Comrade Mao Tsetung unleashed the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in 1965 as a powerful revolutionary weapon for the comprehensive struggle against the capitalist roaders within the Communist Party of China. By the time of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956, the capitalist roaders in it under the leadership of Khrushchev had usurped the leadership in the party and state, and turned the socialist Soviet Union in to a social imperialist power. Mao unleashed the GPCR based on his evaluation of this bitter experience in the Soviet Union. He pointed out that the central challenge confronted by the communist parties in the countries where the proletariat and its allies had captured the political power is how to advance the class struggle there under the proletarian dictatorship. To take up this challenge, while the socialist transformation in the economic base is carried forward, in complementary to it and as its guiding ideology, continuous revolutionization of the cultural super-structure should be carried forward. This was the message of the GPCR. It asserted that only by waging continuous revolutionary struggle against the pre-capitalist and capitalist ideology the socialism that was built up could be consolidated and uninterrupted socialist transformation could be carried forward.
It was by taking lessons from this revolutionary concept of Mao, the communist revolutionaries who came up in the 1960s and 1970s took various initiatives for advancing the struggle for re-moulding the style of thinking as part of the struggle for capture of political power. It was as a part of these ideological-cultural initiatives, in 1972 comrades KNR, CK Soman and others launched the Mass Line Publications from Kottayam, Kerala.
By this time the activities of the Kerala state committee of the CPI (ML) were almost suppressed. Most of the activists were arrested and in jail. As far as the activists who were active outside were concerned there was lack of clarity on the setbacks suffered by the communist movement internationally and in India, and on the questions of party-reorganization. The Mass Line was launched in order to help the ongoing process of communist re-building.
First Phase: Mass Line Publications began by the end of 1972 with the publication of the Malayalam translation of Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow which KNR had already translated. Following this, in a span of two and half years till th declaration of emergency in June 1975, about 25 books were published. They included translations of articles from Marxist classics including Mao’s writings, Cultural Revolution in China by Joan Robinson, Marx to Mao by George Thomson, Biography of Hochimin and books on Vietnam revolution, Sun Shines over River Sangkhan, a Chinese novel written in th background of agrarian revolution there, Song of Oyang Hai ( publish with the title Viplava Gadha), a Chinese novel written in the background of Cultural Revolution and People’s Communes, etc. These books were sold through Janatha Book Stall, Pala. Book stalls were organized during temple festivals. Using contacts in the Library movement books were sold to libraries also. Within this period these publications played a major role in helping the ongoing ideological struggle in the communist movement. The initiative started using the left over from KNR’s savings from his engineering service and contributions from sympathizers grew up fast. At the time when emergency was declared about Rs 2 lakhs worth of books were shifted to a safe shelter and these books became extremely useful in 1978 when KNR came out on bail and re-started the publication activities.
Second Phase: The second phase of MLP started in 1983 when KNR took over the responsibility of Kerala. It was re-started as ‘Janakeeya Prasidheekarana Kendram’. During this phase the first, second and third volumes of selected writings of Mao were translated and published. Other published works included P Krishana Pilla’s work on Women’s Liberation. After a lull, the publication of the Great Debate documents and Comintern documents were published from Kollam under the initiative of com RK. These publications played a role in almost transforming the state committee as an alternative political power in the state.
Third Phase: Following the negative developments in the state committee in 2003, though the MLP also weakened, a number of booklets were published this phase till the end of this decade.
Fourth Phase: From the time of the Bhopal Special Conference of 2009, along with the development of CPI(ML) Red Star, there was spurt in the publication field also up to the time of the time of the 12th Party Congress in 2022. Not only in the name of MLP, but also under the banner of Red Star Publications, many books were published including the voluminous work, Imperialism in the neo-colonial phase by com PJ James were published.
Fifth Phase: Once the decision to hold the 12th Congress of the Red Star at Kozhikode in Kerala in September, 2022, was taken a three member committee including comrades Kabeer, Provint and Salim was constituted to revive the MLP activities with headquarters at Triprayar, Thrissur, to bring out 10 books by the time of the Party Congress. But due to many reasons only one book: From Kerala Model to Nava Kerala could be published. After the 12th Party Congress this committee was re-constituted including KNR, Sivaraman, Provint, Salim and Saran, with com K Sivaraman as its co-ordinator, with the Triprayar office retained as its headquarters.
Speeding up its activities, the MLP published the auto-biographical work of KNR, Pioneering Voyage of an Indian Communist in English in two volumes, the first volume released on 28 July, 2023 at Thiruvananthapuram and second volume on 9th September at Chennai. Its Malayalam translation, Communist prasthanathi ezhu pathittandukal, was released on 31st May at Thrissur. Large number of comrades and friends attended the release programs and following discussions. Another English book by KNR, A Century of the Indian Communist Movement is being reeased on 16th November, 2024, when the website of the MLP also shall be released followed by a discussion on the book. The MLP committee has plans to bring out a number of books in English and Malayalam including collection of articles on ecological catastrophe, women’s Liberation etc apart from Dialectics of Nature by Engels. The perspective of the MLP is to bring out books to help the ideological struggle to strengthen the communist movement at all spheres in the present critical situation.
Internationally the imperialist system in the neocolonial phase is confronting ever intensifying degeneration and crises. For survival, on the one hand, it is utilizing the artificial intelligence (AI) like new technologies; on the other hand it is strengthening neo-fascism using religious fundamentalism like revanchist ideas as its theoretical basis, and spreading local wars and Islamo-phoebia. The entire burden of imperialist crisis is shifted to the shoulders of the oppressed masses.
At this critical juncture the communist movement has become stagnant at all levels, becoming incapable of confronting these grave challenges. In our country, India, at national level and in every states, while the challenge from neo-liberal plunder and neo-fascism is mounting, the parliamentary left forces reduced to class collaboration and social democracy are compromising with the neo-fascist forces and preparing ground for their growth.
The only revolutionary alternative before the oppressed masses and the revolutionary left forces is to strive for strengthening the independent left assertion by putting forward the communist alternative as Mao taught. The significance of the Cultural Revolution should be seen in this context. So also, the significance of bringing out publications as sharp weapons to spread the message of revolutionary praxis and the Cultural Revolution should be viewed.
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