Date: April 1970
Source: Communist England! Vol. 1, No. 2, April 1970 pp. 4-5 & 7
Online Version: Charu Mazumdar Internet Archive, July 2020
Transcribed/HTML Markup: Mike B.
Train yourselves in learning by heart and in propagating in toto and in identical language whatever the central leadership of the Party says directly or through the Party organs. This is the method of propaganda introduced I into the great Communist Party of China by our Chairman on the basis of the experience gained in forty years of struggle. Otherwise the tendency to have 'many centres' may gradually grow within the party.
The boys and girls in our country are brought up through the educational institutions in a way that they look down upon the poor masses of workers and peasants, respect everything concerning the imperialist powers, and become lackeys or agents of these powers. Moreover, in a man's life, the age between 18 and 24 is the period when he can work hardest and can be most vigorous, most courageous and most loyal to his ideas. But the students and youth of this age group in our country are forced to pursue anti-people courses of study and try to pass examinations. This is why Chairman Mao has said that the more you read the more foolish you become. It will give me the greatest pleasure if you plunge yourselves into the revolutionary struggle here and now instead of wasting your energy in passing examinations. When the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution started in China the Chinese youths and students also gave their schools and colleges and universities. The educational institutions there began to function again after about two years in 1968, that is, when the cultural revolution was victorious.
In joining the revolutionary struggle the very first thing you should understand is that revisionism is the main danger in the world today. Even when suffering defeats one after another revisionism does not relent but continues to launch new attacks in different ways. This is particularly true after the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. You should therefore study Vice-Chairman Lin Piao's Political Report to the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China over and over again. When you do this you will understand that revisionist renegades like Asit Sen, Nagi Reddy and company play their dirty role in every country and use the same tactics according to the stage of development of the communist. movement.
In our country also revisionism launched its first attack by using economist slogans after the Co-ordination Committee was formed. The forming of our Party in 1969 signified the victory of the revolutionary struggle against this revisionist attack. However, after the forming of the Party revisionism has again launched its attack both from the right and from the left.
Today, revisionism is even using ultra-Left facade to spread its poison. It is doing this in a manner so as to foster in the minds of Party comrades doubt, distrust and lack of confidence in one another, in the central revolutionary authority and in the revolutionary character of the broad masses of the people "Doubt everyone but yourself" is an anarchist slogan and runs counter to the theory of People's War, that is, Mao Tsetung Thought. This slogan has its roots in the bourgeois philosophy of self above everything, and has nothing in common with, the philosophy of unconditional revolutionary sacrifice. This slogan befits a fascist organisation and not a revolutionary Party like ours which bases itself on the mass line. Doubtism also breeds poly-centrism.
You should destroy here and now the germ of this doubtist thinking and propaganda.' Never ’ belittle the harm caused by such thinking and propaganda, because if their germs are left to themselves they will, in time's Of storms and darkness gain strength and spread highly, dangerous contagions and thus harm the revolution.
Revisionism is today carrying but its attack from, the Right also. It is trying to give currency to the philosophy of inaction and cowardice in the name of maintaining secrecy. You - the students and youth - should never forget that a Communist always hates to hide his views. Maintaining secrecy means to keep secret only your connections with the Party. But you should always dare to express your views and actively resist injustice and indignity. You should be courageous and prepared to make sacrifices, because you are revolutionaries. Don’t be worried about incurring unnecessary losses; leave that issue to be decided by the Party leadership.
Remember Chairman Mao's words: "IT IS INFINITE JOY TO PIT ONESELF AGAINST HEAVEN AND EARTH."
Wherever you find the Party's prestige being tarnished or the red flag - the flag crimson with the blood of martyrs - being subjected to indignities, (no matter if it be the revisionists that fly it) you should oppose it tooth and nail even if you have to lay down, your life for it. Never forget the glorious example of the thirteen heroic martyrs of Srikakulam.
What do I mean when I say we should be. vigilant against the enemy agents in the Party?' Wrong political thinking and wrong methods' of work are the enemies and you should be vigilant and see that such things do not get any indulgence whatsoever. No hidden counter-revolutionary can today stay for long in Chairman Mao’s Party or will be able to worm his way to the Party leadership, nor can any non-revolutionary come in this Party; For this is the Party which does not offer any comfort's or hope of self-aggrandizement. Ours is a country where the broad masses of the people are revolutionary. How can, therefore, our Party, enjoying as it does the support of millions of people, be a Party of non-revolutionaries or counter-revolutionaries?
Further you should not forget that our Party was born out of armed class struggle and has been tempered and steeled in the flames of the revolutionary war. So, you should boldly and proudly assert, not once but repeatedly, that it is the central leadership of the Party - and only they - who have grasped Marxism- Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought and are applying the same correctly in this country, and that none else understands or can possibly understand even the A B C of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought.
It is quite possible for the revolutionary workers to make mistakes. You should criticise their wrong actions in order to help the comrades, and to build the Party, but you should never criticise so as to destroy the Party - a thing which we had to do in the old Party. The old Party was a revisionist Party, a counter-revolutionary Party, and so our criticism there was directed to destroy it, but the new party is a revolutionary Party, and so we make our criticism here with the sole purpose of building our Party. But if you find that mistakes are being made repeatedly, the first thing you should do is to investigate. In making this investigation you should also - go to the masses outside the Party. Unless you do this you have no right to take decisions about anyone.
Various groups mouthing different revolutionary slogans are seeking to form a united front with Our Party. You, the revolutionary students and youth should not allow yourselves to be misled by this. Never forget that the real united front can only be one for carrying on revolutionary armed struggle. To form united front on any other basis means opening wide the doors of our Party, the fighting Party of armed struggle, and allowing counter-revolution to flood it.
The students and youths can become revolutionaries only when they integrate themselves with the poor and landless peasants and the workers, and not before that. And to be able to integrate it is necessary to take part in productive work and do manual labour.
I would ask the students and youths never to allow their firm faith in certain things to weaken.
Have faith in the revolutionary traditions of India. The history of our country is a history of heroic struggles.
Have faith in the masses. The broad masses of our people have always struggled against exploitation and oppression.
Have faith in yourselves. Remember you are part of the revolutionary people. Have faith in Mao Tsetung Thought. It is Mao Tsetung Thought that is today smashing the old world and building a new world.
Have faith in the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). This is the only Party that is applying MaoTsetung Thought in our country and following the path crimson with the blood of thousands upon thousands of martyrs. This is why this Party can never take the wrong road.
So, you should have faith in the future.
Form small squads of students of the schools and colleges in your locality. Each squad should have 4 or 5 students. Then make your programmes for going to the villages even when you have short holidays of only 4 or 5 days. No squad should be formed with girls alone. This is because girls would need some kind of shelter for spending the night. Each of you should take with him a copy of the QUOTATIONS FROM CHAIRMAN MAO TSETUNG. Take as little money with you as possible and other articles in a kit-bag. Once you go to the village you are not to seek comforts and good food or shelter. Rather you should compete with one another in enduring hardships. You should not stop and stay at any one place other than for spending the night. You should always be on the move and go from one village to another walking 15 miles a day on average. During the journey make acquaintance only with the poor and landless peasants, learn from them, read out quotations from Chairman Mao to them and acquaint them with Mao Tsetung Thought as much as you can. Tell them of the heroic exploits of the revolutionary peasant war that is now raging in India.
You should remember that this work you are doing as students and youths is one of open propaganda, so, never try to contact any Part) organisation or comrade of any area during this journey through the villages.
Make this campaign a festive occasion all over the country.
The poor and landless peasants of the villages will not at first take you seriously at an; moreover, their attitude towards you may even be rather unfriendly. It is natural that they should look upon you with distrust. But it will not do for you to become impatient or downhearted at this, because this is the most important test you are required to go through. When you face it you should remember that the poor and landless peasant whom you come across today is the Babulal Biswakarmakar of tomorrow. In the days to come these poor and landless peasants will shine like bright stars giving inspiration and lighting up the way forward for the revolutionaries. So, you should be genuinely proud and consider yourselves fortunate in getting acquainted with them and be sincerely respectful to them. Only when you have done this can you think of having passed your admission test as revolutionaries.
Our Party holds that the organisation of students and youths can only be a Red Guard organisation. The students and youths should now organise Red Guard squads in muhallas (localities), and in schools and colleges. Make one of the squad members the commander and take a specific area for the squad's work. Assemble all the students and youths in the Red Guard squads.
The Red Guards of today will become later fighters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of India, The PLA not only destroys the enemy on the battlefield, but also propagates politics and ideology, helps the masses to establish revolutionary political power, arms them and takes part in their productive work. The Red Guards, however, will only carry on the struggle in the field of political propaganda, and mobilise the students and youths in support not only of the poor and landless peasants but also of the workers.
Whenever the workers in the cities launch any struggle or strike the Red Guards should rally behind them only to support their struggle. But the Red Guards are required not to express any opinion whatsoever about the workers’ unions or the union leaders, nor will they make any speech. This support, this expression of solidarity of the students and youths will itself create considerable enthusiasm among the workers. The students and youths should go first to the workers. Later, the workers themselves will come to the schools and colleges and in the muhallas to tell stories of their struggles.
After this, the Red Guards should start doing intimate political propaganda among the workers and building revolutionary cadres. Select one or two workers for this purpose. As soon as they accept the revolutionary politics bring them in contact with the Party.
In future, whenever there is any clash between the workers and the police, the Red Guards and the students and youths must rally in support of the workers and take part in the clash alongside them even if the Red Guards be only a few in number.
The students and youths and the Red Guards have to shoulder today, a most important responsibility in carrying on revolutionary propaganda with a view to frustrating imperialist war plots. Go in your thousands among the peasant masses in the villages and among the working class in the cities during the ensuing summer vacation. Ours is the only Party in the world to declare boldly: "China's Chairman is Our Chairman" and to give the call; “Chairman's China may be attacked so, let us hasten the work of revolution!" These are calls for struggle against bourgeois nationalism and its accomplice: revisionism. It is you who have to uphold and carry forward these two slogans through to the end by implementing them, till the imperialist war plots against China are burned to ashes in the flames of revolution.
You should repeatedly explain to the people that the imperialist powers are, today, exhausted, while the strength of the people is incomparably greater. This is why if the imperialists and social imperialists launch their aggressive war against the great China and the revolutionary people of the world, the revolutionary war in our country will be less drawn out than we had expected. It should also be explained to the people that that the so-called extraordinary power of the nuclear weapons is a sheer lie propagated by the bourgeoisie.
The bourgeoisie knows well that it is not possible to prevent the revolutionary war from spreading with the help of their armed forces alone and that the only way to prevent it is to spread the poison of revisionist thinking. That is why you should spread the struggle against revisionism in an accelerated tempo. You should do it so that the masses realise that this is the time to deal blows to the enemy. This great campaign should not be a temporary one then given up, because once the war starts bourgeois nationalism would again try to raise its head.
The students and youths of Bengal have a glorious tradition. So, if you carry out this task of yours conscientiously, I can assure you that the PLA will march in the sprawling plains of Bengal by the beginning of 1971, if not in 1970.
The Red Guards should always be prepared to counter attack whenever other parties dare to attack our Party in the cities. This is very necessary.
Whenever the fascist hoodlums dare to attack us, Red Guard groups - 5 or 6 Red Guards in a group - should launch counter attacks from very close range, swiftly and without making any noise, and thus crush the morale of the fascist hoodlums.