People's Democracy

October Revolution Shall Continue To Be A Source Of

Inspiration For The Working Class

B Prasant  

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee placing a wreath at the statue of Lenin in Kolkata

THE October Revolution was commemorated all over Bengal with mass conventions, rallies, and marches. The Red flag was hoisted amidst slogans in all the offices of the units of the CPI(M). The day was also commemorated by the different mass organisations that believe in the tenets of scientific socialism and who cherish the October Revolution.

Anil Biswas, state secretary of the Bengal unit of the CPI(M), addressed on this occasion a packed mass convention at the Promode Dasgupta Bhavan in Kolkata in the early evening of November 11. State secretariat member, Raghunath Kushari who heads the Kolkata district unit of the CPI(M) as its secretary, presided.

Anil Biswas started by saying that the CPI(M) had been consistent ever since it was founded in observing the October Revolution and iterating the relevance of the great historical event. 

The CPI(M), said Anil Biswas, ‘has been consistent in its campaign for the tenets of scientific socialism and has always regarded the October revolution as the source of inspiration for the struggles of the working class and of the mass of the people.’

In marking out the signposts of the struggle ahead, Anil Biswas said that India is at the stage of the democratic revolution –– and the aim as to achieve the people’s democratic revolution towards socialism.

Recalling the inspiration that the October Revolution has always been for the CPI(M), Anil Biswas said that the CPI(M) could intervene in a democratic manner in the political process in India. The Congress, recalled Anil Biswas, went on to splinter 17 times and was soon reduced to a political force that was no longer a striking force against the democratic movement in the country. Post-1977, the political structure started to be democratised although the detractors and enemies of democracy continued to create obstacles to this path that the political process had taken.

In this connection, reminded Anil Biswas, it was a sectarian thought to declare that the democratic phase was not essential in the march towards socialism and communism. 

As the Russian political scenario between 1905 when the democratic revolution took place, and 1917 when the October Revolution occurred underlined, the democratic revolution is inevitable.

The CPI(M), declared Anil Biswas, ‘has worked assiduously to introduce democratic elements in the political process of India.

Declaring amidst cheering that ‘socialism is the alternative,’ Anil Biswas went on to point to the world political scene and he drew the attention of the audience to the fact that post-1989, the communists ‘have started to regroup and enter the political mainstream introducing a strong democratic element and struggling towards the basic changes in the social structure.

The recent elections have seen very many European communist parties gain ascendancy and they have also started to expand their mass bases.  The Latin American continent has witnessed communists winning elections in many a country.

The striking power of the Left, democratic, and patriotic forces when led by the communists has been exemplified over and over again in the recent years in the big anti-imperialist movements that have rocked the developing nations.

In more than 30 countries, communist and socialist parties take part in the process of governance either in office or in the ranks of the opposition.

Elsewhere, powerful nations like China and Russia have come together in support of Democratic Korea, causing a great deal of discomfiture in the hearts and minds of the imperialist forces led by the US and subserved by the EU.

Hence, said the speaker, one has to see a series of attacks against the principles of Marxism-Leninism emanating from the ruling classes of Europe and elsewhere.   The recent attempt by the Council of Europe to denigrate communism met with a stern resistance from no less than 82 communist and socialist parties.  In Bengal, the CPI(M) has been able to collect a total of nearly a million signatures on a protest letter addressed to the Council of Europe.

The instance of harassment of the president of the Workers’ Party of Ireland, Sean Garland is another case in point.  Sean Garland was arrested while in Northern Ireland to attend a conference of the Workers’ Party at the behest of the United States on the plea of Garland having connections with Democratic Korea and China, something that he never attempted to hide.  This attempt too has met with resistance from the communist parties around the world, including the CPI(M).

A concerted campaign has been launched by a very nervous right reaction to discredit the communist parties and their leaderships and also to create hatred against communism.  The sustained movements launched against the tirades will ensure that the attempt will fail miserably.

The political-ideological content of the October Revolution, concluded Anil Biswas, remained intact and it would continue to inspire the mass of the people to resist and fight against imperialism, and to struggle for socialism.