.e.New Democratic Revolution orSocialist Revolution.

The “thought” of the individualshere concerned is the reflection ofthe movement of eternal matter;those individuals are not “genius”with great “ideas”, but peopleunderstanding reality in thedialectical materialist way andaccepting it as it is.

It is useful here to quote Lenin.When studying Hegel, Lenin notesthe following things:

“Dialectics is the teaching whichshows how Opposites can be andhow they happen to be (how theybecome) identical, – under whatconditions they are identical,becoming transformed into oneanother, – why the human mindshould grasp these opposites notas dead, rigid, but as living,conditional, mobile, becomingtransformed into one another.”

And:

“All-sided, universal elasticity ofconcepts, an elasticity reaching tothe identity of opposites, – that isthe essence.

This flexibility, applied subjectively= eclecticism and sophistry.

Is this elasticity objectively applied,i.e. reflecting the all-sidedness ofthe material process and its unity,then it is dialectics, the correctreflection of the eternaldevelopment of the world.”

In this sense, we hope thisdocument will help to forge guidingthought in each country, guidingthoughts which are the reflect ofthe eternal movement of matter,advancing to communism.

Guiding thought of revolution: the heart of Maoism

1. The contextHow and in which context did comrade Akram Yari Guiding Thought evolve?

The revisionistPDPA (People’sDemocratic Partyof Afghanistan)which was a pro-Khruchievite party,in mid-1960s, wasto bring about a

betrayal to democratic revolution ofAfghanistan.

Indeed, the rank-and-file of this party,

ideologically, was filled with petit-bourgeois minded intellectuals whowere tailing a social-imperialistideological model.

In such a context, a “No!” was upheld!This came from a young revolutionary,who neither reconciled with revisionismeven a moment, nor neglected fightingit.

This was comrade Akram Yari, who bythe formation of PYO (Progressive

Youth Organization) established thefirst anti-revisionist organization inAfghanistan.

PYO was a Maoist organization, inindeed Akram Yari Thought was thetheoretical expression of thisorganization in context of national andinternational struggle againstrevisionism, a struggle which gave birthto the first Maoist organization inAfghanistan.

How and in which context did comrade Ibrahim Kaypakkaya Guiding Thought evolve?The CommunistParty of Turkeywas found byMustafa Suphi(1883-1921), butcollapsed soonbecause of

kemalism, the nationalist ideology ofthe bureaucratic bourgeoisie takingpower on the ruins of the OttomanEmpire.

Born in 1949, Ibrahim Kaypakkya'sproduced a thought which merged asthe most developed part of a wholerevolutionary wave produced by themasses (others famous figures whichpromoted armed struggle were theguevarist Mahir Cayan and thehoxhaist Deniz Gezmiş).

The main question was to understandthe nature of the Turkish regime, and

its origin: the kemalist “revolution”, acounter-revolution that was consideredby opportunism as “bourgeois” or even“democratic and betrayed”.

Ibrahim Kaypakkaya studied thenature of Turkey, its history since itsfounding by Mustafa Kemal, affirmingits semi-colonial semi-feudal natureand the necessity to follow the path ofthe New Democratic Revolution.

How and in which context did comrade Siraj Sikder Guiding Thought evolve?After the Russianrevolution, theCommunist partywas formed inIndia, but this partydid not lead thepeasants to armedstruggle against

British colonialism and its feudalistbasis, and denied to lead their armedstruggles.

Moreover, during Second world war, ittried to push Indian people to the unitywith British in the name of line of ananti fascist united front, and as a result,Congress and Muslim League that arerepresentative of Hindu and Muslimbourgeoisie and feudal of India

respectively gave birth to India andPakistan named two semi colonialsemi feudal states by makingcommunal class contradictionantagonistic.

As majority mass peasants of EastBengal as Muslim was object ofcommunal exploitation andsuppression by the Hindu Jamindars,and as the problem was not solvedthrough revolution, Muslim peasantryof East Bengal voted in favor ofPakistan.

Since after the creation of Pakistan,backward East Bengal became acolony of the comparatively advanceWest Pakistan. People of East Bengal

rose in rebellion against Pakistanicolonial rule from language movementof 1952 and mass movement of 1969up to national liberation war of 1971.

The East Pakistan Communist partyfailed to lead people’s struggle incorrect line.

With the emergence of Khruschevyterevisionism internationally, that partybecame a revisionist party.

As Chairman Mao led internationalstruggle against that revisionism, thatparty got divided into two trends – ProMoscow and Pro Peking faction. ThePro Peking faction could not free itselffrom revisionism. Comrade Siraj Sikderbroke that chain of revisionism.

How and in which context did comrade Gonzalo Guiding Thought evolve?With José CarlosMariategui (1894-1930), Peruproduced a greatleader who wasable to build a real

Communist Party, but after his deathrevisionism prevailed, with a line of“national unity” and then the one ofmodern revisionism.

The context was one of raising of themass struggles, but the ideological

background was marked by theinfluence of revisionism.

There was the need for a correctunderstanding of José CarlosMariategui's works about Peru, for acorrect understanding of Peru as a

2


semi-colonial semi-feudal country.

In the well known interview Gonzalogave in 1988, he explained in this waythe general context of Peru:

“We have an understanding of theworkings of contemporary Peruviansociety, by which we mean the societywhich came into being in I895.

We believe that the process we areliving through began then and that

there have been three stages.

The first stage laid the basis for thedevelopment of bureaucrat capitalism;the second stage, which deepened thedevelopment of bureaucrat capitalism,began after World War II, because thefirst stage lasted until then.

This deeper development ofbureaucrat capitalism ripened theconditions for revolution.

With the beginning of the people's warin I980, we entered the third stage, ofthe general crisis of bureaucratcapitalism.

The destruction of contemporaryPeruvian society has begun because ithas become historically outmoded.

Therefore what we are witnessing is itsend and the only correct course is tobattle, to fight, and to struggle to buryit.”

How and in which context did comrade Alfred Klahr Guiding Thought evolve?Alfred Klahr was aeminent Partyactivist from thecommunist move-ment in Austria.

Because he wasparticularly underpolice attack in the

middle of the 1930's, he led theAustrian section of the Lenin school inMoscow, from 1935 to 1937.

During this period, he developped avery deep analysis of the Austriansociety, how its nation emerged fromthe German part of Europe to takeanother direction, oriented to the East.

This permitted to understand thesituation in a country where the clericalAustro-fascists were in conflict with thePan-German national-socialists, eachbeing expression of different socialclasses.

2. Constitution and reconstitutionDid comrade Akram Yari form a new party or join a preexisting party?In many countries, anti-revisionismwas carried out by splitting fromCommunist parties whom fell intorevisionism.

But, in Afghanistan, anti-revisionismwas not carried out by splitting from aformer party.

Before formation of PYO, comrade

Akram Yari was not member of anyorganization. PYO was the initial stepsof chairman Akram Yari, and also hisgreatest initiative.

Did comrade Ibrahim Kaypakkaya form a new party or join a preexisting party?Ibrahim Kaypakkaya was only 21when he joined the TIIKP(Revolutionary Workers and PeasantsParty of Turkey).

He learnt from the great strike of mid-june 1970 and began to work in the

review of the TIIKP, which officially waspromoting Mao Zedong's interpretationof Marxism-Leninism.

Supporting the Great CulturalProletarian Revolution in China, heorganized a revolutionary fraction in

the TIIKP, producing his thought.

Then, in April 1972, he broke with theTIIKP, to form the Communist Party ofTurkey / Marxist-Leninist, the TKP/ML.

Did comrade Siraj Sikder form a new party or join a preexisting party?Siraj Sikder formed a new party as theexisting communist party fell inrevisionism.

Siraj Sikder is the greatest son ofBangladesh who led the proletariathere to take up Mao Thought asdevelopment of Marxism-Leninism.

On that basis he correctly analyzed the

society of East Bengal as colonial-semifeudal, led the proletariat to form itsown party, armed force for the first timein history, united front by mobilizingpeasantry, middle class and nationalbourgeoisie and building Base Areas.

He formed Mao Zedong researchcenter in 1967 to make ideological

preparation of a proletarian party,formed East Bengal WorkersMovement in 1968 as a preparatoryorganization of a proletarian party,initiated armed struggle in 1970 andformed Proletarian party of EastBengal in 1971, in liberated base inBarisal in southern Bangladesh.

Did comrade Gonzalo form a new party or join a preexisting party?Gonzalo led a fraction work to reaffirmthe value of Mariategui and to give acorrect direction to the Party.

Here is how he presents this strugglein his 1988's interview:

“The first period, the first part, is theFounding of the Party, in which wewere fortunate to have José CarlosMariátegui, a thoroughgoing Marxist-Leninist.

But, inevitably, Mariátegui wasopposed, negated, his line wasabandoned and the constitutionalcongress that he left as a pending taskwas never held.

3


The so-called Constitutional Congressthat was held approved, as we know,the so-called line of "national unity,"which was totally opposed toMariátegui's theories.

In this way the Party fell headlong intoopportunism, suffering from theinfluence of Browderism, which DelPrado was linked up with, and later,modern revisionism.

This whole process takes us to thesecond period, that of theReconstitution of the Party.

This is, in sum, a struggle againstrevisionism.

It is a period that we can clearly seebeginning to unfold with a certainintensity in the beginning of the '60s.

This process leads the members of the

Party to unite against the revisionistleadership and, as I have said before,to expel them in the IVth Conference ofJanuary 1964.

The process of reconstitution continuesto unfold in the Party until 1978-1979,when it ends and a third period begins,the period of Leading the People's War[which begun in 1980], which is theone we are living in now.”

Did comrade Alfred Klahr form a new party or join a preexisting party?Alfred Klahr joined the Communist Party of Austria.

3. The GPCRDid comrade Akram Yari consider itself as a product of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution?PYO was active in stormy years ofGPCR.

Comrade Akram Yari fully supportedthe Proletarian Revolution andchairman Mao Zedong’s contributionsto Marxism-Leninism, and adopted itas Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong

Thought, applicable to concreteconditions of Afghanistan. Heconsidered Mao-Zedong Thought asthe international banner of worldproletariat against modern revisionism.

He fully rejected “Three Peacefuls” and“Two Alls” of Khruschivites.

He fully understood that PYO couldsurely be a frontline of combat underguiding line of GPCR, so that it couldlead the struggle against pro-khruchivte revisionist party of “people’sdemocratic party of Afghanistan”.

Did comrade Ibrahim Kaypakkaya consider itself as a product of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution?In the criticism of the program of the TIIKP, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya explains that “our movement is a product of the GreatProletarian Cultural Revolution”.

Did comrade Siraj Sikder consider itself as a product of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution?Siraj Sikder thought was based onteachings of Great Proletarian CulturalRevolution.

He formed Mao Zedong researchcenter in 1967 to make ideologicalpreparation of a proletarian party, anddeclared Marxism-Leninism-Mao

thought as the third stage of Marxism.He carried uncompromising struggleagainst pro Moscow and pro Peking allsorts of wrong trends.

Chinese state made compromise withPakistani state in 1971 when SirajSikder was launching people’s war

against Pakistan colonial state. Hedidn’t consider Pro China or any typeof Chinese state activities as Maoist.

It was his profound understanding ofGPCR that led him to discard any typerevisionism whatever its name or formis.

Did comrade Gonzalo consider itself as a product of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution?Yes, in its interview from 1988,Gonzalo explained how the GreatProletarian Cultural Revolution broughthim to really understand José CarlosMariategui:

“Yes, I've been to China. In China I hadthe chance, which I'd like to see manyhave, of being in a school wherepolitics was taught, from internationalquestions to Marxist philosophy.

They were masterful lessons given by

proven and highly competentrevolutionaries, great teachers.

Among them I can remember theteacher who taught us about open andsecret work, a man who had devotedhis whole life to the Party, and only tothe Party, over the course of manyyears – a living example and anextraordinary teacher.

He taught us many things, and hewanted to teach us more but some

didn't accept it – after all, there are allsorts of people in this life.

Later, they taught us about militaryquestions.

But here they also began with politics,people's war, then the forging of thearmed forces, strategy and tactics.

And then the practical part that wentwith it, like ambushes, attacks, militarymovements, as well as how toassemble explosive devices.

4


When we were handling delicatechemicals they urged us to alwayskeep our ideology first and foremost,because that would enable us to doanything, and do it well.

We learned to make our first demolitioncharges.

For me it is an unforgettable exampleand experience, an important lesson,and a big step in my development – tohave been trained in the highest schoolof Marxism the world has ever seen.

Well, if you'd like an anecdote, here'sone.

When we were finishing the course onexplosives, they told us that anythingcan explode.

So, at the end of the course, we pickedup a pen and it blew up, and when wetook a seat it blew up, too.

It was a kind of general fireworksdisplay.

These were perfectly calculatedexamples to show us that anythingcould be blown up if you figured outhow to do it.

We constantly asked, "How do you dothis? How do you do that?"

They would tell us, don't worry, don't

worry, you've already learned enough.

Remember what the masses can do,they have inexhaustible ingenuity, whatwe've taught you the masses will doand will teach you all over again. Thatis what they told us.

That school contributed greatly to mydevelopment and helped me begin togain an appreciation for Chairman MaoZedong.

Later, I studied some more and I have

tried to apply it. I think I still have agreat deal to learn from Chairman MaoZedong, from Maoism, as well as fromMao's practice.

It isn't about trying to compare myselfto him, it is simply using the highestpinnacles as a reference point forachieving our objectives.

My stay in China was an unforgettableexperience.

I was there on another occasion aswell, when the Great ProletarianCultural Revolution was beginning. Weasked them to explain what was thencalled Mao Zedong Thought.

They taught us some more and thathelped me understand more, a littlemore I should say.

One thing that seems ironic is that themore I understood Mao Zedong, themore I began to appreciate and valueMariátegui.

Since Mao urged us to apply creatively,I went back and studied Mariáteguiagain, and saw that we had in him afirst rate Marxist-Leninist who hadthoroughly analyzed our society.

It seems ironic, but it's true.”

Did comrade Alfred Klahr consider itself as a product of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution?Alfred Klahr died before the GPCR, and even before the success of the Chinese New Democratic revolution in 1949.

4. The main documentsWhat were Akram Yari's main documents?The program of PYO, drafted and thenadopted principally in second congressof PYO.

Misfortunately, most of the writings ofcomrade Akram Yari, still areunavailable.

He has buried them, to save them.

From the time of King Zaher till PDPAregime, all reactionary regimes werechasing and suppressing clandestineMaoist elements.

Revisionist PDPA while in power wasthe principal enemy of Marxist-Leninist-Maoists of Afghanistan.

So, comrade Yari hid his hand writings.

Regretly, in a poor country likeAfghanistan, during that time, therewas less possibility for revolutionarybooks to be printed mainly because ofthree reasons:

1°) Lack of printing houses: almost allof the printing houses were of andunder control of state.

2°) No accessibility to modern printingmachine, and no budget for thatpurposes.

PYO had no struggle economicalbackbone. It mainly gained

contributions mainly of its members asmembership fee.

3°) Due to dangerous situation andhighly police states during times ofKing Zaher, and later on during“ president term” of Lord Dawod, therewas no secure and facility for printinghouses.

Most of the few available clandestinehand printing machines were unveiledand arrested by security forces, andthe revolutionaries were always sent tojail, and worse than that: shot to death.

5


NOTE OF THE COMRADES OF AFGHANISTANIf there are few documents remainingfrom Chairman Akram Yari, then, howcan you prove his guiding thoughthaving been formed?

Akram Yari: a generation ofcommunists was taught by him.

They learned from him that: it is theproletarians of Afghanistan who is thevanguard of revolution of Afghanistan.

They learned from him that: ourcoming revolution is a democraticrevolution of a new type: a NewDemocratic Revolution.

They learned from him that: ourrevolution is part of world proletarianrevolution.

And finally, and mainly they learnedfrom him that: Maoism has contributedand taught the continuation ofrevolution under dictatorship ofproletariat, and today, to be a Marxistmeans to be a combatant of shiningtrench of Marxism-Leninism Mao-Zedong Thought (Maoism was thennamed Mao’s Thought in 1960s, asare all aware of this).

Today, Organization of the workers ofAfghanistan (Marxist—Leninist-Maoist,principally Maoist) holds that: it is theguiding thought of comrade Akram Yariwhich gives us the strength and liability.

Neglecting this shining trench, as thehistory of these four decades proved,causes deviations from Maoism, andmakes revolutionaries fall inrevisionism.

Parts of revolutionaries who separatedtheir way from that of chairman AkramYari’s line fell to dogma-revisionism ofEnver Hoxa and revisionism ofcentrists who claimed Guevarism, andfinally gave up to revisionist PDPA.

It is shining line of comrade Akram Yari,

which has always represented Maoismand contributed to revolutionary praxis.

According to our knowledge andsummations, comrade Akram Yari is ascrucial to Afghanistan revolution ascomrade Mariategui was for Peruvianrevolution. Mariategui’s line,contributed in formation of GonzaloThought.

Because of being the initiator and thefounder, and because of establishingthe Maoist line in Afghanistan, we callthe application of Maoism inAfghanistan as Akram Yari Thought.

Otherwise, it is Organization of theworkers of Afghanistan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, principally Maoist) whoat the present time is dedicated todevelop the guiding thought ofrevolution in Afghanistan.

Other sections and groupings,however claiming legacy of AkramYari, still reject the formulation of(Guiding thought and great leadership).

So, they fall apart and fail to participate

in development of guiding thought ofrevolution.

So, our organization is the only Maoistforce in Afghanistan who stands infavor of Guiding Thought, and says:Guiding Thought of comrade AkramYari, however generated, but still information and development, is theguiding thought of New Democraticrevolution in Afghanistan and will alsobe the guarantee of triumph untilcommunism.

Our opponents and so called “Maoists”claim that: OWA (MLM p-M) is copyingPCP. We say: NO!

We are reviving Maoism inAfghanistan!

Our work is the leading core ofdevelopment of Akram Yari Thought.

However this thought does not fullyinhere its development from AkramYari directly, but, historically andbasically, it is Akram Yari‘s teachingswhich is being developed by ourorganization and being presented asguiding thought of revolution.

In our concrete conditions, ourorganization and the guiding thought ofAkram Yari are identical.

‘Outside’ this, you can find “Maoism”without guiding thought and evenagainst thesis of (Guiding Thought).

For example: Communist Maoist Partyof Afghanistan, rejects and ridiculesthesis of Guiding Thought and GreatLeadership by naming them as Non-Maoist appendages of Gonzalo.

So, in our concrete reality, we are thefirst to accept and adopt “thought” and“people’s war until communism”!

Our organization is the embodiment ofAkram Yari Thought.

What were Ibrahim Kaypakkaya's main documents?Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, who died at theage of 21, wrote four main documents.

These documents are the basicdocuments for the foundation of theTKP/ML (Communist Party of Turkey /Marxist-Leninist).

The first one, written at the beginningof 1972 after the formation of theTKP/ML, is called “General criticism of

the revisionism of the Safak (Aydınlık)by the TKP/ML”.

Safak (Dawn) was the illegal centralorgan of the revisionist RevolutionaryWorkers and Peasants Party ofTurkey, whereas Aydınlık (Clarity) wasthe legal organ upholding the line ofthis Party.

The “General criticism” made by

Ibrahim Kaypakkaya consists in 11articles and a long document called“The main points that separate us fromthe Safak – revisionism”; the wholeforms a book of 150 pages.

The three others documents of IbrahimKaypakkaya, which make 60 pageseach, are more famous.

In January 1972, Kaypakkaya wrote

6


“Criticism of the program of the TIIKP(Aydınlık)” and “Views on kemalism”.

The first document is a criticism of therevisionist TIIKP in the spirit of the“General criticism”, whereas the

second one is the very importantdocument where he characterizeskemalism as fascism.

In December 1971, he had also wrote“The national question in Turkey”,

where he deals with the Kurdishquestion, rejecting the chauvinism ofrevisionism and defending the right ofself-determination.

What were Siraj SIkder's main documents?Siraj Sikder produced a lot ofdocuments.

Since when he started his politicalactivity as a Maoist Leader, his pennever stopped. More than onehundred documents are found till now.

He wrote ideological, organizational,political, poetry, literary critique.

Main documents are:

1. Theses of East Bengal WorkersMovement (First published in 8January 1968, republished in rewrittenand edited form in December 1, 1968)

2. Difference of ProletarianRevolutionaries of East Bengal withHuq-Toha neo revisionists, the Deben-Motin Trotskyte-Guevarists and theconspirator Kaji-Rono traitor clique ondetermining principal contradiction atthe present stage of socialdevelopment of East Bengal. (Eastly1970)

3. Exposure of the draft strategy andprogram of the so called East BengalCommunist Party, the party that is leftin form, right in essence. (March, 1970,republished in edited form in April,1972)

4. Class analysis of East Bengalsociety. (Early 1970, republished inedited form in changed political

situation in 1972)

5. Establish independent East Bengal.(8 January, 1971)

6. On some slogans. (January 1971)

7. Open letter of East Bengal WorkersMovement to sheikh Mujiv and theAwami League. (2 March 1971)

8. Cadres of East Bengal WorkersMovement, Be brave! Firmly seizepolitical power! Annihilate nationalenemies! Build National LiberationArmy! Implement program! (23 April,1971)

9. Draft constitution of Proletarianparty of East Bengal. (September,1971) Six Mountains’ Lackeysdisguised as patriot (October, 1971)

10. Rely upon peasants in NationalLiberation War! Smash the wintercampaign of the Pak military banditsAnd the anti-people activities of the sixmountains’ lackey The Awami LeagueLiberation Force fascist reactionaries!Spread Guerrilla war to broaderregions!(October, 1971)

11. First Congress Report (January,1972)

12. Heroic people of East Bengal, Ourstruggle has not yet finished, carry onthe great struggle to Finish theUnfinished national democraticRevolution of East Bengal (March,1972, corrected and reprinted in May1972 and March, 1974)

13. Role of Leaders and Cadres inrevolution (1972)

14. On socialism, class struggle andsocial revolution (October, 1972)

15.Some problems of building anarmed force under the leadership ofpolitical party of proletarian class ofEast Bengal (April 30, 1974)

What were Gonzalo's main documents?Gonzalo's main document are,besides the well known interview from1988 and “Ila-80”, the documents ofthe first congress of the reconstitutedCommunist Party of Peru which formthe Basis of Party Unity (BUP):“Marxism-Leninism-Maoism”, “GonzaloThought”, “International Line”,

“Democratic Revolution”, “MilitaryLine”, “The Line of Construction of theThree Instruments of the Revolution”,“The Mass Line”.

To be added is also the speech held inSeptember 1992 whereas he wasarrested (“We are here in these

circumstances. Some think this is agreat defeat. They are dreaming! Wetell them to keep on dreaming. It issimply a bend, nothing more, a bend inthe road! The road is long and we shallarrive. We shall triumph! You shall seeit! You shall see it!”).

What were Alfred Klahr's main documents?Alfred Klahr's main documents are:

1. the series of articles called “Zurnationalen Frage in Österreich” (On thenational question in Austria), publishedin 1937 in the Austrian communist

review “Weg und Ziel” (The way andthe goal);

2. the “Auschwitz text”, written in theconcentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, synthesis of the debates

made there between Austrian andGerman communists (Klahr managedto escape, but died afterwards inWarsaw, shot by the SS).

7


5. The People's WarDid the revolutionary Akram Yari launch people s war?’Akram Yari himself could not launchpeople’s war.

He was still so young he fell sick, andgot schizophrenic.

For second, he was murdered byrevisionist PDPA when he was still

young.

But, his teaching paved the way forfuture possibility of launchingrevolutionary armed struggle andfinally the Protracted People’s War.

For example, revolutionary struggle

launched by revolutionary Mao-Thought groupings against “Soviet”social imperialist invasion inAfghanistan, which was launched bythen revolutionary organizations suchas “SAMA” in first half of 1980s camefrom teachings of Akram Yari.

Did the revolutionary Ibrahim Kaypakkaya launch people s war?’Yes, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya foundTIKKO, the Workers' and Peasants'Liberation Army of Turkey (Türkiye İşcive Köylü Kurtuluş Ordusu).

Ibrahim Kaypakkaya himself wasseverely wounded during a fight with

the reactionary army in the mountain ofDersim; he managed to escape,however, he was captured a weekafterwards.

He was forced to walk barefoot over50 km snow and icy rivers from city to

city, then put in Diyarbakirs prison fornearly four months, where he was insolitary confinement and systematicallytortured.

He was finally shot by the reaction ashe revealed absolutely no information.

Did the revolutionary Siraj Sikder launch people s war?’After taking up Marxism-Leninism MaoZedong thought as the third stage ofMarxism, he led proletariat to form itsorganization to develop a proletarianparty.

Under his leadership preparatoryorganisation of party – the East BengalWorkers Movement initiated armed

struggle in 1968 and Proletarian partyof East Bengal was formed in 1971 inliberated area when party was carryingpeople’s war.

Apart from countrywide armedstruggle, party could establish BaseArea twice: once in Payarabaganforest of river delta of Barisal district (in

71) and later in Chittagong Hill Tractduring 72 to 75.

When comrade Siraj Sikder wasarrested and killed by the AwamiLeague Government at the young ageof 30 in 1975, party and armedstruggle got weakened, but armedactivities continued.

Did the revolutionary Gonzalo launch people s war?’Gonzalo, as leader of the Communist Party of Peru, led the reconstitution of the Party, its organization towards People'sWar, the launching of the People's War in 1980, and the development of it it, until its arrest in 1992.

Did the revolutionary Alfred Klahr launch people s war?’Alfred Klahr's party was very weak inthe 1920's, it had to face fascism in1934 and then the Nazi occupation in

1938.

The illegal activities was a part of thegeneral antifascist struggle.

There was no particular considerationfrom Alfred Klahr about armedstruggle.

6. The recognitionWas Akram Yari recognized as a new leader?Chairman Akram Yari was recognizedas a new leader from the beginning ofthe Maoist movement in Afghanistan.

Besides, all upheld that:

He was the first Maoist leader inAfghanistan, and was the initiator andfounder of Maoist Line in Afghanistan.

Until now, there is no Maoist neglecting

his leadership and his initiative as theleader of the movement of NewDemocracy of Afghanistan.

Was Ibrahim Kaypakkaya recognized as a new leader?Yes, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya became thegreat figure of the Maoist movement inTurkey.

Yet, it is to notice that the Turkishreactionary state made all to bananything that has to do with him,

whereas on the other side, theromanticism of the guevarist MahirCayan was considered as halfacceptable, and the romanticism of thehoxhaist Deniz Gezmis nearlyauthorized.

Until today, the figure of IbrahimKaypakkaya is central for Maoists oreven “marxist-leninists”, who of coursepretend to “correct” him, negating thereference to Mao Zedong, the people'swar, the New Democratic Revolution.

8


Was Siraj Sikder recognized as a new leader?Comrade Siraj Sikder was recognized as the most prominent Maoist leader of East Bengal and at the same time as agreat national leader in the history of East Bengal.

Was Gonzalo recognized as a new leader?Yes, Gonzalo was recognized as theleader of the red fraction fightingrevisionism, as the leader of the new

Party, as the individual carrying thethought necessary for the NewDemocratic and then Socialist

Revolution in Peru.

He became an essential person for thehistory of modern Peru.

Was Alfred Klahr recognized as a new leader?The conditions were not made thatAlfred Klahr took the lead of the Party;after the defeat of Nazi Germany, thenew direction of the Communist Partyof Austria was already going in arevisionist trend.

Therefore, Alfred Klahr's work was nottaken in consideration.

Nevertheless, Alfred Klahr was the firstto affirm that the Austria nation existand that this reality would increase inthe conscience of the masses.

This was indeed true, more and more,exactly as Klahr predicted it.

Klahr's prestige grew so, but only insome intellectual circles and withoutany ideological conclusion from it.

7. The universality of People's WarDid Akram Yari consider that People s War is universal?’Chairman Akram Yari reaffirmedhimself in Chairman Mao’s teachingthat’s says: political power grows out ofthe barrel of a gun.

He declared that: the question ofpower, power for proletariat, is thebasic point in Mao-Thought, and it is auniversal rule that: only throughrevolutionary armed struggle it ispossible to overthrow reactionaries ofthe world.

There is no existing documentary

evident that Chairman Akram Yariused PW for all countries, as universal.

Indeed, it was Chairman Gonzalo whofor the first time publicized suchdocumentary stand based in ChairmanMao’s teachings.

But, comrade Akram, by consideringrevolutionary armed struggle in allcountries, as universal road to powerfor proletariat, indeed, has laid thefoundation for this concept inAfghanistan.

Our organization (OWA-MLM-p-Maoist) developing chairman AkramYari’s line, bases itself in recognition ofPPW (protracted people’s war) asuniversal and until communism.

Indeed, it is comrade “X” the leader ofour organization, who has developedChairman Akram Yari’s revolutionaryline, by enriching it with chairmanGonzalo’s doctrine of recognition ofuniversality of people’s war untilcommunism.

Did Ibrahim Kaypakkaya consider that People s War is universal?’Kaypakkaya didn't deal with thisquestion.

However, dealing with the question ofthe red political power following Mao'sconceptions, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya

affirms that “The red political power ispossible in all backwarded countries,colonial like semi-colonial.

It is only in imperialist countries where itis not possible.”

Did Siraj Sikder consider that People s War is universal?’This is chairman Gonzalo in Peru whofirst put forward the idea of universalityof People’s war.

During the time of Siraj Sikder, it wasonly Protracted People’s war that wasthe idea of oppressed countries tomake revolution.

Did Gonzalo consider that People s War is universal?’Gonzalo is the one who theorized theuniversality of Peope's War.

Here is his explanation in the 1988'sinterview:

“With regard to violence we start fromthe principle established by ChairmanMao Zedong: violence, that is the need

for revolutionary violence, is a universallaw with no exception.

Revolutionary violence is what allowsus to resolve fundamentalcontradictions by means of an army,through people's war.

Why do we start from Chairman Mao's

9


thesis?

Because we believe Mao reaffirmedMarxism on this question, establishingthat there are no exceptionswhatsoever to this law.

What Marx held, that violence is themidwife of history, continues to be atotally valid and monumentalcontribution.

Lenin expounded upon violence andspoke about Engels' panegyric praiseof revolutionary violence, but it was theChairman who told us that it was a

universal law, without any exception.That's why we take his thesis as ourstarting point.

This is an essential question ofMarxism, because withoutrevolutionary violence one classcannot replace another, an old ordercannot be overthrown to create a newone – today a new order led by theproletariat through Communist Parties.

The problem of revolutionary violenceis an issue that is more and morebeing put on the table for discussion,and therefore we communists and

revolutionaries must reaffirm ourprinciples.

The problem of revolutionary violenceis how to actually carry it out withpeople's war.

The way we see this question is thatwhen Chairman Mao Zedongestablished the theory of people's warand put it into practice, he provided theproletariat with its military line, with amilitary theory and practice that isuniversally valid and thereforeapplicable everywhere in accordancewith the concrete conditions.”

Did Alfred Klahr consider that People s War is universal?’Klahr lived before the international affirmation of the People's War.

8. LiteratureDid Akram Yari quote literature?Chairman Akram Yari had studiedFaculty of Science.

He was also a self-promoted individualin Literature and literary works.Besides, he was the most outstanding

figure in Marxist studies of the time.

The remnants of his writings in proseproven his highly educated intellect.

No one at his time argued beingsuperior to him in social studies.

Did Ibrahim Kaypakkaya quote literature?No, Ibrahim Kaypakka's works don't contain such references.

Did Siraj Sikder quote literature?He wrote some articles on literature.

He wrote a preface of his poetry book:People’s war in Panorama.

He wrote critical criticism on SukantoBhattacharjee, a revolutionary poet of

British colonial Bengal.

He wrote an article on Sarat ChandraChattrapadhyay, the most popularBengali novelist of British colonialBengal and evaluated him as national

democratic writer of Bengali literature.

It is believed that he participated inwriting a book on women liberation inperspective of Vietnam entitle: Mekongdaughter sings the song of liberation.

Did Gonzalo quote literature?Not, but in its interview from 1988,Gonzalo stressed his interest forliterature:

“What do I like to read? I read a lot ofbiographies. I think that literature is agreat form of artistic expression.

For instance, I like to read

Shakespeare, yes, and to study him.When you study Shakespeare you findpolitical issues.

There are very clear lessons in JuliusCaesar for example, and in MacBeth.

I like literature, but politics always winsout with me, and leads me to look for

the political significance, what is behindit.

After all, behind every great artist thereis a political leader, there is a man ofhis time who is waging class struggle.

I have also read Peruvian novels andsometimes I reread them.”

Did Alfred Klahr quote literature?Alfred Klahr didn't quote literature in hisarticles, nevertheless in one articleabout the Austrian nation, he refers toauthors who represent the Austrianculture as it was separating from therest of Germans.

He mentions “writers and poets suchas Grillparzer, Anastasius Grün,Raimund, Nestroy, Kürnberger,Anzengruber, Rosegger, Schnitzler,Ferdinand Saar, Schönherr, Wildgans,Karl Kraus, Petzold, Stefan Zweig,

musicians such as Mozart, Haydn,Schubert, Strauss, Bruckner; mastersof fine arts such as Makart, Defregger,Egger-Lienz, Waldmüller, Anton Hanakand others.”

10


9. PoetryDid Akram Yari write poetry?Until now, we have no piece of poetry of him. It is still uncertain.

Did Ibrahim Kaypakkaya write poetry?No, not for what is known.

Did Siraj Sikder write poetry?Yes, Siraj Sikder wrote a poetry book:People’s war in Panaroma.

We give a few examples of his verses.

Siraj Sikder when traveling watchedthe nature, villages and dreamed of apeople’s war:

“Green village full of jute and ricepaddy

Scattered houses and villages coveredwith trees

After several enemies are wiped out

Those villages will be ours”

At the hill tract of Chittagong when hesaw a Murong girl climbing down hill :

“The small Murong girl is climbingdown the hill

When will she possess a rifle on hershoulder?”

At the hill tract of Chittagong watchingin the direction of Mayanmar hethought:

“These mountains, other side isMyanmar

There comrades are working

When will we meet with them?”

His famous poem O Red soil ofSavar :

“O Red soil of Savar

Small slopes

Here you have ignited the fire ofresistance”

Did Gonzalo write poetry?No, nevertheless he wrote some reallyfamous texts for the Communist Partyof Peru, characterized by a very highlevel of poetic prose.

The most famous is “Initiate the ArmedStruggle in 1980”, aka “ILA-80”.

Excerpt of “The Flag”, 1980:

“We are all subjected to the storm; thewind blows away the leaves, but theseeds remain.

In 1927, a great storm led to the birth ofthe Communist Party of Peru (PCP).

The Party has entered a great storm;everything will be set ablaze.

For a long time, we have sought tobecome a polar center.

Now is the time.

The path we are undertaking is correct,and all the problems we face will beresolved.

Today is the day of pledging to the flag,but ours is the Red Flag, a distinct one,with the hammer and sickle.

Our flag is absolutely red; all those whorebel have red flags.”

Excerpt of ILA-80:

“We are Communists of a distinct

temperament and special material, weare Communists ready for everythingand we know what needs to be fought.

We have already fought it and will fightit again tomorrow.

What will be confronted tomorrow willbe the child of the present, it will beharder but by then we will be temperedby the past and as we forge ourselvestoday.

We will temper our souls in therevolution, this is the only flamecapable of forging us.

We need a great deal of optimism andthere is a reason for it.

We are the makers of tomorrow, weare guides, the garrison of theinvincible triumph of the class.

This is why we are optimists.

We are enthusiastic by nature.

We are nurtured by the ideology of ourclass: Marxism-Leninism Mao ZedongThought.

We live the life of the class.

We participate in its heroic deeds.

The blood of our people flow and burnswithin us.

We are like a powerful and palpitatingblood.

Let us take the unbendable iron andsteel, the class, and mix it together withthe unwithering light of Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought.

Enthusiasm means to participate inthe force of the Gods, therefore, weare full of enthusiasm.

We participate in the divinities of thereal world: The masses, the class,Marxism and the revolution.

That is why we have inexhaustibleenthusiasm.

That is why we have strength,optimism, and a vigorous spiritoverflowing with enthusiasm.”

About this revolutionary style of writing,Gonzalo explained in its 1988'sinterview:

“I'd say that sometimes in politics youhave to let yourself go, so that thepassion, the deep feelings, canstrengthen our determination.

At such times, so they say, the heartspeaks and I believe that therevolutionary passion which isindispensable for war expresses itself.

11


What literary value it might have Icouldn't really say.”

About poetry, in its interview from 1988,Gonzalo noted also:

“At one time I was surveying world

poetry in an anthology.

And I studied it before, too--there weresome works at the university librarythat I had access to. I like poetry. It isanother one of the things I admire

about Chairman Mao, who was anextraordinary poet.

As to Peruvian poetry, for me, Vallejo.

Yes, he is ours, and besides, he was acommunist.”

Did Alfred Klahr write poetry?It doesn't seem that Alfred Klahr wrote poetry.

10. The revolutionary youthDid Akram Yari start his revolutionary career from school times?Yes. He began his work while still hewas a student at school.

After graduation from university, he

became a teacher at high school, andthere, he trained hundreds of youngschool boys as future revolutionaries.

The foundation of PYO (ProgressiveYouth Organization) roots from thoseyears.

Did Ibrahim Kaypakkaya start his revolutionary career from school times?Ibrahim Kaypakkaya died at 21 afterhaving being tortured for nearly fourmonths; he had already build the partyand the liberation army.

It shows what his life was before.Kaypakkaya discovered revolutionaryideas, as he was a student in the

Istanbul University’s Science Faculty,Physics Branch.

He joined in the foundation of the CapaIdea Club in March 1968; becoming itspresident.

He was then expelled from school in

November 1968 because of preparinga leaflet against the American 6thFleet.

He afterwards wrote articles in therevolutionary left press, and becamesoon a leader.

Did Siraj Sikder start his revolutionary career from school times?Yes, Comrade Siraj Sikder started hisrevolutionary career since his highschool time.

He was involved with pro Peking leftwing Students’ Union.

When he was studying in Ahsanullah

Engineering College, he was electedas the central vice president of thesame organization.

Did Gonzalo start his revolutionary career from school times?Born in 1934, Gonzalo described in itsinterview of 1988 events that markedhim in its youth:

“I'd say that what has most influencedme to take up politics has been thestruggle of the people.

I saw the fighting spirit of the peopleduring the uprising in Arequipa in1950 – how the masses fought withuncontainable fury in response to thebarbarous slaughter of the youth.

And I saw how they fought the army,forcing them to retreat to their barracks.

And how forces had to be brought infrom other places in order to crush thepeople.

This is an event that, I'd say, has beenimprinted quite vividly in my memory.

Because there, after having come tounderstand Lenin, I understood howthe people, how our class, when theytake to the streets and march, can

make the reactionaries tremble,despite all their power.

Another thing was the struggles of1956, when the people fought, whileothers betrayed them – well, that iswhat the opportunists andreactionaries do – but the peoplefought and carried the day, and therewere mass movements, powerfulones.

These events, for example, helped meunderstand the power of the masses,that they make history.

I also had the occasion, going back alittle further now, to see the uprising inCallao in 1948, to see with my owneyes the people's courage, how thepeople were brimming with heroism,and how the leadership betrayedthem.”

In the interview, he explained howthese mass struggles brought him indirection of Communism:

“My interest in politics began todevelop at the end of high school,based on the events of I950.

In the following years, I rememberforming a group with my schoolmatesto study political ideas. We were veryeager to study all kinds of politicalideas. You can probably understandwhat kind of period that was.

That was the beginning for me.

Then in college, the struggle at theuniversity, I experienced firsthand bigstrikes, confrontations betweenApristas and communists, anddebates.

And so my interest in books wassparked.

Someone saw fit to lend me one, Ibelieve it was "One Step Forward, TwoSteps Back."

I liked it, I began to study Marxistbooks.

12


Then the figure of Comrade Stalinmade a big impression on me.

At that time people who were drawn tocommunism and those who becameParty members were trained usingProblems of Leninism.

It was our mainstay and I studied it as itdeserved to be studied, seriously,given its importance.

Stalin's life interested me. He was, forus, an example of revolution.

I had problems getting into theCommunist Party. They had an absurdpolicy. To become a member, you hadto be the son or daughter of a worker,and I wasn't.

But others had different criteria and so Iwas able to join the Party.

I participated in the defense of Stalin.

At that time, taking him away from uswould have been like taking away oursoul. In those days, the works of Stalinwere more widely propagated thanthose of Lenin.

That's what the times were like.

Later I made a trip to Ayacucho forwork reasons.

I thought it would be a short stay, but itlasted for years. I thought it would justbe for a year, because that's what the

arrangements were. I had my plans,the proletariat had others.

The masses and the people changeus in many ways; Ayacucho helpedme discover the peasantry.

At that time, Ayacucho was a verysmall town, mainly countryside.

If you go to the poor sections, eventoday, you find peasants there, and ifyou walk towards the outskirts, infifteen minutes you're already in thecountryside.

There too, I started to understandChairman Mao Zedong, I advanced inunderstanding Marxism.

The conflict between Marxism andrevisionism has been very important inmy development.

Some unlucky soul lent me the famousChinese letter, "A Proposal Concerningthe General Line of the InternationalCommunist Movement."

He lent it to me on the condition that I'dreturn it. Obviously it was anunderstandable theft. The letter led meto get more deeply into the greatstruggle between Marxism andrevisionism.

I committed myself to work within theParty and to wipe out revisionism, and Ibelieve that together with othercomrades we achieved it.

We gave up on one or two who weretoo far gone, they were dyed-in-the-wool revisionists.

Ayacucho was of enormousimportance for me, it has to do with therevolutionary road and ChairmanMao's teachings.

So through this whole process I wasbecoming a Marxist, and the Party wasmolding me, resolutely and patiently, Ibelieve.”

Did Alfred Klahr start his revolutionary career from school times?Born in September 1904, Alfred Klahrjoined already when he was anadolescent the Communist YouthUnion, who was born in Austriafollowing the 1917 revolution in Russia.

Becoming a student, he joined also theCommunist Group of Students

(KOSTUFRA).

Afterwards, he stayed for somemonths in Berlin working at theredaction of the Rote Fahne (RedFlag), central organ of the CommunistParty of Germany, to work afterwardsfor the Rote Fahne of Austria.

Then, he worked from 1930 to 1932 inMoscow as representative of theCommunist Youth Union of Austria.

At the end of this period, he becamerepresentative of the Rote Fahne ofAustria.

11. A thought in developmentIf Akram Yari was alive would he succeed promoting a more developed thought, as Gonzalo Thought?MLMs uphold that: line is decisive. So,it is the development of correct line ofAkram Yari that gave rise to Akram YariThought which was developed byOrganization of the Workers ofAfghanistan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist,principally Maoist) under leadership ofcomrade “x”. Was not it chairmanGonzalo who formulated Maoism from

that of Mao-Thought? And was not itchairman Gonzalo who developed it bycontributions of a highly universalrecognition? As is the case for AkramYari and comrade”X”. As was the casewith Mariategui and ChairmanGonzalo in Peru.

Chairman Akram Yari generated theThought, and we are developing and

expanding it by upholding, defendingand applying Maoism to the concreteconditions of our country and this willbe done by waging PPW andcontinuing it until Communism.

It is Chairman Akram Yari’s line, whichcontributes as a core in formation ofAkram Yari Thought, and it is theguarantee of triumph.

13


If Ibrahim Kaypakkaya was alive would he succeed promoting a more developed thought,as Gonzalo Thought?Certainly, as Ibrahim Kaypakkaya managed to understand the reality of Turkey's society, with the main question ofbureaucratic capitalism and the national Kurdish question.

If Siraj Sikder was alive would he succeed promoting a more developed thought, as Gonzalo Thought?Siraj Sikder already made manycontributions in theory and practice ofrevolution in East Bengal.

He was one of the most developed

figures of contemporary communistmovement of the world.

So, if he was alive, as we know thegeneral tendency of material law,

Bangladesh revolution could succeedand naturally the leadership andthought would develop, and, without athought there can be no revolution.

If Alfred Klahr was alive would he succeed promoting a more developed thought, as Gonzalo Thought?Alfred Klahr's thought could notdevelop itself, because of the concreteconditions of Austria.

It was more the product of theideological and political birth of the

Austrian working class trying tosurpass the really strong and veryradical social-democratic stage thatpreceded.

With the weight of revisionism in the

Communist Party in Austria, but also ofsocial-democracy, following 1945, itwould have been really hard for Klahrto forge a revolutionary line in thisdifficult context.

Gonzalo's teaching: From thought to People's War(CPMLM-France)1. Gonzalo and revolutionary optimismWhen a class moves in the direction oftaking power, it must build strongabilities in all fields, and of course it ismore true than ever in the case of theworking class, which must have an allpowerful cultural and ideologicalsystem, permitting to understand allaspects of a society and torevolutionize it.

Gonzalo played a historical role inpermitting to understand this.

He stressed that the revolutionariesmust uphold absolute optimism; in thedocument “ILA-80” that explains thelaunching of armed struggle in Peru in1980, he explained:

“We need a great deal of optimism andthere is a reason for it.

We are the makers of tomorrow, weare guides, the garrison of theinvincible triumph of the class. This iswhy we are optimists.

We are enthusiastic by nature. We arenurtured by the ideology of our class:Marxism-Leninism Mao ZedongThought.

We live the life of the class. We

participate in its heroic deeds. Theblood of our people flow and burnswithin us. We are like a powerful andpalpitating blood.

Let us take the unbendable iron andsteel, the class, and mix it together withthe unwithering light of Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought.”

2. Each revolutionary class calls to epic struggleWhen the French bourgeois revolutionstretched out at the end of the 18thcentury, there was the historical needfor an epic mobilization of the masses.

The bourgeoisie dived in the past,looking for something that couldappeared as near as possible to theirown needs and took what could be adesign to galvanize the struggle: theRoman republic.

Napoleon, moving from the figure of aRoman general to an imperial Cesar,was the toy of a historical processwhere he led international changesneeded by the French bourgeoisie tofully develop itself in the conquest ofpower.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels haveexplained this ideological question,

removing the ideological mists andbourgeois pretensions of making thelast and total revolution.

But they did not integrate thisideological-cultural question in scientificsocialism, because at their time therewas no new democratic / socialistrevolution in the world.

3. Thoughts as expression of the movement of matterWith the socialist revolution in Russiain October 1917 and the newdemocratic revolution in China winningin 1949, dialectical materialismformulated scientifically the question ofavant-garde, of the revolutionary party.

Revolutionary ideology leads therevolutionary process; in therevolutionary party itself, two-linestruggles arise in the process: the lifeof the Communist Party obeys also tothe rules of dialectical development.

And so do thoughts, as they are thereflect of the world, of matter indialectical movement, at the dimensionof the universe itself.

In the document “Life, Matter, theUniverse, part 7: What is a thought?”

14


promoted by the CPMLM [France], it isexplained:

“Thought consists in molecular andchemical motions in the brain, motionsthat are matter and that are theconsequence of the movement ofmatter outside the body – the exteriormovement is perceived.

In this movement of perception, graymatter develops itself – it comes tosynthetic understanding of thedialectical movement of matter.

Then, it becomes openly anexpression of matter in movement.”

4. Individuals do not thinkIn the 13th century, French reactionhad to struggle against materialisttheses in the University of Paris.

These theses were the logicalconclusions of the thought of Averroes(1126-1198), the great thinker of theFalsafa, the arabo-persian philosophy.

The Church had forbidden 13 theses in1270, and among them: “Theproposal: 'man thinks' is false orincorrect”, “Freewill is a passive power,not active, which is driven by the needof desire”, “Human's will wants andchooses by necessity”, “There hasnever been a first man”, “The world iseternal”, “There is only one intellectnumerically identical for all men”.

These theses are correct and anexpression of materialism.

When is spoken about a thought, it isnot spoken about the thought of anindividual, even if an individualexpresses it. Individuals do not think.

Humankind is matter in movement,thought is merely a reflect of themovement.

There can not be individual thought,what indivuals thinks is the expressionof desire and necessity.

5. Thought as cultural-ideological weapon for revolution in each countryGonzalo did not only call torevolutionary optimism because therewas the need of epic struggles.

This would be subjectivist and notconform to communist ideology, thattends to the future and not to the past.

So, along the call for enthusiasm, heformulated the conception that in eachcountry arises a revolutionary thought,synthesizing society and affirming thecorrect way to resolve the socialcontradictions.

History in motion produces enthusiasmand the correct understanding of realityin the thoughts of the masses, of theavant-garde, of the revolutionaryleadership.

In the document “On Gonzalo'sthought” of the Communist Party ofPeru, it is explained:

“Revolutions give rise to a thought thatguides them, which is the result of theapplication of the universal truth of theideology of the international proletariatto the concrete conditions of eachrevolution; a guiding thoughtindispensable to reach victory and toconquer political power and, moreover,to continue the revolution and tomaintain the course always towardsthe only, great goal: Communism.”

6. Thought as synthesis of asocietyEach national society knowscontradictions, that the communistthought analyzes, producing therevolutionary synthesis that consists inthe revolutionary program and themethods to realize it.

In Russia and China, Lenin and MaoZedong knew not only the political

situation, but also precisely theeconomical situation and the cultural-ideological aspects.

They often quoted literary works andmade references to their own culture,of the cultural-ideological situation ofthe masses (for example therelationship of authority in thecountryside, the emergence or not ofcapitalism in the countryside, etc.).

In numerous others situations,revolutionary leaders produced athought, a synthesis of their own reality.

In Peru, José Carlos Mariátegui wrotein 1928 a full analysis of the history ofhis country: “Seven Interpretive Essayson Peruvian Reality”, which explainsthe history of the process ofcolonization, the situation of thecountryside and of the QuechuaIndians, etc.

In Italy, Antonio Gramsci, one of thefounder of the Communist Party in1926, studied in the same way theculture and the history of its country,understanding the nature of the Italianstate and the historical contradictionbetween the north and the south(mezzogiorno) of the country.

Alfred Klahr was the first theoretician toexplain that his country Austria was anation (“On the national question inAustria”, 1937) and how Germannazism was not only under control ofthe imperialist capital, but also of theJunkers.

Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, born in 1949 andkilled by the Turkish state in 1973,produced a comprehensive study ofthe “revolution” made by MustafaKemal and the kemalist ideology,paving the way to a correctunderstanding to Turkey's economical,political and cultural-ideological nature.

Ulrike Meinhof studied the nature ofdependency of West Germany, whichwas under control of the United States;seeing the process of economicalreprise after 1945, she proposed along term strategy of People's Warbased on the poorest elements in theyouth and the struggle against the USimperialist presence. She wasmurdered in prison in 1976.

Another great revolutionary producinga thought was Siraj Sikder, in East

15


Bengal.

Born in 1944, he understood both thePakistani and the Indian expansionism,proposing the path of agrarianrevolution to obtain nationalindependence. He was murdered incustody in 1975.

7. People's War as product of the thoughtFollowing the dialectical materialistlesson of Gonzalo, the communistshave in each country the task toproduce a synthesis of their ownnational situation, as the revolutionarycontradictions are to be resolved in thisframe.

People's War is not a “method” or astyle of work, it is the materialproduction of the thought, i.e. therevolutionary confrontation with the oldstate and the reactionary rulingclasses, according a strategy based onthe thought, on the revolutionarysynthesis made in the practical studyof a country.

When the genuine revolutionarythought is produced, it seeksconfrontation with the old society, at alllevels. People's War doesn't meanonly armed struggle, but also thecultural-ideological negation of thevalues of the old society.

If the revolutionaries don't have thelevel to lead the struggle in all fields,they won't be able to make triumph therevolution and to fight the attempts ofrestoration of the old society.

This understanding is the directconsequence of Mao Zedong'steachings about culture and ideologyand of the Great Proletarian CulturalRevolution.

8. Principally apply“ ”Gonzalo considered that our ideologywas not only marxism-leninism-maoism, but marxism-leninism-maoism principally maoism.

He wanted to show that our ideology isa synthesis and not an assembly ofteachings.

In the same way, he considered that ineach country, the ideology wasmarxism-leninism-maoism and the

thought, principally the thought (forexample in Peru: marxism-leninism-maoism Gonzalo thought, principallyGonzalo thought).

The reason for that was the thoughtmeans the synthesis in a concretesituation, with its application. In thesame way, one principle is to “uphold,defend and apply, principally apply.”

The “thought” is genuine and correctonly if it means a real confrontation onall aspects of old society, the practicalaspect being on the forefront.

9. Thought and People's War are not independent conceptsDuring the 1990's-2000's, the PeruPopular Movement (MPP), organismgenerated by the Communist Party ofPeru for the work abroad, led animportant work to promote marxism-leninism-maoism.

Unfortunately, when moving to thepractical national aspects, the MPPonly called to follow Peru's exampleand has never been able to helpcommunists to produce a synthesis oftheir own situation.

The MPP never called to study thenational realities, and instead of thispromoted a cosmopolitism consistingin reproducing a style of work in astereotyped manner.

Instead of accompanying genuine

revolutionary forces to marxism-leninism-maoism, the MPP came thepoint to support centrists, as they wererecognizing maoism in words.

This is an example ofmisunderstanding the main aspect.What counts is not to assume People'sWar in an abstract way, but People'sWar based on Thought.

Revisionism in Nepal is a goodexample: despite of assuming“People's War”, what was called“Prachanda's path” never had a highcultural-ideological level, whereas itcontained already numerous errorsconcerning the basic principles ofdialectical materialism.

10. Our horizon: producing thoughts and reject fascismOur horizon is the following: in eachcountry, a communist thought must beproduced, synthesis of the society,showing the way to resolve thecontradictions.

Communists can not make arevolution in their own country withouthaving a high level on the cultural-ideological fields.

The masses live in a culture full ofmusic, movies, literature; the teachingsof the Great Proletarian CulturalRevolution remember us theimportance of the struggle in this field.

The communists in the world mustexchange their experiences and theirknowledge; on many fields, they havethe same struggles to lead.

If the communists are not able do this,the reactionary ruling classes willproduce an ideology diving in the pastto “regenerate” society, a false“socialism”, which is fascism.

Each thought is so of historicalsignificance; it is the basis of People'sWar. Each thought permits to launchthe People's War, that destroys the oldstate, and as this process generalizesitself, it becomes a world People's War.

The thought becomes then thesynthesis of the world society thatemerges on the rubbles of imperialism,paving the way for the building of aworld communist society.

16

Documents

GUIDING THOUGHT OF REVOLUTION: THE HEART OF MAOISM