on a Number of Key Issues
THE PROLETARIAN PARTY
ARMED STRUGGLE
PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM
WOMEN
THE ISLAMISTS AND THE TALIBAN
THE IRANIAN REGIME AND ITS LACKEYS
CHINA
Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought has been the ideological banner of the ALO ever since its formation in 1973. The ALO understands Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought to be the ideology of the working class against all deviationist, eclectic and anticommunist ideological and political currents. Despite the extreme persecution and hardships imposed by world imperialism and regional reaction on the revolutionary movement in Afghanistan and despite the fatal blows the movement has suffered with the martyrdom of its leaders and the decimation of large numbers of its cadres and members both during and after the War of Resistance, the ALO has staunchly and consistently defended its ideological banner and has striven to adapt the principles of its ideology to the specific characteristics and circumstances of our revolution. We have not flinched from any trial or tribulation and steadfastly intend to pursue our course to the ultimate victory of our toiling masses.
With the collapse of the defunct Soviet Union and its community of satellite states, the capitalist world and its vassal countries broke into wild jubilation in celebration of the hammering-in of the “last nail in the coffin of communism”. In chorus with US and European imperialists, Islamic fundamentalists and reactionaries in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and in other Islamic countries ecstatically shouted themselves hoarse with their mediaeval anticommunist taunts and propaganda, thus baring the fundamental truth that imperialism and Islamic fundamentalist reaction are shameless bedfellows.
But it did not take long for the hypocritical slogans of peace, democracy, human rights, etc., brought forward by the imperialists to deceive the exploited peoples of the world to once again expose themselves as the scandalous farce they are. Not only oppression and exploitation have not disappeared from the post-Soviet countries of the former Soviet Union and its satellites but these countries and their peoples have themselves come under the yoke of imperialism, with only the oppression and exploitation they were labouring under taking on a new form and sheen.
The inhumane and aggressionist policies of the imperialists keep the flames of regional, nationalistic and religious conflicts ablaze in all corners of the world. Asia, Africa and Latin America are nodal points in the inter-imperialist conflict of economic interests, in which each imperialist power strives to maintain and expand its zone of political and economic influence and outfox its other imperialist rivals.
Afghanistan is one of the countries where the deadly rivalry between imperialist powers and their regional lapdogs is most apparent. The imperialists´ indigenous bloodhounds are consequently grouped in antagonistic packs according to their parochial interests and the criminal interests of the foreign networks to whom they are chained. After the ignominious retreat of Russian occupationist forces these Islamic fundamentalist bloodhounds of the Ikhwani and Taliban brands fell on the people of Afghanistan and with the passage of each day are hacking away at the roots of the country and the people´s material and spiritual integrity and very existence.
With due analysis of the contradictions and the antagonistic inter-relationships of different imperialist powers, regional reaction and their indigenous chained dogs in Afghanistan, the ALO is waging its patriotic and revolutionary struggle with the conviction that no power or ideology other than a true communist party and the ideology of the working class can save our people or other peoples of the world from imperialist and reactionary butchers. Historical experience has shown that vacillation and irresolution is an inherent class characteristic of the petty bourgeoisie, the intelligentsia and the national bourgeoisie, who invariably succumb to the lure of compromise and capitulation in the course of socio-political struggle. Imperialism can very easily seduce non-proletarian social classes and strata and manipulate them into serving its predatory policies. The suffering non-proletarian classes (peasants, the petty bourgeoisie) are myopic in their cognisance of imperialism and its covert machinations and Machiavellian policies. Their ideology is allied to that of the exploiters; they do not believe in revolting against “their betters” and raising anti-imperialist slogans. The petty and the national bourgeoisie support the revolution for a time in pursuance of their particular class interests but immediately upon attaining their objectives they betray the revolution through succumbing to capitalist seduction or corruption. Whenever and wherever the petty and the national bourgeoisie come into power they turn against the higher interests of the toiling masses and out of fear of popular revolt enter into collusion with the imperialists and consequently fall into their laps. Most governments and ruling cliques in underdeveloped countries are in one way or another subservient to imperialist powers and wallow in their patrons´ good graces.
The ALO which upholds Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought as its guiding theory believes that a proletarian party, a people´s army and a united national front are the indispensable means by which the masses in semi-colonial semi-feudal countries can bring their anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution to victory. We have found out through the experience of communist parties and the shedding of the blood of millions of revolutionaries around the world that without these three implements of a progressive revolution it is not possible to take any meaningful step towards remedying fundamental social ailments and drastically changing the economic and political status of the oppressed classes.
THE PROLETARIAN PARTY:
The proletarian party is a means in the hands of communists for leading and organising the masses. Without a working class party the victory of an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution is not possible. All popular revolutions which have taken place without the guiding hand of a proletarian party have ultimately ended in defeat and failure.
The outlook of the ALO in regard to the ways and means of forming such a party is clear: adapting theory to the specific exigencies of our country and thereby forming inseverable bonds with the people, imparting socio-political awareness to them and organising their struggles for emancipation from the yokes of feudalism and imperialism. The ALO is well aware that in order to be able to bring about changes and transmutations in the interests of the oppressed masses, theory should be rooted in material matrices. Forming an artificial material matrix for the party through use of cash, documents, international relations and other resources (without revolutionary theory and organisation) is building on sand, and reminds one strongly of the tragic experience of the revisionist Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its client parties in all parts of the world.
Regarding the issue of cohesion and unity within the ranks of the communist movement in our country (a cohesion and unity which would move on towards the founding of a communist party), our own experience and the experience of other communist movements tell us that in order to be effective such cohesion and unification of communist entities must emerge from co-ordinated practical co-operation and participation in mass struggles according to pre-defined programmes and allotment of assignments. Concomitant with ideological struggle, such a process can highlight our mutual weaknesses and shortcomings and with lessons drawn from shared experiences it will be possible to raise the Marxist consciousness of all involved. Such shall be the guarantee for achieving and strengthening organisational unity.
We very well know a large number of former comrades who were closely allied with our organisation before the War of Resistance and who hotly advocated revolutionary work and struggle in words, but with the soaring of risk factors after the radical change in the socio-political atmosphere (the coming to power of Soviet puppet regimes and commencement of ruthless persecutions, abductions, torture and executions of communists) they bade farewell to their revolutionary zeal and fled to Europe or America to save their skins. Conditions for revolutionary work and struggle are immensely more difficult now that Ikhwani fundamentalist and Taliban ultra-reactionary and ultra-fundamentalist hooliganism is reigning supreme in Afghanistan and acting as uncouth ruffians of imperialism. Confusion in ideology, politics and organisational set-up is rife amongst revolutionary groupings. It is only through tenacious and unambiguous Marxist stances, active and positive participation in the movement of the masses and continuous constructive feedback from such interaction that a true working class party can be formed.
ARMED STRUGGLE:
In countries with pronounced class antagonisms the armed violence of counter-revolutionary class enemies cannot be countered with only pens and pamphlets, therefore the class struggle must be elevated to its highest form which is none other than armed revolutionary insurrection. In order to bury the old styles of production and the old culture, the organised and conscious masses need to become armed under the leadership of a communist party to embark upon armed confrontation with their exploiters. In countries such as ours, divorcing revolution from guns means falling into the pitfall of right opportunism.
The situation in the world at large indicates that imperialism is striving mightily and with diverse means to equate advocacy of revolutionary use of force with terrorism and to counter it with their prescription of bourgeois democracy as a panacea for all social ills. The imperialists and their indigenous lapdogs understand full well that if the downtrodden masses in underdeveloped countries get organised and become armed their nefarious existence will be doomed. For this reason the enemies of communist and revolutionary movements resort to force and violence against popular anti-capitalist insurrections. It devolves upon true communist parties to prepare for the ultimate showdown with the bourgeoisie by according strategic priority to the formation of the nucleus of a people´s army. A revolutionary party which renounces armed revolution and the formation of a people´s army is quite acceptable to the bourgeoisie and the imperialists. Due to the particular situation of underdeveloped countries, only those parties who prepare for armed insurrection have the right to call themselves revolutionary.
With the betrayal of communism by Soviet social-imperialists on a global scale and the disgrace of the Soviet revisionists´ Khalqi and Parchami myrmidons in Afghanistan, communism and communist ideals have become extremely vilified in our country. With due regard to the cultural backwardness and extremely low political consciousness of the masses, and also in view of the exigencies of the present counter-revolutionary war, the ALO has formulated its policies and tactics to be in accord with the circumstances obtaining in our country. For this reason it places high priority on democratic and political work amongst the masses. Depreciation of ideology in the course of overt democratic work carries the risk of exposing revolutionaries to the lure of corruption and bourgeois flaccidity. The ALO stresses revolutionary struggle and socialistic intra-organisational work as the guarantee of continued commitment to reaching a classless society.
PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM:
Proletarian internationalism is a key component of the ALO´s basic principles. Revolutionary political parties and organisations need to learn from each other´s experiences in order to prevent a repetition of the bitter experience of the revisionist Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Internationalism means mutual ties, co-operation and respect between revolutionary parties and organisations. Proletarian internationalism renounces dicktat and intervention in the internal affairs of others, as policies and views imposed from the outside by a more powerful (in terms of means and resources) and “experienced” political entity can in no way answer the needs of a particular party or country and more often than not results in misguided socio-political outcomes. Every revolutionary political party and organisation knows its own particular circumstances better. It is the duty of communists of different countries to adapt Marxism, through correct policies and practice, to the particular needs and conditions of the revolution in their respective countries.
Proletarian internationalism can better be served only when each and every revolutionary party and organisation succeeds in gaining the trust and respect of the people within the context of its own particular circumstances and thus serving as an example to be emulated by fraternal parties and organisations. Proletarian internationalism can be more meaningful, more effective and more practical only when communists parties and organisations are strong and vigorous in their own right.
Political intercourse between communist parties and organisations for exchange of views and experiences is indispensable. The ALO is committed to serious and comradely ties with parties and organisations sharing our Marxist-Leninist principles. The ALO believes that self-reliance is the guarantee of a revolutionary party or organisation´s survival and growth. We are proud of our organisation´s revolutionary tradition of steadfast independence and self-reliance throughout the storms and stresses of the War of Resistance up till now.
WOMEN:
Economic backwardness and the dominance of mediaeval culture has given the exploiting classes the power and the means of depriving our women from their basic social and political rights in the name of God, religion and tradition. They are effectively barred from equal participation in production and social and cultural life.
The ALO firmly believes that the chains of bondage from the hands and feet of women can be broken only when they firstly attain political and class consciousness and secondly become organised and participate actively in the anti-feudal and anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle under the leadership of the proletariat. No other power can emancipate the women of our society from political and class oppression, and “no revolution is victorious without the participation of women”. The political and social inequality of women and of the exploited classes is rooted in the inequality of ownership and distribution of material wealth. The victory of the political revolution assigned by history to the proletariat and its revolutionary vanguard party shall be assured only when one half of society (women´s movement) unites with its other half (men´s movement) and stages a concerted assault on the bastions of feudalism and its patron, imperialism. Equal rights of men and women can be realised and assured only with complete democratisation of society. Struggling for women´s rights is an integral part of the struggle for true democracy and none but the proletariat and its political party can be the true champions of true democracy. It was with staunch belief in this principle that the ALO from the very outset focused on women´s revolutionary suffragist movement by undertaking to raise its Marxist awareness and assisting in its political organisation. Under the circumstances, we can claim remarkable achievements.
THE ISLAMISTS AND THE TALIBAN:
Spontaneous popular insurrections erupted after the sanguinary coup d´à©tat of April 1978 and the subsequent invasion and direct occupation of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in the closing days of 1979. Taking full advantage of the explosive religious indignation of the people of Afghanistan, US imperialism and regional reaction (Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia) rushed to the scene to foist their paid agents onto the leadership of the people´s insurrection.
Billions of dollars were poured into the successful campaign to hijack the popular national liberation war of resistance to a proxy war of imperialism and reaction against social-imperialism. No effort was spared by world capitalism and its lackey feudal reactionaries to portray the proxy war as a war of Islam against communism. The choice of Islamic fundamentalists as the most trustworthy mercenaries of the CIA and of its implementing partner, the Zia-ul-Haq regime in Pakistan, was not fortuitous. The barefoot masses who had taken up the gun in defence of their independence and their homeland were politically disorganised and devoid of resources. Under such favourable circumstances, Islamic fundamentalists became armed and different Jihadi tanzims (organisations) mushroomed in Pakistan and Iran. A widespread campaign to choke out national and democratic progressive forces was initiated and jointly waged by Afghan Islamic fundamentalist tanzims with the connivance and active support of Pakistan and Iran. Progressive elements, leftists and revolutionaries were ruthlessly and systematically persecuted and decimated from the right (Islamic fundamentalists and their patrons) and the left (the Kabul puppet regime). Such fascist brutality from all sides resulted in thousands of true patriots being physically annihilated during and after the War of Resistance. Despite all constraints and hardships, the ALO and other leftist revolutionary organisations actively participated in the War of Resistance. Most of the revolutionary movement´s leaders and a great number of prominent cadres were martyred in the course of armed confrontation with the enemy. The revolutionary movement thus proved through trial of fire and blood that an unbridgeable abyss separates true communists from sold-out lackeys of the then Soviet Union and mercenaries in the pay of western imperialism and regional reaction.
The ignominious retreat of the Russian occupationist forces from Afghanistan and the collapse of the butcher Najibullah regime (April 1992) whipped up the fundamentalist tanzims´ scrimmage for power. The United States and Pakistan had made the best use of Afghan Islamic fundamentalists in the war against the Russians. They now sought to reward the more “moderate” and acquiescent tanzims by propping them up as the legitimate government of liberated Afghanistan. The disappointed leadership of the more refractory tanzims did not accede to this arrangement and therefore turned to alternative patrons. European powers, Iran, India, post-Soviet Russia, Turkey and other countries became embroiled in the Afghan imbroglio. In order to assert the strategic interests of US imperialism, the United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Arab Gulf states deployed their reserve forces, the Taliban ultra-fundamentalists, who had been bred and trained surreptitiously in religious seminaries in Pakistan with Arab petrodollars. The emergence of the Taliban and the rival anti-Taliban alliance composed of fundamentalists and remnants of the defunct Soviet puppet regime is reflective of the contradictions in the camp of the imperialists and their regional chained dogs.
Fundamentalists of all shades and colours are the political representatives of reactionary classes and decrepit feudal relations. It is the mission of the communist movement in our homeland to direct the class struggle in its multifarious forms against these agents of reaction and mediaevalism and to mobilise the masses for the final cleansing of our society and history of these suppurating wounds through a New Democratic revolution under the leadership of the proletarian party. Emancipation from the blood-soaked dominance of ultra-fundamentalist Taliban and fundamentalist Islamists means emancipation from the burden of hundreds of years of tyranny and despotism and decades of imperialist policies. History has chosen the proletariat and its party as the agent for such emancipation.
THE IRANIAN REGIME AND ITS LACKEYS:
The Iranian Revolution which was carried to victory by the Iranian masses with the active participation of revolutionary organisations and intellectuals broke the chains of bondage to US imperialism. There were soaring hopes that this revolution would carry out its heavy socio-political mandate but due to the impotence of revolutionary forces and the absence of a communist party the leadership of the revolution was hijacked by the national and the petty bourgeoisie and the revolution was led astray. The Russians took advantage of the antagonism of the Khomeini regime with the United States and increased its influence in Iran with the help of the traitorous Tudeh party. The aspirations of the Iranian masses for the establishment of democracy and social justice in Iran were shattered. The assault of the arrogant clergy against revolutionaries and revolutionary values reached its apex and the Iranian Revolution metamorphosed into its antithesis. The Khomeini regime became the bastion of militant Islamism and virulent reaction and began to “export revolution” abroad.
The Hizb-i-Wahdat, a bastard offspring of the Iranian regime in Afghanistan, is a typical example of rabid Khomeinist fundamentalism in our country. This party which represents Afghans Shiite fundamentalists is the watchdog of the interests of the Iranian regime against the interests of US imperialism and its lackey, Pakistan. The Hezb-i-Wahdat, whose raison d´à©tre is providing espionage and agent provocateur services to the Iranian regime, excels in fanning up ethnic hatred under the name of defending the rights of national minorities. The deadly antagonism between the Taliban and the Hezb-i-Wahdat is the manifestation of confrontation between Iranian interests in Afghanistan on the one hand and US interests, represented by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, on the other. Peace and security in Afghanistan shall ever remain elusive until such opposing fifth-column mercenary groupings are played against each other on the Afghan stage by their masters.
The Hezb-i-Wahdat, the political representative of ethnic Hazara chiefs, is camouflaged in religious colours and, like its Iranian patron regime, relies on the barrels of its guns for “legitimacy” and for tyrannising the people. Marxist revolutionaries of the Hazara ethnic group, apart from struggling against class enemies and against national divisions, are duty bound to struggle to expose and isolate the Hezb-i-Wahdat as a contraption of the Iranian regime against the interests and unity of the people of Afghanistan.
Only with the victory of a New Democratic revolution under the leadership of a communist party can the toiling masses of different ethnic groupings become masters of their destiny and live in unity and fraternity on their march towards the attainment of a society devoid of exploitation and class oppression.
CHINA:
The victory of the anti-feudal and anti-imperialist Chinese revolution which under the dictatorship of the proletariat opened the way towards socialism and the transformation of China from a backward society to a developed country with a new economy and culture is the fruit of the heroic struggles of China´s revolutionary masses and the Chinese Communist Party. The inspiring revolutionary theory that gave awareness to the Chinese masses was Marxism Leninism Mao Zedong Thought. Under the sagacious leadership of Comrade Mao Zedong the Communist Party of China rendered great services both in defending the revolution and in defence of Marxism on a world scale against Soviet revisionism and world imperialism.
The ALO believes that the services rendered by Comrade Mao Zedong were paramount and his mistakes subordinate, but the demise of Comrade Mao Zedong marked the beginning of the mutation of the Communist Party of China into its antithesis. Economic reforms, attraction of foreign capital, the opening up of China to imperialist commodities with imperialist decadency and corrupt culture as their inevitable accessories, disparity between urban and rural living and between mental and physical labour, corruption in the party and in the administrative apparatus, misappropriation, bribery, smuggling, prostitution and finally the deletion of the word …‘imperialism´ from the propaganda vocabulary of the Chinese Communist Party and the government of the People´s Republic of China are all indicative of the mutation of the Chinese revolutionary party and government. Concomitantly, emasculation of the dictatorship of the proletariat, disparagement of Marxist training and character-building and fostering degeneration of the revolutionary essence of the Chinese state and communists party continue to be the leitmotif of the policies implemented by the incumbent ruling clique in the Communist Party of China.
Complete renunciation (reflective of the Chinese Communist Party´s revolutionary retrogression) of proletarian internationalism, world revolution and support to national liberation movements have debased the Chinese party and state into an anticommunist entity far more adverse to the cause of communism than the Communist Party of the Soviet Union after the death of Comrade Stalin.
The concessionary and conservative policies of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party vis-à -vis the United States and other imperialist powers is part and parcel of its ideological corruption. The Communist Party of China and the government of the People´s Republic of China adopted a marked counter-revolutionary attitude during the years of our War of Resistance against Soviet aggression and instead of lending succour to revolutionary Afghan groupings they extended unqualified support, according to the dictates of their economic and political interests, to Afghan fundamentalist counter-revolutionaries through the reactionary Zia-ul-Haq regime. Instead of providing friendship and support to revolutionary parties and governments, the Chinese communist state and government cultivate friendship and amicable ties with many of the world´s most reactionary, most fascist and most vassal governments.
The communist criterion for the earnestness of a communist party is defending proletarian ideology and promoting class struggle both at home and on a world level. For us Afghan communists, targeted as we are from around the compass by enemy fire, evaluation of the Communist Party of China or of any other communist party cannot be divorced from the party´s adherence to the principles of proletarian internationalism in its inter-relationship with other parties and organisations. A meticulous study of the performance of the Communist Party of China in different arenas has brought the ALO to the well-pondered and solemn conclusion that the Communist Party of China is gradually and very calculatedly withdrawing from proletarian positions and has set foot on the road to capitalism. The bourgeois coterie within the Communist Party of China has usurped the leadership of the party and the state and are wreaking havoc with the proud gains and achievement of the glorious Chinese revolution, obtained with so much toil and travail of the broad masses.
In our present appraisal of the Communist Party of China we endorse and affirm the following proposition expressed by former leaders of China:
“If some day China changes her political hue and becomes a superpower, if she assumes the role of a world tyrant and bullies, violates and exploits other countries and peoples, then we call on the peoples of the world to label her as social-imperialist, expose her, oppose her and together with the people of China, bring her down.”
The ALO believes that by betraying proletarian internationalism and falling into the quagmire of revisionism, China is in the process of becoming an exploiter and a superpower aggressor.
