The CPI(ML) Central Committee’s Message to the Entire Party on the Occasion of the 34th Anniversary of the Party’s Foundation

Dear Comrades,
This April 22 as we observe the 34th anniversary of the foundation of our Party, the attention of the whole world is focused on the future of Iraq. Over the last twelve years and particularly over the last few weeks we have seen how a third world country which had won independence after a long period of colonial rule and which had successfully consolidated its national unity and national economy by nationalising and developing its most key resource – oil – has been subjected to systematic imperialist loot, plunder and destruction. Millions of Iraqi men, women and children have been slaughtered and maimed, the civilian and military infrastructure of the country has been thoroughly damaged and destroyed and now the very unity and integrity of Iraq is seriously at stake.
What was Iraq’s crime? Its first crime was that it had managed to get rid of British colonial domination and nationalise its oil industry. Then, it had played a key role in organising the oil exporting countries as a powerful economic bloc, which in turn posed a big challenge to the economic hegemony of the United States. And in recent years it had dared defy the dictates of American imperialism. Even twelve years of severe economic sanctions and systematic UN-sponsored destruction of its weapons had failed to subdue the spirit of Iraqi defiance.
Iraq is clearly not an isolated case. It has just been preceded by a similar war on Afghanistan. Iraq was probably the weakest among the three countries Bush had mentioned as ‘the axis of evil’, the other two countries being Iran and North Korea. More and more countries are now being threatened with every passing day. Syria, Libya, Jordan, Venezuela – the list is getting longer and longer. By invading and occupying Iraq, American imperialists not only want to plunder Iraq’s oil and control the global oil economy, they want to establish a new international order wherein the US will enjoy the ‘right’ to invade and occupy any country and restructure any region according to its own wishes and interests.
The question that must now be haunting every Indian who values the independence of the country is whether India can consider herself safe in this emerging international context. The answer is a big NO. The plunder of our natural, human and financial resources has already reached an alarming level. In partnership with their Indian collaborators, foreign multinationals are increasingly dominating every sphere of the Indian economy from agriculture, mining and industry to banking, insurance and communications and information technology. Equally striking is the tightening American grip on India’s defence and foreign policies. In the name of fighting global terrorism, mediating between India and Pakistan and facilitating a solution to the Kashmir dispute, Washington has already entrenched itself strategically in both Pakistan and India.
Yet the Indian ruling classes have chosen to effectively endorse the Anglo-American invasion and occupation of Iraq. Their only complaint is why the Americans are not targeting Pakistan in a similar fashion. Instead of resolving all outstanding disputes with Pakistan through bilateral discussion, the Indian rulers want American intervention to deal with Pakistan. Tomorrow, these people will invite American troops inside India in the name of tackling domestic unrest. Already, the BJP-led NDA government has declared a brutal domestic war on the Indian working people and the minorities. When people are not being slaughtered in state-sponsored genocides and fake encounters, they are being left to die of starvation or driven to committing suicides in hundreds. The bonds of national unity and the potential of national resistance and progress are thus being systematically weakened and eroded.
Who will save the country from this growing national crisis? Who will punish these enemies of national independence and unity? Who will give a fitting rebuff to the fascists and imperialist agents? Who will revive the glorious anti-imperialist legacy of the Indian people? Who will lead the new battle for a strong and independent India? An India whose voice will lend courage and strength to even the weakest of all countries in defending its independence from the clutches of imperialist aggression? An India where the toiling millions will enjoy effective democracy and equitable development and whose unity will be reinforced by the free development of its diversity and multi-dimensional national identity?
The onus is on us. As soldiers of Indian revolution and heirs of our great martyrs, it is for us to take up this great challenge. Once again, every member of the CPI(ML) shall have to prove himself or herself worthy of being a member of the party of the Indian proletariat, the party of Indian revolution. Once again, every committee and branch of the CPI(ML) shall have to rise to the occasion.
To be sure, the situation is ripening for a new phase of communist advance. America might may have prevailed militarily over the beleaguered Saddam Hussein regime in a patently unequal war, but politically it is the Anglo-American alliance, and especially American imperialism, which is getting isolated and defeated in this war. The entire Arab world is seething with rage and a new wave of militant mass resistance against the US-Israel nexus is in the making. In fact, the whole world has witnessed an unprecedented mass awakening against war and imperialism and this carries the seeds of a powerful resurgence of the international communist movement. In India too, more and more people have started rising in protest against the barbaric onslaught of the fascist forces and the disastrous impact of the new industrial and agricultural policies.
Every major crisis in the history of capitalism has been marked by wars and the new century has already witnessed two wars or two episodes of an unfolding mega-war. But if imperia lism goes on producing a chain of crises and wars, can resistance and revolution be far behind?
On the 34th anniversary of the foundation of our great and glorious Party let us rededicate ourselves to the completion of our revolutionary task. Let us make every effort to strengthen and consolidate the Party in all its dimensions, because a strong and unified revolutionary party holds the key to every decisive step of advance.

Red Salute to our immortal martyrs!

Inquilab Zindabad!

CPI(ML) Zindabad!

With warm revolutionary greetings,

Central Committee,
CPI(ML)