The birth centenary year of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, Founder General Secretary of our Party, SUCI (Communist), an outstanding Marxist philosopher and thinker of the era, a revolutionary freedom fighter belonging to the uncompromising trend of the Indian freedom movement and the great leader of the proletariat commenced from 5 August, 2022. By studying the non-Marxist role of the undivided CPI during the freedom struggle, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh realized that its party formation was not based on Marxist methodology and hence it failed to develop as a real communist party. In absence of such a communist party, emancipation of people from the yoke of oppressive capitalist rule by the bourgeois class that was going to be saddled in state power after the British imperialists would quit India, would not be achieved. As a result the dream of the freedom fighters as well as Indians’ longing for freedom would remain unfulfilled. Therefore, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, at a young age, took upon himself the historic task of building up a real proletarian revolutionary party on the Indian soil based on correct understanding of Marxism-Leninism and Leninist model. And in course of a prolonged arduous heroic struggle, he, along with a handful of his revolutionary compatriots, built, reared and steered the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) as the real revolutionary party of India based on higher proletarian culture, ethics and morality. Through this noble and historic struggle, he concretized Marxism-Leninism in the concrete situation of India, elaborated and developed it in all directions and brought its understanding to a new height. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh Thought is the most enriched understanding of Marxism-Leninism in the contemporary world.
In course of his arduous life struggle to concretize Marxism-Leninism on the Indian soil and build up the SUCI(Communist) as the correct revolutionary vanguard based on Leninist model and premised on higher proletarian culture, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh provided answer to all questions which had emerged in the period of decadent moribund, utterly corrupt and reactionary capitalism and thereby brought the understanding of this scientific philosophy to a new height. Already in the late forties he was first in the world to point out with grave concern the tendency of mechanical thought process as against dialectical thought process in the world communist movement, and later called attention to the revisionist line of the Khrushchevite leadership, defended the greatness of Stalin as a Marxist stalwart against the all out revisionist attacks, outlined the reasons and factors that might lead to collapse of socialism, defined the economic, political and cultural traits of fascism which, he held, was the general feature in all imperialist-capitalist countries in the post-Second World War situation. Apart from that he outlined the path of fighting the menace of individualism and showed that in today’s context, acquiring the character of a true communist presupposes complete identification of personal interest with social interest. He also delineated the communist code of conduct in the present era and outlined the style of work of the communists. Besides he had shown how the modern scientific discoveries have been confirming and enriching dialectical materialism. In the process, he historically appeared as a giant Marxist authority in the finest continuation of Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin-Mao Zedong. It is this enriched understanding of Marxism-Leninism, provided by the teachings of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh that constitute the beacon light to guide us, to guide revolutionary movements in the modern-day complexities along the correct path. Today, when people in our country and all over the globe are yearning for emancipation from the ever more unbearable oppression let loose by capitalism-imperialism and yet are pushed into ever deeper slavery, in fact when the entire civilization is in the grip of unprecedented crisis, we firmly believe that cultivation of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh’s thoughts would illumine the path to socialist revolution. Though our party is growing unabatedly throughout the country despite media blackout and all round opposition while other parties are splintering up, yet we still have not been able to bring home and spread Comrade Shibdas Ghosh’s teaching to embrace the entire people in our country, yet spreading Comrade Shibdas Ghosh’s thoughts and teachings far and wide and bringing these home to people have become an urgent revolutionary necessity and foremost task. In the endeavour to carry out that revolutionary task with utmost dedication lies the significance of observance of his birth anniversary.
The crisis ridden capitalist class of our country, as a part of the decadent moribund world capitalist-imperialist system, is launching one after another fascist autocratic attack on the toiling people. Apart from the attacks in the economic and political spheres, they are trying to destroy the very human essence by promoting religious backwardness, obscurantism, divisive communal-casteist-parochial fanaticism as well as an irrational and unscientific bent of mind. Thus, they are crippling the masses from within and ensuring that the dreams of the pioneers of Indian Renaissance and freedom fighters remain unrealized. Further, they are destroying the moral backbone of the younger generation by incessant fomenting of obscenity, drug-addiction, sex-perversion and other anti-life thoughts as well as an aimless desperateness. Bereft of ethical-moral values, they are being turned into criminals and anti-socials so that they could be exploited as pawns in implementing the sinister fascistic design of the ruling capitalism. We are to defeat all these attacks of reactionary, utterly corrupt and dying capitalism and its henchmen with the mighty ideological weapon provided by Marxism-Leninism-Comrade Shibdas Ghosh Thought, and by organizing powerful class and mass struggle across the country.
It is in this background that the Central Committee of our Party has decided to undertake a yearlong programme of observance of his birth centenary. The inaugural programme of the centenary celebration was held on 5 August, 2022 at Pyarelal Bhawan Auditorium, Delhi, at 11am. The programme amid continuous rain began with rendition of the song composed on Comrade Shibdas Ghosh. Then Comrade Provash Ghosh, beloved General Secretary of our Party, inaugurated the programme by hoisting the Red Flag. He also inaugurated an exhibition of quotations and photos of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh. Then Comrades Provash Ghosh followed by Asit Bhattacharyya, Satyawan, Saumen Basu and Swapan Ghosh, all Polit Bureau members, as well as other Central Committee members present there paid floral tribute to Comrade Shibdas Ghosh. In the meeting that followed thereafter, Comrade Asit Bhattacharyya, veteran Polit Bureau member of our Party, was the main speaker while Comrade Satyawan, Polit Bureau member, presided over the meeting.
Comrade Asit Bhattacharyya discussed at length in an emotional voice the life struggle of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh. He said that Comrade Shibdas Ghosh left his home at a very early age to join in the anti-imperialist movement. He became a member of ‘Anushilan Samiti’, a revolutionary organization. He was jailed for taking part in Quit India movement of 1942. After coming out of the jail he kept up an unparalleled painstaking struggle, spanning several years, to found the SUCI(Communist) in 1948, when he was only 25 years old. His struggle made him the natural leader of those who were older in age than him, and some of whom had even been his leaders earlier. Building a communist party in a vast country like India was not an easy task. Nobody knew him or his comrades-in-arms. The undivided CPI enjoyed the support of the international communist leadership. The CPI leaders bantered him, ridiculed him by saying that if SUCI(C) was a party, then a bat was also to be considered as a bird. He had patiently ignored the banters and steadfastly pursued his mission.
When his well-wishers cautioned him out of love that his future would be doomed if he did not discard this impossible task, he firmly replied he could not abandon truth which he had understood based on Marxist ideology. He also said that if he failed, he would at least lay a brick of the foundation of Indian communist movement. When some of them requested to join the CPI and rectify it to become a real communist party, he told that a social-democratic party cannot be reformed into a proletarian class party i.e., a communist party like this. That was unscientific and hence a utopian thinking. With undaunted spirit to spearhead the emancipation struggle of the toiling millions, Comrade Shibdas Ghosh contributed much to the treasure house of Marxism -Leninism and laid great emphasis on higher proletarian culture, ethics and morality. Time and again he said, ours is a capitalist country and the proletariat class under the leadership of a genuine communist party must smash this capitalist state and establish socialism, free from all sorts of exploitation and oppression of man by man. Comrade Shibdas Ghosh conducted a unique struggle against individualism. He showed that at its decadent moribund stage, capitalism is encouraging ugly individualism to disrupt the process of developing unity of oppressed people for a common cause and against a common enemy. Comrade Ghosh, therefore, released an unprecedented struggle against bourgeois individualism which is making inroads even into the characters of the cadres of the communist movement since all are coming from the bourgeois society and living in it. Comrade Asit Bhattacharyya urged the comrades to continue the struggle against individualism in our Party. Explaining in detail the nature of fascist attacks of the central BJP government following the path of previous Congress governments, Comrade Bhattacharyya highlighted the teachings of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh to fight fascism politically, culturally, philosophically and urged upon the people to come forward and rise up to the occasion to build up mighty class and mass struggles to overthrow capitalism by revolution.
Comrade Satyawan, Polit Bureau member, in his presidential address, explained the cardinal points of the speech of Comrade Asit Bhattacharyya in Hindi. He also drew attention to the success achieved by recent historic peasant movement proving that united organized prolonged and unwavering struggle can force the despotic rulers to bend. Such struggles if held under a correct revolutionary leadership would be irresistible and invincible. Inauguration programmes were held in other states throughout the country with great devotion and solemnity.
