Marxism and National Question in Afghanistan
Devoted to ICM
“What in essence is this democratic revolution? It is a peasant war led by the Communist Party, which intends to create a new state comprised of four classes to crush imperialism, the big bourgeoisie, and the landlords in order to fulfil its four tasks. The democratic revolution has a principal form of struggle: The People’s War, and a principal form of organization: the armed force, which is the solution to the land question, the national question, and the question of the destruction of the landlord bureaucratic state and the reactionary armed forces, the vertebral column that sustains it, in order to fulfill the political objective of building a new state, a state of new democracy, and to make the People’s Republic of New Democracy, advancing immediately to the socialist revolution. In synthesis, the democratic revolution is concretized by a peasant war led by the Communist Party; any other modality is only a service to the landlord bureaucratic state.”
Chairman Gonzalo
Marxism and National Question in Afghanistan
Marxist revolutionaries of Afghanistan have seen the national question, from the class point. This has been a differentiating point from that of a “national perspective” of revisionists. Revisionists in last five decades, either have undermined this question, or have overestimated it. Such undermining and over-estimation has risen from their non-class based analysis of the national question in Afghanistan. The national question, as Marxism teaches, has been a peasant’s question, in feudal, semi feudal, semi colonial/colonial countries. Afghanistan has been a semi colonial or a colony in last 150 years. This status began with English invasion in Afghanistan. People of Afghanistan waged three heroic wars against British colonialists. Under Amir Amanullah khan, our people achieved political and military victory over Britain, but, it did not last more than a decade, and by the end of ten years, first Habibulah Kalakani, then Nader Shah, again defeated the progressive current. Under Nader Shah, the process of emergence of a bureaucratic capitalism sided with the remnants of feudalism, and tailed after imperialism. So, Afghanistan appeared as a semi-feudal and semi colonial country, in which, a bureaucratic capitalism emerged. But, the process of emergence of this “capitalism” was too slow, and still Nader was ruling as a feudal monarch, rather than a bureaucrat one.
This document, mainly deals with the national question, which is essentially a peasants question in Afghanistan.
Our organization, however has issued many documents analyzing the national question in Afghanistan, but due to being almost all analysis in Persian, there is a need for issuing a document in English for ICM.
Revisionists and those with a low level of ideological knowledge have largely and falsely announced and argued that people of Afghanistan is a nation. The slogan “Afghan nation” was a combat weapon, by which the “Afghan Millat”(=Afghan nation) party, during the Zaher Shah king rule (son of Nader Shah) suppressed the other nationalities and national minorities. Monarchy also saw its tribal interest to defend such a reactionary agenda. But, Maoists, opposed such an agenda, and based in Marxist theory of what a nation is, argued that: people of Afghanistan, not only do not make a nation, but, this phrase, “the Afghan nation” is a combat weapon, by which the reactionaries have always suppressed the revolutionaries masses. Some sections of Mao-Tse-Tung Thought militants who had low theoretical knowledge, had also been victim of calling the people of Afghanistan, as Afghan Nation. But, for most of the Afghanistan Maoists, it was clear that we do not have the prerequisites for being a nation. Comrade Stalin’s great work, Marxism and the national Question, has always been a firm theoretical source of Maoists who argue the national question from a class point. To study the national oppression in Afghanistan, we do not have to underestimate the black attempts of royalty, who have always claimed that the Pashtun nationality, which is also called Afghans, are the majority of the population. But, this is only a political issue, and has no objective reality. Pashtun rule in Afghanistan, backed by imperialists and colonialists during most of the 20th century, never allowed a statistics for the ratio of the nationalities and the population. One statistics, which the UN also quotes, and is almost neglected by reactionary Chauvinistpashtun politicians, is the one which was done under rule of revisionist PDPA. PDPA regime, estimated the population of Pashtun nationality as being only 39% of the population. The revisionists abandoned the process of statistics for population, and they opposed the continuation of the case. Because, Taraki and Amin, two revisionist leaders of PDPA, were Pashtun, and they also had Chauvinist beliefs which did not allow for a real politics.
During Zaher Shah Rule, there was anon-Pashtun politician from Afghanistan, Taher Badakhshi, who also argued for being a Marxist, proposed a national scenario for Afghanistan. His current was labeled as “anti-national oppression current”. But, he did not propose his scenario based in Marxism. He was a petit bourgeois nationalist, who had a narrow-minded sectarian view of nationalities emancipation. He gave priority to the rights of national minorities than to the class struggle. So, his scenario was condemned and rejected by revolutionary forces of Afghanistan. Maoists argued that however Pashtuns do not seem to be the majority and the creation of the question of “minority” and “majority” has been a political trap of the reactionary ruling class to suppress the non-Pashtun masses, but, it is not just and revolutionary to impose nationalism. Marxism only argues for a class analysis of the national question. It is a reality that the ruling stratum of the Pashtun people have always suppressed the non-Pashtun masses, but, we do not have to forget that millions of Pashtun people are also suffering from class oppression of the feudal, and bureaucratic capitalism. All knows that the ruling Pashtuns have given many privileges to Pashtuns in distributing lands in non-Pashtun populated areas, mainly under Nader Shah, and Zaher Shah, but, we do not have to forget that still there are millions of poor Pashtuns without land and are poor peasants who are the real forces for a new democratic revolutions. So, revolutionary Maoists of Afghanistan rejected TaherBadakhshi’s thesis of “anti-national oppression”. This thesis was a sectarian, non-class orientation, which was mainly in favor of non-Pashtun reactionary feudals. So, “anti-oppression current” was truly labels by Maoists as a reactionary agenda, which saw the whole of Pashtun people as the enemy of other nationalities. Maoists argued that: Pashtun people are not reactionary in whole, and just a tiny stratum in power, which represent the interest of bureaucratic capital and land lords, are reactionaries. But, Maoists also pointed out that: the tricks of ruling stratum, attempts to deceive the Pashtun Poor masses, and use them as a combat weapon for suppressing other masses. In this scenario, the poor Pashtun, due to low level of political awareness, many times have been instrumental in suppressing non Pashtun masses, but, it is not right to target the Pashtun nationality as reactionary. We have to target the real enemy: Imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism and land lords.
The Jihadists, the so called freedom fighters of Ronald Regan, who were in favor of world imperialism, mainly Yanki imperialism, however coming with fake slogans of Islamic brotherhood, were deeply rooted in nationalist illusions. GulbuddinHekmatyar, as a PashtunJihaddistcomandante, was backed by Pakistani intelligence Service, and had US ties. His party, Islamic Party of Afghanistan, was mainly membered among Pashtuns. On the other side, Ahamd Shah Massoud, another Jihaddistcomandante, who was a non-Pashtun, and argued for a Tajik nationality, however claiming an Islam Identity, organized mainly Tajik fighters. Massoud was tied from one end to French imperialists, and from other end had ties with K.G.B.
Besides, after defeat of Jihaddists, and during Al-Qaida domination in Afghanistan, when Taliban group, ruled in large part of the country, Massoud’s relations with Russia and France was more than a “mystery”, and these two imperialist countries, supported the so called “national united front” under Massoud’s leadership. Massoud’s trip to Europe, which took place during his last year, which was warmly congratulated by imperialist regimes of western Europe, was another “democratic” pose, which this fascist genocidal comandante showed to the press.
General Ab. Rashid Dostum, a militia leader, who came from an Uzbek nationality of Afghanistan, is also a warlord, who falsely claims the rights of Uzbek people, but indeed, he is in favor of Uzbek reactionary land lords, and maintains the interests of Uzbek rich.
Abdul Ali Mazari, a Hazara ethnic religious leader of Shiete, who was also a Jihadi comandante, however claiming the rights of Hazaras, but had sprung from Theocratic Mullah regime of Iran, and was an enemy of the oppressed and poor masses. He was a feudal war lord, and was fighting for the benefit of the rich of Hazaras.
At least there are a dozens of Jihadist and religious leaders still alive who, after defeat of Soviet social imperialism in Afghanistan, are now abandoning religious slogans, and have slip towards nationalism of their own ethnicities. Indeed, they are abusing the national oppression scenario, and are just gaining prestige among their nationalities by deceiving them.
There are now illusions among some sections of unaware Pashtuns that GulbuddinHekmatyar, a PashtunComandante, is fighting the US led invasion. This is not true.
Gulbuddin, is the same as Massoud was. Massoud killed thousands of Maoists. Gulbuddin is also a fundamentalist extremist Islamist. Besides, He is a PushtonChauvenist, and is the same as King Zaher and King Nader in Chauvinism.
The revisionists, the Jihaddists, The Taliban and finally the puppet “Technocrats” team of Karzai- the puppet president of Islamic republic of Afghanistan- are all reactionary forces, who have nothing to say on national question, and instead, have managed a scenario of war of nationalities. Afghanistan is a country of a mosaic of nationalities. Instead of a nation, we have at least thirty ethnic groups, and four big nationalities.
Pashtuns, the largely dominant nationality: traitors like Gulbuddin( Islamist leader), Sayyaf(Islamist leader), Karzai( the current president of Afghanistan), Taraki (Leader of revisionist PDPA- khalq fraction and former president of Afghanistan) , Hafizullah Amin ( Another revisionist leader of PDPA-Khalq fraction who was for 90 days as president of Afghanistan), Mullah Omar (the leader of Taliban reactionary group) are among the most traitor individuals of Pashtun ethnicity who have deceived the Pashtuns and waged wars of suppression of other nationalities. They have killed millions of innocent people of Afghanistan, and are all with their respective parties, war criminals.
Tajik: another significant and big nationality of Afghanistan.
Traitors and Islamic criminals such as BurhanuddinRabbani (former president of Afghanistan before the rule of Taliban), Ahmad Shah Massoud( An Islamist extremist who killed mainly the maoist fighters in non-Pashtun areas), UstadAttah ( Governor of Balkh Province, and one of the prominent leaders of Jihadists of Tajik ethnicity). Such individuals all do not represent the interests of Tajik ethnicity of Afghanistan. Rather, they are the killers of the progressive forces of Afghanistan.
Uzbeks: another significant and big nationality of Afghanistan
General Dostum, an Uzbek Militia, who even has not finished the school in a well manner, had been “appointed” as a military General by former president of Jihadist regime, SibghatullahMujadidi. He was honored for contributing with Jihaddists in overthrowing PDPA regime.
Hazara: Another significant and big nationality of Afghanistan.
Abdul Ali Mazari (founder of Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan), the leader who ordered the genocidal of Pashtun and non HazaraPopulation. He acted as an agent of Shiite regime of Iran.
Mohaqiq (another religious fascist leader of Islamic Unity party of Afghanistan)
Khalili (another fascist from Hazar ethnicity, who is now, the vice president of Hamid Karzai, and shares the fake regime of puppets under the military occupation)
As you read, the above traitors have been the enemies of the people of Afghanistan.
There are some other Organization, as clandestine or semi-clandestine, who however claiming to be anti-Jihaddist and non-islamists, but are in service of US imperialism and other western powers. They are serving for bureaucratic comprador bourgeoisie. They have not condemned the NATO led invasion in Afghanistan, and have sided with Hamid Karzai. RAWA (Revolutionary Organization of the Women of Afghanistan) is one of such forces. RAWA finally gave up, abandoned clandestine “struggle” and under Karzai’s power, celebrated “8March” in Kabul. This organization also participated in elections of provincial councils of the puppet regime. RAWA is essential the Women’s branch of Afghanistan Liberation Organization. ALO is a Teng Hsiao Pengist organization, who had emerged based in Three worlds Theory. Its leader, DR. Faiz Ahmad was the founder of Afghan economism. He gave up revolutionary struggle and rejected the People’s War strategy in favor of armed struggle. Today, Afghanistan Liberation Organization, sides with Yanki imperialism, and has no opposition with puppet presidential elections in Afghanistan.
Our organization has always condemned RAWA and ALO. They are the organizations which serve for bureaucratic comprador regime of Hamid Karzai, and they have sold their country in political struggle for imperialism.
Karzai is a Hero for US imperialism. So, he also has been a Hero for ALO and its women’s branch, RAWA.
Massoud is a Hero for French imperialism, so, Jihaddists admire him!
Gulbuddin is a Hero for imperialists and Pakistan reactionary state, so Chauvenistsamong Pashtuns back him, not all of the Pashtuns.
Abdul Ali Mazari is a Hero for Iran Islamists and Jihadists of Hazara. But not for the oppressed masses.
Dostum is a Hero for Uzbekistan and landlords of Uzbeks of Afghanistan, not for the oppressed masses of Uzbeks.
The real Hero of Afghanistan, the hero of the masses, who led the revolutionary process of the toiling masses of Afghanistan, is comrade AkramYari. Akramyari was ethincally a Hazara. He came from a Hazara
The main form of struggle in Afghanistan is the people’s war, and the main form of organization, is people’s Liberation Army, and these two weapons, paves the way for a national emancipation, for the democratic revolution, and for waging a protracted struggle for a New Democratic republic of Afghanistan.
Our organization has always celebrated the rich culture of our oppressed masses. We have always congratulated Nawrooz(the Persian feast of New Year) only for the toiling masses, and not for warlords, and not for reactionary ruling classes.
This document, which coincides the national festival of spring season and Nowrooz (the first day of the year), is a continuation of our last year’s celebration. We have already put a Nowrooz congratulation in favor of oppressed masses in our website. Every year we have congratulated Nowrooz for the oppressed. This year, we again congratulate it for the millions of peasants, who claim that: Nowrooz is the peasants day. It is a day, which announces the beginning of a new year, and the beginning of spring. So, this day, is a symbol of toiling masses who serve the country. This is why, Nawrooz, from almost a hundred years ago, has also been called as the Day of Celebration of the Peasantry.
Let the national question, as Marxism has always taught, be the peasants struggle for emancipation, and for New Democratic Revolution.
No to all reactionary “representatives” of the ethnicities of Afghanistan
No to Chauvinism of traitors of Pashtuns(and not the masses of Pashtun) and Sectarian-narrow-minded nationalism of non-Pashtun traitor leaders (and not the masses of non- Pashtuns)
People of Afghanistan are a united fist!
Do not part! Unite and defeat imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism and feudalism!
Organization of the Workers of Afghanistan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, principally Maoist)
March 25, 2013