Party Program
Introduction
The 1970 programme of the CPI(ML) and the MCC document of 1969 have provided the correct revolutionary general line for the Indian revolution after breaking the decades-old entrenched revisionism in the Indian communist movement. The line laid out in these two documents has been further enriched in the various Conferences and Congress of the two parties based on the vast experience accumulated by the two organisations in the course of leading the people’s war in India and the major developments that had taken place in the domestic and international situation.
The history of our two parties, representing the two main Maoist streams in India, is deeply rooted in the resounding period of ’60s. It was the period during which the two outstanding and front-ranking leaders of our two streams–comrades CM and KC – emerged on the scene in the course of applying MLM to the concrete conditions of India and by fighting, exposing and breaking from the age-old revisionism of the CPI and CPI(M) brand. The great Naxalbari revolt led by comrade CM in May 1967 proved to be the clarion call of ‘Spring Thunder over India’.
In the subsequent period, our two Maoist streams not only continued the legacy of our beloved leaders but also achieved great successes in rebuilding and advancing the armed agrarian revolution through protracted people’s war. As a result, the waves of the new phase of the ‘spring thunder’ are once again reverberating today in Andhra, Bihar-Jharkhand, Dandakaranya, and other areas of our country; they are being increasingly felt all over India and far beyond.
Today, the ever-deepening economic and political crisis in the country as part of the overall crisis in the international arena is providing fertile ground for a new high tide of people’s movements, including the revolutionary movement under the leadership of our Unified Party. The unified Party, by providing the much-needed leadership to the people’s movement countrywide, is bound to accelerate the armed agrarian revolutionary war throughout the country. In this background we are confident that this new Party Programme will serve in giving greater clarity regarding the Party’s general line to the entire rank and file and in helping the Party to assume leadership of the rising tide of people’s struggles and in advancing the people’s war throughout the country.
Party Programme
1. Our beloved motherland, India, is one of the oldest, largest and most populous countries of the world, inhabited by near about 110 crores of people. Our country is a country endowed with rich natural resources like land, labour, animal, water, mineral, forest, etc. India is a multinational country, comprising people of various nationalities and tribes going through various stages of their development, including people of different religious faiths. Vast majority of the population of our country is dependent mainly on agriculture. Hence, in essence, it is a country of peasant masses. The people of this country are hard-working and talented. It is also a land of one of the oldest civilisations. On the whole, our country and our people are the inheritors of a rich revolutionary tradition and a glorious cultural heritage.
2. For thousands of years the feudalism that has dominated Indian society is rigid caste-based feudalism which was built on a brahminical ideology. This pernicious caste system was of enormous value to extract large surplus from the oppressed particularly the so-called outcastes, who were pushed to a slave-like condition. It is into this condition of backwardness that British Colonialism intervened with their East India Company. Thereafter, beginning with the victory of the Battle of Plassey of 1757, the British colonialists began to occupy the whole country and succeeded in establishing their own direct rule during the next several decades. At that time India possessed flourishing trade and commerce along with thriving handicraft and cottage industry. Embryo of commodity economy was emerging from the womb of feudal economy. But the exploitative and oppressive rule of the British colonialists brutally ruined this development. They also mercilessly ruined indigenous artisans and traders. The self-sufficient natural economy of the village also disintegrated to some extent initially and later to a large extent. They converted India as a source of their raw materials and market for their industrial goods. During near about 200 years of their direct colonial rule and exploitation, the Indian economy was converted in to a completely dependent economy on imperialism. The Indian economy was thus integrated into the world capitalist-imperialist economy in a subordinate position and subsequently was moulded to suit the needs of British-imperialist finance capital.
In order to consolidate their rule and to carry on their ruthless exploitation, the British colonialists preserved the feudal forces and at the same time reoriented them in to such new Zamindars, who acted as their social props, through permanent settlement in the form of Zamindari, Mahalwari and Rayatwari system of land ownership. Thus the British rulers transformed independent and feudal India in to a colonial and semi-feudal India.
3. The Indian proletariat emerged on the stage of history from among the pauperised and ruined peasantry with the British colonialists setting up railways, mines, docks, plantations and a few industries. Thereby, from among the comprador merchants, money-lenders, feudal rulers and landlords, who came forward in investing in industries, such as textile, jute, steel, paper cement and plantations etc. under the patronage of and according to the needs and planning of the British imperialists, emerged the present comprador big capitalist class, which is completely dependent on imperialism for its survival and growth. At the same time, an educated petty-bourgeoisie class emerged out of the educational system introduced by the British imperialists to suit the needs of their administration and rule.
4. From the very beginning of the British rule, they had to face the glorious national liberation struggles of the Indian people. After the British occupation, the history of India is the history of uninterrupted historic struggles carried out by the Indian people against the British imperialists and also against the feudal exploitation and oppression. This history has been the history of the glorious revolutionary peasant struggles, and peasant upsurges emerged on the scene one after another. A series of peasant struggles and rebellions against the British colonialists and their feudal props, such as the Santhal revolt of 1854-56, culminated in the First War of Independence of 1857, which is the beginning of the Indian democratic revolution. This uprising of the revolting army, the peasantry and patriotic people spread throughout the country like a prairie fire, inflicted many humiliating defeats on the colonialists and shook the very foundation of foreign British rule. But it ended in failure because of the feudal leadership and their betrayal.
Thereafter, a large number of armed peasants and tribal rebellions against the British colonialists and their feudal props took place. However, as neither the working class was strong enough to provide leadership, nor the working class ideology along with revolutionary party based on such an ideology was there, these struggles and rebellions too met with failure.
5. The Congress Party, and later the Gandhian leadership in the Congress, was brought forth by the British colonialists to divert and derail the growing anti-imperialist national liberation movement and to deprive the people of revolutionary leadership. Even then as the living conditions of the toiling masses became more and more unbearable as a result of imperialist crisis and the world war, the peasants, workers, and the other toiling people rose in revolt in increasing numbers to overthrow the British rule. The revolutionary section of the petty-bourgeoisie also took arms from time to time in their heroic struggles especially the struggle led by Bhagat singh and his revolutionary group. Their heroic struggles have left indelible imprints on the people, while the exploiters and oppressors were frightened. Beginning with the Champaran peasant struggle (Bihar), the Gandhian leadership, loyal to the British, representing the comprador big bourgeois and landlord classes, intervened with the ideology of non-violence, passive resistance and ‘satyagragha’ and thereby diverted the developing national liberation movement from the path of struggle and revolution to the path of surrender and bargaining. To protect their political and economic interests, the British rulers gave some political and economic concessions to the comprador big bourgeoisie along with the landlords so that they would act as stable pillars of British imperialism.
6. The victory of Great October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, under the leadership of comrade Lenin, the Marxist-Leninist ideology was disseminated in our country. Under the influence of this ideology, and as a result of heroic and militant struggles waged against British imperialism by the proletariat, the CPI was born in 1925. But despite innumerable opportunities, the leadership of the proletariat and its party could not establish itself in the liberation movement. The leadership of the Communist Party continuously refused to recognise the real character of the Gandhian leadership. Thereby it failed to demarcate itself and fight against it along with taking the correct revolutionary path and revolutionary initiative. Rather, they continued to trail behind the Gandhian leadership and turned their back in linking the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of the Indian revolution. This leadership could not make the correct class analysis of the Indian Society and also failed to integrate itself with the brave Indian people, particularly the peasantry. They also refused to learn and follow the triumphantly advancing Chinese revolution under the leadership of comrade Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese communist Party. They did not take the path of armed struggle for the seizure of political power in the national liberation movement. Even though the objective revolutionary situation was extremely favourable in India at the time, yet the opportunistic leadership of the communist party always turned their back to take the correct path of protracted people’s war and the armed national liberation war. Actually the leadership of the Communist Party helped in derailing the anti-imperialist people’s militant movement and dragged the revolutionary masses behind the Gandhian leadership through forming an opportunistic alliance with it. Most of all, this leadership betrayed the great Telangana armed revolt of the peasantry and entrenched itself in the mire of parliamentarism and revisionism in the deceptive name of using parliament. That too, at such a time when the objective situation was unprecedentedly favourable for advancing the agrarian revolution and the glorious path of protracted people’s war illuminated by comrade Mao Tse-tung and the victorious Chinese revolution. Despite this, brave revolutionary ranks of the Communist Party stood by the side of the fighting people and led many revolutionary struggles. They laid down their valuable lives to achieve the lofty aim of completing the Indian revolution as a part of the world proletarian revolution.
7. During and after the period of Second World War, the utter defeat of the fascist forces inflicted by the red armed forces of the Soviet Union and the world people led by great Stalin; the considerable weakening of imperialism as a result of the war; the rise of the people’s democratic power in East European countries and earth-shaking victory of the great Chinese revolution, under the leadership of comrade Mao Tse-tung, which illuminated the path of the liberation to the oppressed nations and people of the whole world; the emergence of the world socialist system in one-third of the globe along with the unprecedented upsurge of the national liberation struggles, established a new balance of forces in the world. More particularly, the victory of the Chinese revolution concretely brought forth the path of liberation of the oppressed nations and people of Asia, Africa and Latin America from the exploitation and oppression of imperialism. That is how the victory of the Chinese revolution played a powerful role in changing the balance of forces in the then prevailing world situation.
In such a grave situation faced by imperialists, it became immediately necessary for them to change their old style of direct colonial rule to adopt a new style of colonial rule and exploitation by relying on the agents they have selected and trained in order to save themselves, because the newly-emerged situation had already weakened them to a great extent. The imperialists had already trained their selected agents, who represented the big comprador capitalist and land lord classes, as their faithful ruling class; thereby they changed the old colonial form of their exploitation and rule into the neo-colonial form of indirect rule, exploitation and control.
8. In the Indian sub-continent also unprecedented revolutionary situation emerged on the scene during, and in the immediate aftermath of, World War II. Powerful movement for the release of the prisoners of the ‘Azad Hind Fauz’; powerful anti-imperialist demonstrations of the students all over India; Tebhaga, and Bakasht movements along with the powerful anti-feudal movement in the princely states; strike of the post and telegraph employees; glorious mutiny of the R.I.N. naval forces in Bombay along with emerging resentment among the army and the air-forces; police revolt in Bihar; solidarity struggles of the working class and the beginning of the historic armed peasant struggles in Telangana, brought the imperialist rule in India almost to the verge of collapse.
In such a situation, the British imperialists used the services of their faithful comprador agents, the leaders of the Congress and the Muslim league, to maintain their exploitation, control and indirect rule to suppress the revolutionary upsurge of the Indian people. Amidst conspiracies and intrigues resulting in communal carnage and massacre, the country was partitioned on religious basis. British imperialists transferred the power to their faithful agents, the leadership of the congress party - representing the comprador bureaucratic capitalist and big landlord classes- and went behind the curtain. The declaration of ‘Independence’ in 1947 was nothing but fake in essence. Actually the direct colonial and semi-feudal system of the British imperialists was replaced with semi-colonial and semi-feudal system under the neo-colonial form of indirect imperialist rule, exploitation and control.
9. During the subsequent years of formal independence, which is fake in essence, these comprador bureaucratic big bourgeoisie and big landlord ruling classes continued to serve the imperialists faithfully. In the changed situation, besides the British, the U.S. and other imperialist exploiters, the Soviet exploiters too, with the restoration of capitalism by the Khruschovite revisionism after the death of Com. Stalin, started penetrating into our country. Subservient to the imperialists, the Indian ruling classes kept the doors open for the loot and plunder of our country by the imperialist powers while fulfilling their own interests also by utilizing the inter-imperialist contradictions.
10. After the end of direct colonial rule, imperialism adopted new forms of indirect rule, exploitation, and control of the nations and countries subordinated to them. That is called neo-colonialism. This is more deceptive and more sinister form of colonialism. Now the imperialist finance capital continues to be exported unrestrictedly through the international institutions of the imperialists, such as the IMF and the World Bank, which imposed stringent conditionalities and also through loans and ‘grants’ by the imperialist countries. With this, the unrestricted flow of imperialist finance capital has further increased and its grip has also tightened. Despite this, the direct investment by multinationals also continues to increase.
The domination and control of the imperialist finance capital in every sphere of our life-economic, political, military and cultural-continued to increase further and further. Actually, the imperialists control the key sectors of the Indian economy and even the administration. The all-round penetration and control of imperialist finance capital is reflected in a phenomenal increase in the total quantum of imperialist capital, in thousands of collaborations for technology and capital, in unequal and humiliating agreements and dependence on imperialism for ‘aid’, grants and loans, capital goods, technical know-how, agricultural inputs, military supplies and armament industries. Recently, the stranglehold of imperialist finance capital over agricultural sector also continued to tighten along with other sectors because of WTO and imperialist globalization. All these are made possible because of the subservience of the comprador capitalist and feudal classes to imperialism. Hence, India continues to be a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country under the neo-colonial form of imperialist indirect rule, exploitation and control.
11. According to the dictates and planning of the imperialists, particularly the U.S. imperialists, comprador big capitalist and feudal ruling classes of India continue to follow such a reactionary foreign policy which serves the imperialists according to the needs of their world strategy.
12. After the end of World War II, the U.S. imperialism emerged as the most powerful imperialist country. It had thus come to the fore as the main enemy of the oppressed people, oppressed nations and the world proletariat.
Then, after the demise of comrade Stalin and particularly since the 20th congress of the CPSU, the Soviet Union was transformed into a capitalist country. It further emerged as a social-imperialist and thereby a super power by 1970. It continued to wear the garb of socialism and made the East European countries as its satellites. Moreover, it started to exploit many oppressed countries and nations and succeeded in establishing its domination and control on some of them. It equipped itself with nuclear arsenal and emerged as a great danger and vicious enemy of the world people. It emerged as a chief rival of the U.S. imperialism for re-division and hegemony over the world. In this contention for re-division and hegemony, millions of lives were lost in several proxy wars, and on a few occasions the world even came to the brink of world war. In India too, these two super powers continued to be the big oppressors and exploiters of the people and contended with each other. But after the 70’s, the Soviet social imperialists continued to maintain the dominant position for more than two decades. After the collapse of the Soviet superpower, the Indian ruling classes began to tilt towards the US superpower which assumed the dominant position at present.
13. Indian comprador bureaucratic class is one of the chief instruments for the imperialist exploitation and control over India. It is completely tied with and dependent on imperialism for its existence and development. Its interests are closely interlinked with the interests of the imperialists in all fields. It is tied to imperialism and allied with feudalism. This comprador bureaucratic capitalist class (or big bourgeoisie or state monopoly bourgeoisie) is extremely reactionary, anti-people and anti-national and subjects the vast Indian masses - the proletariat, peasantry and the petty-bourgeoisie to ruthless exploitation and oppression and it is a hurdle for the development of the independent Indian economy. It also restricts the growth of small and middle bourgeoisie and continues to ally with imperialism to maintain the decadent pre-capitalist modes of production. Hence, this class is also one of the targets of the Indian new democratic revolution.
14. Afraid of the people’s wrath, demonstrated by peasants’ revolt, and particularly panicky with the great and historic Telangana peasant’s revolt, the comprador big capitalist and feudal ruling classes of India, introduced some changes in land relations in the name of abolishing feudalism after 1947 according to the needs and planning of the imperialists. The ‘princely states’ and the intermediary system of land tenure were abolished after paying huge compensations. But the monopoly over land by big landlords continues to remain as such while the vast population of the landless and poor peasents remains deprived of the land.
Even today, our country is fundamentally a country of the peasant masses as two-third of the population live in the rural areas. The overwhelming majority of the peasantry is the most exploited and oppressed class. They are forced to live in most wretched and extremely poor conditions. Despite the hoax of all land reforms, 30% of the total land is concentrated in the hands of landlords, who constitutes only 5% of the population, while middle peasantry constitute about 20% of the rural population, where as rich peasantry constitutes 10 %. 65 % of the total peasantry are landless and the poor peasants, who own either no land at all or meagre land. Extreme forms of semi-feudal exploitation are still prevalent in the countryside. The major prevailing forms of such exploitation are extortion of their produce through share cropping, which is robbing them of their produce up to 50%, bonded labour, usurious and merchant capital and other forms of extra-economic coercion. The most vicious form of extracting surplus through extra-economic coercion was through the caste system. Here the artisan and service castes had to serve the landed gentry and priests for a nominal fee. The scheduled castes continued to be treated as near slaves contributing even free labour and services in the name of “begar” etc.
The backward agriculture on fragmented land, mainly dependent on primitive methods in some places and vagaries of nature, is subjecting a large population of peasantry including an overwhelming number of middle peasants, to live a miserable life. The countryside is dominated by landlords, usurers, merchants and religious institutions. These exploiting sections are the mainstay of the semi-feudal relations of production in the country. All these facts show that our country is a semi-feudal country. This class of feudal landlords protect and instigate casteism, communalism, superstition and maintains private armies, or goonda forces, perpetuates medieval oppression on the rural masses, and oppressed dalits, adivasis and women through often perpetrating massacres, rapes etc. It is this class of oppressors who hold social and political power, ensures perpetuation of decadent feudal culture along with encouraging caste, fanaticism, male-domination, including patriarchy and undemocratic authoritarian ideas etc. in the vast countryside. The feudal landlord’s authority is caste-based. They use their upper-caste social and political links to sustain this authority and terror in the countryside. Brahminical ideology is used to give it a religious sanctity. This is the overall dominant aspect of the rural society of India and the main obstacle to the release of productive forces and the progress of our country. This class of usurers, merchants and big landlords is extremely reactionary and a social prop of imperialism; hence one of the chief targets of the new democratic revolution in India.
15. After the transfer of power in 1947, the Indian ruling classes, in serving imperialism, resorted to several measures to promote alternative development models in place of radical land reforms based on “land to the tiller”. Firstly, they brought forth community development programme, rural co-operatives and intensive agricultural development programmes (IADP) etc. with the aid of, and according to the needs and planning of, Ford and Rockefeller foundations, the World Bank and other imperialist agencies. Thereafter, in continuation of these steps they introduced the so-called Green Revolution in Punjab and some rural pockets of the country by the mid-1960s. This ‘Green Revolution’ was meant not only to provide captive market for the imperialist goods but also was an attempt to counter the emerging threat of the Red Revolution and to solve the chronic food crisis.
Despite increase in the productivity including production, the negative results of this ‘Green Revolution’ started reflecting on the surface very soon. It greatly increased the cost of agricultural inputs while the prices of production lagged far behind or remained almost stagnant. Thus, this increasing gap resulted in increasing fall in agricultural savings; thereby living condition of the peasantry continues to be deteriorating instead of improving, whereas, the market for agricultural products of the imperialists such as farm machinery, chemical fertilizers, HYV seeds, pesticides, etc. continues to grow along with their profit. Leaving aside a handful of big landlords, including some newly emerged big pro-capitalist landlords (from among the old rich peasants), the vast majority of the peasantry, particularly the poor peasants and agricultural labourers, as well as a sizable section of the middle peasants, continue to be increasingly driven into the clutches of the usurers, merchants, big pro-capitalist land lords, whereas the grip of the Banks and other financial institutions also continues to tighten further and further. With the increasing penetration of imperialist finance capital, its grip has been further tightened. This has also further introduced some capitalist relations of production, but this capitalism is very much distorted and disarticulated. Moreover, the land question has not been fundamentally solved. No doubt, with the ‘Green Revolution’, some new class forces have emerged on the scene, but this so-called capitalist development has brought nothing except misery and resultant discontentment among the peasant masses, that too, on a massive scale. Despite some changes in the areas of the ‘Green Revolution’, no significant change has occurred in the semi-feudal relations of India as a whole. Even though some changes are there it did not bring any changes in the caste system.
16. The crisis of imperialism that had emerged in the beginning of 70s continues to deepen further and further. Though they got some respite with the collapse of the erstwhile Soviet State capitalist imperialism, they could not tide over their crisis. Hence they brought forth the imperialist policies of privatization, liberalization and globalization more forcefully. These policies have not only more openly tightened the grip of imperialist finance capital, but also accelerated the pace of exploitation and oppression of the oppressed nations and people. In spite of this, the crisis of imperialism has touched unprecedented new heights in the recent years, unheard of since the end of Second World War, and the normal means of solving it have already been exhausted. In this back-drop, the U.S imperialists have openly started resorting to military means in their desperate attempt to come out of the deep-rooted and all round economic, political and social crises.
Today, in India and all other backward countries, thousands of big imperialist MNCs and TNCs are openly operating. Imperialism is increasingly moving towards trampling under-foot the so-called sovereignty, in the neo-colonial type of semi-colonial countries through these policies. All kinds of restrictions are increasingly removed for the autocratic control, expansion and unrestricted exploitation of the imperialist finance capital. The so-called public sector, which was erected in the deceptive name of socialism to mislead the public opinion, is being offered to the comprador bourgeoisie and imperialist MNCs. These policies are further worsening the living conditions of the peasant masses, particularly the landless and poor peasants, including large sections of the middle peasants and a section of the rich peasants. The living conditions of other toiling people, particularly the working class, peasants, students and youth including women, employees and petty-bourgeoisie section are increasingly deteriorating and are thrown into a life and death crisis. Hence a fertile ground is being created for upsurges against imperialism and their faithful ruling classes.
According to the imperialist needs and planning, the Indian ruling class has haphazardly carried out industrialization. Through irrational exploitation of the natural resources it has trampled under-foot the environmental norms thereby endangering the ecological balance even at the cost of country’s interest.
17. The Indian ruling classes have not only inherited the sanguinary state machinery from their British imperialist masters; but also have preserved and strengthened it further during the last six decades. This state machinery is nothing but an instrument of suppression and repression, and represents the dictatorship of the comprador bourgeoisie and landlord classes subservient to imperialism. The repressive rule is sought to be covered up behind the façade of fraudulent parliamentary system. This state system represents the semi-colonial, semi-feudal system under neo-colonial form of indirect rule, exploitation and control. During the recent years, the repressive teeth of this state system has not only been further sharpened but also centralized more and more by the comprador-feudal alliance backed by imperialism. The chief weapons of this blood thirsty rule are well-organized and well-equipped modern army, paramilitary forces along with police forces of different states, anti-people judiciary and neck-deep corrupted and powerful bureaucracy. This state machinery is extremely reactionary and anti-people. Without smashing this state machinery, any struggle for the basic rights and problems of the people and for their uplifting cannot move forward beyond a limited level.
18. Viewing the dominant position of India in over all South-Asia, the imperialists have always backed, encouraged and instigated the expansionist designs of the comprador Indian ruling classes, so that they could continue their unchallenged control over the vast profitable market. According to the needs and dictates of imperialists, the comprador ruling classes of India continue to send their armed forces as their mercenary forces to other countries of the world such as Somalia, Yugoslavia, Congo, Rwanda etc., from time to time. Through this aggressive expansionist role, the Indian comprador bureaucrat bourgeoisie, while serving the imperialists principally, has its own interests also in the region in looting these countries of their capital, market, raw materials etc.
Due to these expansionist ambitions and intervention and subversive activities of the Indian comprador bureaucrat bourgeoisie, backed by imperialism, Indian expansionism has emerged as a great threat to the security and integrity of all the South-Asian countries and especially their people with a vastly superior army along with strong centralized state machinery. Indian Ruling classes interfere in internal affairs in Nepal including showing readiness to send its armies there, just as the Indian army was sent into the then East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) in 1971, into Sri Lanka to suppress the LTTE in 1987. The ruling classes of India have become an important medium for imperialist exploitation and control of the South-Asian countries and more particularly for their people. Hence, it is one of the most important tasks of the Indian proletariat and the Maoist forces in India to more closely unite with the people of South Asia to expose, fight and defeat the expansionist designs of the Indian expansionists along with the imperialists.
19. There are four major contradictions in our country:
(i) Contradiction between imperialism and Indian people;
(ii) Contradiction between feudalism and the broad masses of the people;
(iii) Contradiction between capital and labour;
(iv) Contradiction among the ruling classes.
From among these four major contradictions the first two contradictions are basic contradictions. These two contradictions have to be resolved during the present stage of the new democratic revolution. These two contradictions also play the major or dominant role in chalking out the overall strategy for the present stage of the Indian revolution.
Out of these two basic contradictions, the second contradiction that is, contradiction between feudalism and broad masses is the principal contradiction at present. During the process of resolving this contradiction through the armed agrarian revolution, which is the axis of the new democratic revolution, that is, protracted people’s war, the resolution of other contradictions will be facilitated. Besides these two basic contradictions, the other two major contradictions also play an important role in determining the strategic and tactical policies for the new democratic revolution of India today.
Besides these major contradictions there are some other contradictions also, which have to be resolved as a subordinate part of the resolution of the basic or major contradictions.
20. India is a multinational, multi-lingual country comprising many cultures. These nationalities and tribes are going through different stages of their development. On the nationality question, imperialism has always adopted the policy of using the developed nationalities as their instrument to retard the development of other undeveloped or developing nationalities and to eliminate their identity and thereby to continue their exploitation and oppression. In India too, the ruling classes, subservient to imperialism, had transformed the country as a prison-house of nationalities under the so-called slogan of “unity and integrity” of the country. It is in such a context that the ongoing nationality struggles in various parts of the country today are advancing by assuming various forms including armed struggle. The struggles of the Kashmiri, Naga, Assamese, Manipuri and other nationalities in north-eastern region are already going on by assuming the armed form. The people of these oppressed nationalities are not only fighting for their identity but also for the just cause of achieving their honourable right of self-determination, including the right of secession and the demand for secession.
Nationality question, in the final analysis, is a matter of class question. In this light, the nationalities’ struggles can achieve genuine liberation only as a part of the larger struggle directed against the Indian ruling classes and the imperialist predators advancing under the leadership of the proletariat towards completing the New Democratic Revolution. Our party must unequivocally support these nationalities struggles. It must also resolutely oppose the vicious attempt of the Indian ruling classes to suppress these movements with their military might. It must also oppose the attempts of the Indian ruling classes to impose Hindi and English or any other language on the nationalities unilaterally. The right of self-determination including, and up to, the right of secession, must be firmly upheld and highlighted in all circumstances. Our party must also uphold and highlight the standpoint that final and genuine solution of the nationality question lies with the establishment of new federation of people’s democratic republics after completely smashing the present centralized state machinery, representing and protecting the interest of imperialism and feudalism.
21. Condemnable caste system and casteism, especially the Brahmanical casteism, is a special feature of the semi-feudal system prevailing in India. The obnoxious caste system and casteism, which is being perpetuated by the ruling classes for thousands of years, is a specific form of social oppression and exploitation affecting the oppressed castes of the country. Casteism crushes the self-respect of the individual, treats them as inferiors and creates a social hierarchy with each rung in the ladder looking down on the other. It is such a weapon, which is used both by the Indian ruling classes and the imperialists to instigate and divide the poor people and the oppressed. The majority of the oppressed castes are poor and face acute caste oppression in addition to the class oppression. Casteism is used for derailing their actual struggles directed against imperialism, feudalism and comprador bureaucrat capitalism.
Dalits are at the lowest rung of this casteist ladder facing acute social oppression from all social categories above them, particularly from the feudal forces. The inhuman practice of untouchability is still continuing and is being maintained. Accordingly, the dalits are being treated as second-rate citizens. Even today 90 to 95 per cent from among them are either landless and poor peasants or village labourers.
Even today their age-old struggles against feudal oppression and for getting equal status in the society are being targeted and Dalits have become victim of these vicious attacks by the feudal and fundamentalist Hindutva forces patronized by the ruling classes and their state machinery. These attacks are beings manifested in the form of massacres and en masse gang rapes.
Though the Dalit question is in essence a class question, the Party should lead the struggle against caste oppression on Dalits and other backward castes as a part of New Democratic Revolution and fight for their equal place in all spheres of social life by fighting all forms of caste discrimination and oppression, towards abolishing the caste system.
The Party must fight for equal rights, reservations and other special privileges for dalits and other backward castes. Simultaneously we must expose the hollowness of the policies of the ruling class parties and the state on these issues. We must also expose the opportunist dalit leaders who build their own electoral fortunes in the name of taking up dalit issues. We have to initiate and lead the struggles against all forms of violence and discrimination against Dalits from our own class organisations. There is also urgent need to build organizations to fight untouchability, caste discrimination and for the eradication of the caste system as part of the new democratic transformation of society. The Party should also have to carry on the struggle against casteism and untouchability in the political, ideological and cultural spheres until casteist thinking is entirely eradicated.
22. Since the emergence of class-divided society, women have become the victims of social, economic, cultural and political discrimination and deprivation of various types. These obnoxious traditions are, in the main, still continuing i.e. caste system, dowry, child marriage, widow system, devadasi etc. Constituting half the population of our country, women are subjected to male domination and suppression through patriarchal institutions like family, religion, caste system, property relations and culture in addition to the imperialist feudal exploitation and oppression. Even though, they are entitled to own the property legally, but in actual practice this right has proved to be a hoax. Although women have increasingly come into the production sphere, they are among the least paid and are confined to gender-based occupations apart from harassments of all sorts at the work place. Sexual harassment and atrocities on women have increased in recent years, particularly because of imperialist globalization, liberalization and consumerism. Besides, female-male ratio has decreased due to discriminatory practices against women resulting from patriarchal ideology. The ruling classes’ attempts of fanning communalism and fundamentalism, particularly Hindu fundamentalism, have further intensified their sufferings. Rape is being used as a weapon to counter rightful assertion by women. This weapon is also used by the state as a most vile repressive measure against the women emerging in various struggles. Private armies of the feudal forces, backed by various parties of the ruling classes including the state, also use the weapon of rape as a vicious method of suppression.
‘Women hold half the sky’. Without unleashing the pent-up fury of women as a mighty force of revolution, victory in revolution is impossible. It is a matter of pride that the women masses, particularly from among the poor and landless peasants are increasingly coming forward to take an active and sometime front-ranking role in advancing the armed agrarian revolution. Hence, the mobilization of women in advancing people’s war against imperialism and feudalism is a must. Besides the class struggle, we have to carry on struggle in political, economic, ideological and cultural spheres for equal rights of women and equal opportunity for development. Real equality between men and women can be realized only in the course of the new democratic revolution and further in the process of socialist transformation of society as a whole. Hence, our party must pay special attention on rousing, mobilizing, organizing and helping the women to come forward to join the various ongoing struggles, particularly the people’s war, and the revolutionary women’s organization. We must also concentrate upon developing staunch and farsighted communist leaders from among them.
23. In India under the deceptive name and garb of secularism, Hindu communalism continues to hold sway. Almost all the ruling class parties continue to use the state machinery in fanning this communalism. The pro-Hindu bias of the Indian state is openly expressed on certain occasions. This communalism has been used to promote and propagate the idea of an Indian being equal to a Hindu, thereby directly making religious minorities secondary/second rate citizens. This communalism is not only directed against religious and other minorities but also against the Dalit sections of the society including Adivasis and women. This communalism is also used in fanning Brahmanism, national chauvinism, casteism and patriarchal mentality.
The religious minorities constitute 15 percent of the Indian population. They are victims of the discrimination, harassment and cruel oppression being perpetrated by the ruling classes through fanning Hindu communalism by even using their state machinery. The Hindu fascist gangs, quite often organize anti-minority pogroms in a systematic way in order to impose the communalistic concept of Hindutva. The main focus of these attacks has been the Muslims. The ruling classes have used Hindu Communalism as an effective tool to divide the toiling people on religious grounds. Hindu Communalism has emerged as an important ideological and political plank for the establishment of fascism in the country.
The party should oppose, expose and fight against the growing threat of these Hindu fundamentalist forces ideologically, politically and also fight against them at the local level by adopting all the appropriate means. At the same time we must also continue to expose the fundamentalism of other religions. But we must be clear that the real purpose of the chieftains of the Hindu fundamental forces is to divide and divert the people’s attention from their growing upsurges and thus blunt their class consciousness. Hence, the party must continue to focus its attention in advancing the actual class struggle, that is, the protracted people’s war, which will finally put an end to this threat.
24. About 8 % of India’s population consists of Adivasis or tribes. Their economy, social system and cultural characteristics are significantly different from those of the rest of the population. Most adivasis are in the process of developing as nationalities and the overwhelming majority of them are the most suppressed and repressed sections of the Indian society. Vast majority of the adivasis have long been deprived of their land and other traditional means of livelihood without providing any alternative. The forest produce and mineral resources, which were traditionally in their possession, are being forcibly taken away by the imperialists, the CBB, the feudal classes, contractors, money lenders and usurers, unscrupulous traders, bureaucrats, and other exploiters mainly from outside, resulting in the disintegration of their traditional economy. The mining, quarrying, other industrial activity and building up of big dams devastated lives and livelihoods of the adivasis. Moreover, they have been neglected socially, culturally and politically.
We would have to formulate such special policies through which we could involve actively the large majority of these sections in the mainstream of new democratic revolution. Particularly, it would remain the long-term need of the party to pay special attention to the adivasi areas due to utter negligence of these areas by the ruling classes and also because of their strategic importance. Along with this, we would have to make strong efforts to prepare soldiers and leaders of the revolution from among them, seeing the glorious tradition of the continuity of their anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggles.
It is our task to organise them on the basis of their political, economical, social, cultural, lingual and educational issues by ensuring them political autonomy. It is also our task to lead their struggles in such a way that they can achieve their complete emancipation in the truest sense of the term.
25. The semi-colonial semi-feudal character of Indian society determines that the Indian revolution would have to pass through two stages. The task of first stage is to change the semi –colonial, semi -feudal society into an independent new democratic society through the resolution of the two fundamental contradictions of the present Indian society, i.e. the contradiction of the Indian people with imperialism and the contradiction of the broad masses with feudalism. Again, in its continuity, the task of second stage is to establish the socialist system and continuing the revolution advancing towards communism on the world scale. The first stage is the pre-condition for the second stage. India will reach the socialist stage through the completion of democratic revolution.
Our social system determines the stage of our revolution. Our country is in the stage of democratic revolution whose axis and content is agrarian revolution. Since the proletarian class is in its leadership, therefore, it is not the democratic revolution of the old type, but it is the new type of democratic revolution, that is, new democratic revolution. This revolution is the part of world proletarian revolution, which has begun with the Great October Revolution of Russia. This revolution, on the one hand, opens the path for capitalism to some extent; on the other hand, it regulates it also and builds up the necessary conditions for socialism.
The targets of our revolution are imperialism, the comprador bureaucratic capitalism and feudalism. These three mountains are heavy weight on the back of our people. These three enemies have blocked the political, economic and cultural development of our country and our people. Therefore, the immediate basic programme before the political representatives of Indian proletariat and its vanguard-the communist party- is to overthrow the semi-colonial, semi-feudal rule of the big landlord-comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie classes, and imperialism that backs them, through armed struggle and to establish the people’s democratic state under the leadership of proletariat-the new democratic state; in place of it by smashing the reactionary autocratic state. This new democratic state will be the people’s democratic dictatorship exercised by the united front comprising the proletariat, peasantry, petty-bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie class under the leadership of the proletariat based upon the worker-peasant alliance. The state will guarantee real democracy for the vast majority of the people while exercising dictatorship over the tiny minority of the exploiters. The minimum programme of our party is to establish socialism by accomplishing the new democratic revolution and the ultimate programme is to establish communism on a world scale.
Since India is semi-colonial and semi-feudal, neither there is real independence nor there is democracy. Therefore, this new democratic revolution will bring national independence uprooting the imperialist slavery, exploitation and control, and will establish the people’s democracy uprooting the feudal autocracy. Actually, the struggle for national liberation uprooting imperialism and the struggle for democracy for uprooting feudalism i.e. the national and democratic tasks are closely integrated and intertwined with each other. Since feudalism is the prop of imperialism, the anti-feudal struggle is, at the same time, anti-imperialist struggle also. That does not mean that there is no need to build up anti-imperialist struggles separately. This revolution will establish a free, independent and developing new democratic economy in place of semi-colonial semi-feudal economy which will be the basis of socialist economy.
26. Today, the rotten, decaying, antidemocratic, anti-people, obnoxious semi-colonial and semi-feudal culture is dominating all the spheres of our life. Hatred for labour, patriarchy, superstition, autocracy, imperialist slavery, national chauvinism, communalism, casteism, blind greed, self-centredness, consumerist culture, and perverted sex-centered ideology and culture are being propagated and imposed on a vast scale by imperialists and their compradors through their propaganda machine. It also promotes feudal culture which is primarily the Brahminical caste-based culture of engrained superiority. It puts its stamp on nearly all aspects of social interaction and thinking, from approach to labour, women, oppressed castes, other communities, marriage norms, birth, death, language, and numerous caste symbols. Religious fanaticism and anti-scientific ideas are being inflammed vigorously. Along with this, revisionism, reformism and economism- all these ideas are being highlighted and propagated on a massive scale to counter and derail the revolutionary movements.
The party will have to expose all these imperialist and feudal ideologies and cultures and also have to fight against those relentlessly. It should bring forth the new democratic and socialist culture as an alternative to the people. The new democratic revolution will smash this imperialist and feudal ideology and culture and will establish the new democratic culture and at the same time will also hold high the banner of socialist ideology.
This ideology and culture will be guided by the great ideology of the proletariat, that is, Marxism-Leninism-maoism. This culture will express its international solidarity with the on-going revolutionary struggles for national liberation, democracy and socialism all over the world by uniting with them in their fight for people’s democratic and socialist culture. It will defeat all types of revisionist ideology and hold high the red banner of the most scientific and developed ideology of Marxism-Leninism-maoism.
27. In our country, parliamentary system was imposed by British imperialism from above. Moreover, bourgeois democratic revolution too has not been completed here. Hence no bourgeois democracy ever came into being here. Extreme backwardness, poverty and illiteracy along with uneven social, economic, and political conditions continue to exist. In this background, parliamentary system is an outright fraud framed in the deceptive name of ‘biggest democracy of the world’ whereas all the institutions like parliament, legislative assemblies, executive councils ( including the so-called panchayati raj) are a thin cover for the autocratic rule representing the dictatorship of comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and feudal classes subservient to imperialism.
Actually, no viable solution of the fundamental problems of the people can be sought through using any parliamentary institution. Besides this, the experience of last 55 years has amply confirmed the fact that whoever tried to participate in the elections in the name of tactics of using it, most of them got entrenched in the mire of parliamentary system and revisionism, sooner or later. Today, all the parliamentary institutions and parliamentary system itself, including all the parliamentary parties of the ruling classes, stand exposed before the people more than ever. Hence, any idea of exposing it by using it is itself an illusion.
In fact, the tactics of participation in the election in the name of using it is tantamount to abandoning the tasks of building and advancing the armed struggle. Reality is that without people’s political power everything is illusion. The people’s political power can be established and advanced only through the path of protracted people’s war. Parliamentary path and participation in the elections are completely incompatible with Protracted peoples war in the concrete conditions of India. Even the advancement of real people’s political consciousness is closely linked with it. More so, the accumulation of forces, including the development and Bolshevization of the party itself are inseparably linked with it. That is why the armed struggle is the ‘centre of gravity’ of the Party’s work as comrade Mao stated. In this overall context, the slogan of ‘Boycott Election’, though a question of tactics, acquires the significance of strategy in the concrete conditions of India. It is also correct to raise the slogan ‘Boycott Election is a Democratic Right’ on a mass scale.
28. India is a semi-colonial, semi-feudal country with uneven development. Its vast majority is peasantry and there are vast backward rural areas where the class contradictions are relatively sharp, where the democracy is actually absent and where the enemy and his state machinery are comparatively weak. Our class enemies-imperialism, comprador big bourgeoisie and feudalism-have built up their strong bases in big cities where their armed state machinery is very strong. In such a situation, the party of the proletariat has no other way but to take the path of protracted people’s war, just as in China, to advance the revolution towards victory i.e. to liberate the rural areas first and then having expanded the base areas-the centre of democratic power in rural areas- advance towards countrywide victory through encircling and capturing the cities.
It is only by building up the people’s liberation army as the armed power of the people, by expanding and developing the armed agrarian revoltuonary guerilla war, we can establish the guerilla zones and the base areas in strategically favourable areas. In those areas we have to arouse, organise and arm the vast peasant masses on the basic slogan of the agrarian revolution, ‘Land to the tillers and political power to the revolutionary people’s committees!’
For this it will be necessary to smash the state machinery and all other centres of power of the ruling classes thoroughly and build up the democratic power of the people based on worker-peasant alliance. In this way, our revolution will follow the path of the Chinese Revolution.
29. Due to the distinctive socio-economic development of our country, urban struggles are also very important, particularly those of the working class. Due to the phenomenal growth of public and private sector, service sector and various administrative departments after the transfer of power, there is a huge increase in the urban population, particularly the working class. Working class in the organised and unorganised sectors constitutes near about seven crores.
The Indian working class is one of the oldest among the underdeveloped backward countries. The industrial proletariat was born in India with the setting up of industries during the second half of the 19th century. It has a glorious history of struggles and rich experience of work in advanced scientific and organised industries. Moreover, their number has largely increased. Majority of them come from the peasantry and hence they have strong ties and influence on each other. They have rich experience in launching and leading many struggles, including All India strikes. Hence, they are a formidable strength, which can give serious blows to imperialism, feudalism and CBB.
However, because of the betrayal and conspiracies of the revisionist leadership the working class movement mainly continues to remain confined in the boundaries of economism, reformism and legalism. A small section in the working class comprising trade union bureaucrats, who also get bribes from the employers, has also emerged. Our party has to oppose, expose and fight out revisionism and the revisionist leadership along with various forms of economism and reformism; only then the fertile ground for implanting genuine revolutionary class consciousness among the workers can be laid and powerful working class movement can be built and advanced. The working class will exercise its leadership over the new democratic revolution through its party. It will play its leading role through building such a movement along with launching struggles on different domestic and international issues. It will also launch militant actions in solidarity and support of the revolutionary struggles of all the other oppressed classes, especially the peasant’s struggles and also by sending its class conscious advanced detachments to organise and advance the armed struggle of the peasantry in rural areas by joining the communist party leading this armed struggle .
Apart from the working class, a large section of this population of the urban poor and petty-bourgeoisie, such as, students, youth, intellectuals, artisans, small shopkeepers and vendors, professionals, middle class employees etc. are residing in the urban areas. Their number is also increasing. Students, youth and intellectuals have a rich tradition of struggle also.
The working class and its party would organize them in class struggle. We should build a strong anti-imperialist, anti-feudal movement in favour of agrarian revolution. All these movements would have to be oriented towards the agrarian revolution directly or indirectly, and co-ordinated with and complimentary in serving that struggle. The struggle should continue to advance by co-ordinating with the armed agrarian revolutionary war.
Since we have to capture the big cities, that is, the fortresses of the enemy, during the last phase of the New Democratic Revolution, Our party has to carry on target-oriented work in the cities from the very beginning. Only then we can achieve that victory. It means that, firstly, we have to build a vast and well-entrenched underground network of the party and also other mass organizations among the working class and other toiling sections of the people along with students and intellectuals. And we have to build up political movements. Secondly, we also have to build the needful net-work of the military organization secretly by avoiding decisive battles, thereby preserving our forces. Only through such a target-oriented work we can accumulate, strengthen and continue to consolidate our forces and, thereby, carry on political organizational and military preparations on a mass scale, in the due course of time. The most important aspect of our work in the big cities is that it should not be carried out in isolation and the principle of doing “everything for war” should be strictly kept in the forefront during all of our activities.
30. The peasantry is the main force in the democratic revolution carried out under the leadership of the proletariat. Relying on the landless poor peasants and agricultural workers, the working class will firmly unite with the middle peasants and win over a section of rich peasants while neutralizing the rest. It will be only a small section of the rich peasants that joins with the enemies of revolution. In our country, urban petty-bourgeoisie class and middle class revolutionary intellectuals are revolutionary forces and their vast majority will become the faithful ally of the revolution. Middle traders and the small and middle bourgeoisie, who are generally national bourgeoisie, are a vacillating and provisional ally of the revolution, accompany it to a certain extent, and at certain times.
To advance the democratic revolution till victory it is necessary to build a united front comprising all these classes i.e. the four-class united front-the working class, peasantry, petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie-under the leadership of working class based upon worker-peasant alliance. It should unite all the oppressed nationalities, persecuted religious minorities and other oppressed social sections in the course of advancing the armed struggle for the seizure of political power.
31. In India, the genuine revolutionary forces, representing the revolutionary ranks, continued their struggle against the opportunistic, erroneous and the revisionist lines and treachery of the dominant leadership of the CPI, and thereafter the CPI(M), from the very beginning. But during the late 50’s and 60’s, this struggle assumed a completely new dimension. The Great Debate against modern revisionism conducted by the CPC led by comrade Mao Tse-tung, marked this new beginning. So far as this Great Debate continued to intensify further and further and finally culminated in the earthshaking GPCR, so this struggle also continued to intensify further and further towards the breaking point. The beginning of the GPCR proved to be a new turning point in this process. Under the direct impact of this process, the forces representing the struggle against revisionism of the then leadership of the CPI, and then CPI(M), began to uphold and assimilate Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-tung Thought, now Maoism, both in theory and, more particularly, in their revolutionary practice. Thereby, a large number of Maoist forces including the most outstanding and front-ranking leaders like comrade C.M. and K.C. emerged on the scene, condemning the 7th congress programme of CPI(M) as revisionist. The great Naxalbari revolt led by com. Charu Majumdar in May 1967, proved to be a clarion call of “spring thunder over India”. Thereafter, the history of the communist movement took a qualitatively new turn. Besides finally breaking from and greatly exposing revisionism, it marked the first conscious application of M-L-M and the seizure of political power through the shining path of the protracted people’s war, already illuminated by comrade Mao Tse-tung, in the Indian sub-continent also.
Although the movement suffered a temporary setback, it began to advance once again under the leadership of the CPI(ML) and the MCC, traversing through several ups and downs, taking lessons from the past, and bravely resisting the enemy repression. These two streams of the Maoist revolutionary forces continued the legacy of all that is revolutionary in the Indian communist movement by basing on a correct revolutionary line and waging a relentless struggle against revisionism of various hues.
The new Party—CPI (Maoist)—as the consolidated vanguard of the Indian proletariat, will lead the New Democratic Revolution in India to victory and persevere until the establishment of Socialism and Communism on a world scale.
32. To achieve victory in revolution, these are the three magic weapons which would have to be built and strengthened step by step from the very beginning.
(i) A strong revolutionary party based on Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its guiding ideological basis in all matters; that is well-disciplined and built up through revolutionary style and method; that is based on democratic centralism; that links the theory with practice; practises criticism and self-criticism; is closely integrated with the masses and relies firmly upon them; and stands firmly on the class line, mass line and armed struggle.
(ii) A strong and well-disciplined people’s army under the leadership of such a party; primarily our people’s army will be built through the armed agrarian revolution mainly from among the landless poor peasants, agricultural labourers and the working class.
(iii) A united front of all revolutionary classes under the leadership of the proletariat based on worker-peasant alliance and on the general programme of people’s democratic revolution. This united front will be built in the course of advancing the armed struggle and for the seizure of political power through armed struggle.
33. The vanguard of the Indian proletarian class, the revolutionary communist party of India, CPI(Maoist), stands by proletarian internationalism. Revisionism, particularly right-wing opportunism, is the main danger for world proletarian revolution and international communist movement today. One could not move a single step towards revolution in any country without fighting and defeating it. Hence the Indian proletariat must fight against both Right and ‘Left’ opportunism in advancing the class struggle and the revolutionary war. The party, while drawing lessons from the past revolutions, and later, from the restoration of capitalism in Russia and China, must uphold the relevance of the most modern experiences of the GPCR particularly in the struggle against revisionism. Thus, it has to build unity with all the genuine Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties, groups and forces in the world today. It also has to establish unity with the proletariat, oppressed nations and oppressed people of the whole world. By uniting with them and through the practice of learning from each other, it forms part of the global struggle to eliminate imperialism and counter revolutionary forces from the world.
34. The people’s democratic state will carry out the following tasks:-
(i) It will confiscate all the banks, business enterprises and companies of imperialist capital and abrogate all imperialist debt. It will nullify all unequal treaties and agreements with imperialist countries.
(ii) This state will confiscate all enterprises’ capital and movable and immovable properties of the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie. On the basis of the principle of controlling capital the state will have to take over the authority and administration of all the monopoly industries and trade. The New Democratic state will not appropriate other personal properties and will not obstruct the development of capitalist production, which have no power to control the public life.
(iii) It will confiscate all land belonging to the landlords and religious institutions and will redistribute it among the landless poor peasants and agricultural labourers on the slogan of ‘land to the tillers’. It will ensure equal rights for women over land. It will cancel all debts of the middle peasants and other toiling people, along with these classes. It will ensure all facilities for the growth of agriculture; will ensure remunerative prices for agricultural products and encourage and promote the development of agricultural co-operatives wherever possible. Thus taking agriculture as the foundation, it will advance towards building strong industrial economy.
Along with this, it will put an end to the exploitation of usurers, traders and merchants, encourage the co-operatives to make available the necessary capital to the people and will take control upon the trade and business.
(iv)The state will ensure ecological balance and environmental norms while developing the industrial economy of the country.
(v) It will protect small industries, restrict and regulate medium industries, that is, the industry of national bourgeoisie class, help the growth of the cottage industries and handicrafts by developing co-operatives and will improve the conditions of handicrafts, workers and artisans.
(vi) It will put an end to all heavy taxes and various repayments, abolish the present tax system and will enforce a well-systematized, simple and progressive tax system.
(vii) This state will enforce the six-hour working day, increase wage rates, abolish the contract labour system and child labour, provide social security and safe working condition and will eliminate wage discrimination on the basis of gender by guaranteeing equal pay for equal work.
(viii) It will ensure the right to work as a fundamental right and will advance towards the elimination of unemployment. This state will enforce the unemployment allowance and social insurance and will ensure better living condition for the people.
(ix) By the distribution of land on the basis of land to the tiller and with the new power led by the landless and poor peasants (a large section of whom will be Dalits, adivasis, and other oppressed castes), it will initiate the process of eradication of the caste system. It will abolish caste discrimination and disparity and will move towards the complete elimination of untouchability and the caste system as a whole. Till then it will ensure special privileges including reservations for the upliftment of Dalits and all socially oppressed castes.
(x) It will move towards the abolition of all types of discrimination against women and will strive to end male domination and patriarchy. This state will liberate women from the confinement of domestic work and will ensure their participation in social production and other activities. The state will run public laundries, crèches and public kitchens. It will guarantee their equal rights in property. It will promote special policies for the speedy removal of inequalities suffered by women. It will ensure special privileges including reservations for the upliftment of women. It will rehabilitate the women engaged in prostitution and will provide them social recognition.
(xi) The state guarantees free education, nursing, health care, and security to all children. Also the state will strive to ensure that the children are reared in a democratic environment.
(xii) This state will ensure various forms of autonomy to all Adivasi communities for their full-fledged development and execute special policies accordingly.
(xiii) It will unite the country on the basis of equal dignity of the nationalities recognizing their right of self-determination, including the right to secession. It will establish a voluntary union of People’s Democratic Federal Republics of India.
(xiv) It will put an end to all social inequalities based on religion and to the persecution of religious minorities. It will execute special policies for their socio-economic development. It will ensure the genuine secularism of the state and will prevent the use of religion for political purposes. It will put an end to the interference of the state in religious affairs. It will guarantee personal freedom to believe and not to believe religion. This state will encourage a scientific and rationalist outlook to eradicate superstition and blind faith and will oppose all types of religious fundamentalism.
(xv) It will establish the revolutionary new democratic culture in place of the decadent feudal, colonial and imperialist culture, and on this basis, broadens the path of socialist culture. It will continue its march in the direction of realizing communist culture.
(xvi) It will abolish the present educational system and in its place it will introduce a scientific democratic and socialist mass educational system for all by linking it with production in accordance with the needs of democratic India.
(xvii) The state will give equal status to the languages of all the nationalities. It will help in the development of languages without scripts. It will not impose any language on other nationalities in the name of national language or link language or in any other form.
(xviii) It will move towards the elimination of the regional imbalances through special efforts to develop the backward regions. It will resolve amicably, the issues amongst the nationalities like sharing of river water, state borders etc.
(xix) The new state will establish people’s political power through revolutionary people’s committees, and people’s governing councils at all levels, according to and on the basis of a People’s Democratic Constitution. Every citizen reaching the age of 18 years, except the arch reactionaries, shall have the right to elect, to be elected and to recall the elected representatives at all levels. It will ensure democratic rights to all people, such as right to speech, to assemble, to association including the right to strike and demonstration. It will ensure this right of the masses in exercising their control over the state power and resist any attempt to belittle this right.
(xx) It will implement a just judicial process and system with the purpose of rectifying all on the basis of a progressive, democratic and people’s oriented outlook.
(xxi) It will arm the people for the country’s defence. It will re-settle the families of the martyrs and soldiers of the PLA according to their need and give them land.
(xxii) It will provide appropriate economic and social security and healthy socio-cultural environment to the physically handicapped, the mentally handicapped, the aged and orphans, eunuchs and all others suffering from disabilities. It will also introduce a mass oriented medical system that will ensure good health and free treatment for all, particularly for workers and peasants and other toiling people.
(xxiii) This state will try its best to peacefully and fairly settle border, water and other disputes with neighbouring countries and will develop friendly relations with them. This state will never exert any expansionist behaviour with the neighbouring countries.
(xxiv) This state will follow the five principles in its relation with the countries having different social systems-mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; non-interference in each other internal affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence.
(xxv) This People’s Democratic State will establish unity with the international proletariat and the oppressed nations of the world; opposes imperialist war and aggression, bullying, subversion and interference etc. It will support and help by all means the revolutionary struggles and revolutionary war, especially the ongoing struggles under the leadership of various Maoist revolutionary forces against capitalism, imperialism and reaction the world over. After the victory of the revolution new democratic, and later, socialist India will act as a Base in order to facilitate the victory of the world socialist revolution. It will closely integrate with the revolutionary and Maoist forces and their struggles in South Asia in particular, keeping in view the historical relations of India with the people of the sub-continent.
35. Our party is placing the programme of New Democratic Revolution of India before the people and dedicates itself to this great revolutionary cause. It sets to itself the task of achieving socialism. Our ultimate goal is communism. After the People’s Democratic Revolution, the production relations will be revolutionized step by step, in the process of removing the class distinction between exploiter and the exploited. It will continue the efforts to eradicate Brahminical ideology, caste oppression and discrimination by promoting a scientific socialistic outlook. It will continue to move forward by continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat and thereby continue to consolidate the socialist society as a strong base area for the world proletarian revolution. This socialist state will be the dictatorship of the proletariat, which will guarantee democracy for the vast majority of the people while exercising dictatorship on the handful of the exploiters. There will be classes, class contradictions and class struggles even in socialist society, in accordance with the principles of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism of uninterruptedly continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat. It will continue to advance the proletarian cultural revolution and through it fight and defeat every attempt by imperialism, modern revisionism and capitalist roaders to restore capitalism. Through this process, it will continue the struggle against any deformities introduced in the socialist system especially against bureaucracy and, thereby, continue to ensure that people participate in the state and are not alienated from either socialist state or the proletarian party. It will have to creatively eliminate the remaining inequalities and solve the contradictions that exist within socialist society and, in the process, move towards the elimination of class society and, thereby, the withering away of the state, i.e. towards communism on a world scale.
This party pledges to fulfill its duty of putting an end to the endless misery and suffering of crores of our beloved people by completing the people’s democratic revolution. It further pledges to follow class line and mass line in every respect and be ever vigilant towards the conspiracies and nefarious intrigues of the imperialists and modern revisionists and march forward to ultimately abolish exploitation and oppression by continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat and marching forward to socialism and then communism on a world scale.
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