The chairman of the proscribed KYKL N Oken takes a critical look at the state of “revolutionary movements” and initiates a debate on ideology and tactics.
TFM Desk
The chairman of the proscribed KYKL N Oken has offered revolutionary greetings to revolutionary organizations, peoples, civil society organizations, public leaders, intellectuals, and the media fraternity across WESEA on the occasion of its 28th raising day that falls on April 25.
While lauding the efforts put up by front-line healthcare providers on battling the Covid-19 first and second waves, the KYKL chief raises few points for discussion with Kanglei people and all concerned people about the present situation of “Kanglei people” and “revolutionary movement”.
In a message released to the media on Sunday, the KYKL chairman said, “It is not an exaggeration to state that the revolutionary movement in our society has reached its nadir. The notion of revolution now seems to be non-existent in the consciousness of Kangleichas. People’s faith in the cause has waned, and fewer people now believe in revolution. Even those few people we think are committed to the cause have begun to reluctantly withdraw from their commitment and self-belief”.
According to the statement issued by the proscribed group, N Oken said that those who are opposed to the liberation movement are now engaged in “anti-revolutionary activities in record numbers” and “with no fear”. He said Manipur is “critically reliant on the hand-outs of Indian imperial masters” and as a result, many have come to believe that “backing Indian colonialism in order to get monetary gain is the correct and sensible option”.
N Oken lamented the fact that people seem to have forgotten the importance of protecting “national identity while struggling for survival”. “Those who are concerned for the nation and the people have been called fools, while those who do not care about the country, society, or their people have been dubbed wise and normal people who understand the law and norms of the society”, he said.
The KYKL chief said that “revolutionary groups and revolutionaries in Kangleipak are falling apart. The majority of revolutionary cadres have no qualms about quitting the struggle; it has become a way of life for the revolutionary class. Anti-revolutionary views, such as failing to believe in the revolution, lack of trusting their own people, disillusionment in a better future, giving in to the enemy as the correct act, prioritizing self-interest, and seeking the easiest way to meet the end have undoubtedly taken roots in most revolutionary cadres”
He said that Manipur has reached a point in history when those who continue to fight for revolution can be seen as “insane”. Worse than individual cadres abandoning the party is the formation of a trend in which revolutionary organizations as a whole have abandoned the struggle in the name of peace and development by “engaging in peace talks with the enemy”. “This is just a liquidationist act intended to annihilate the movement”, he added.
In the last 1950s/60s, the WESEA region had witnessed organizations leaving revolutionary movements through peace talks and this had been “a chronic, incurable disease for the region” since 1964. In the pretext of peace talks, many of the leading WESEAN “revolutionary organizations had already abandoned the movement”. Organizations in Kangleipak, “have not yet embarked on this disastrous course” but witnessed a new trend in which “many opportunists” have formed factional groups in order to abandon the cause”. “They have attracted revolutionary cadres by promising them big opportunities. Former revolutionary cadres who had surrendered to the enemy had even been re-recruited. Moreover, sympathizers have been enticed to become active members of their organizations by promising them government jobs”, alleged the KYKL chief.
One of the primary reasons for the surrender to the enemy by those who want to quit the movement has to do with the wrong perspective from which they view the movement. Their idea is that the movement is stepping backwards because it has not been able to garner mass support, and that it will never win, so the best to move forward is to abandon it. A lack of critical thinking is behind this idea, N Oken said.
He pointed out, “We cannot simply take people’s aversion to revolutionary movement and hatred of the revolutionary people as something inborn since the day they were born. Neither can the increasing power of colonial masters be taken as the major reason for people’s non-participation in the movement. Many factors will contribute to the challenging social conditions in which the revolutionary movement moves south”.
N Oken listed few significant reasons for the revolutionary movement’s downward drive. He said “most of our leaders’ inability to follow Che Guevara’s revolutionary principle that revolutionaries should behave like ascetics in the last 30/40 years; a slew of anti-revolutionary acts committed during the revolutionary movement to deal with the challenges encountered; incorrect mass leadership methods; non-revolutionary method to forging relationships between the masses and revolutionary cadres; and lack of ideological indoctrination among new members of the organizations”.
The KYKL chief pointed out that while the set goals are correct, the practice has disempowered the people and this has led to expediting “Indian colonialists’ plan to totally infringe on people’s power”. He rued that rather than equipping the masses with revolutionary consciousness, Kanglei revolutionary organizations focused all their efforts on strengthening their respective organizations. To make their goal of swaying people’s consciousness a reality, the mass based organizations became fragmented, and many cultural norms were distorted, resulting in the breakdown of the collective Kanglei identity and consciousness. Moreover, the situation has expedited the breakdown of societal moral and behavioral fabric, which has been imbued with our uniqueness. It has imposed a value on the people and instead of elevating people’s consciousness to stand on their own two feet by fostering unity among them and establishing their own economy, the “Kanglei revolutionary organizations encouraged people to rely on them, and Indian leaders, much like Indian colonial rulers did”, N Oken argued.
The rise of vile culture, such as the transformation of Yaosang donation into a business and the thronging of people at the gates of ministers/MLAs to beg for money, is equally the responsibility of Kanglei revolutionary organizations, the KYKL chief pointed out. Rather than aiming to make people more free and human, “we have mould their thoughts to become even more dependent beings. Corruption and injustice are rooted in society as a result of revolutionary groups’ anti-revolutionary practices. It is certainly true that they have engaged in many sorts of corruption, injustice, and wrongdoings to encourage party supporters and build their base in society, he said.
“In addition, numerous instances of injustice have been committed in the guise of bringing justice. They acted as counsels for the wrongdoers while sitting in a judge’s chair. Thus, revolutionary organizations and supporters play a critical role in shaping our current society, which is marked by a lack of social justice. We have never fully applied the political, organizational, and leadership method of the mass line, in which we learn from the masses and interpret what we learn via Marxism-Leninism to re-connect with the people so that the masses and revolutionaries can build an inseparable relationship”, said N Oken.
He alleged that on countless occasions, the revolutionaries had oppressed the masses for no apparent reason. They are yet to realize the revolutionary principle of revolutionary people serving as ideal figures for the masses” he said.
“The task of transforming new members into real revolutionaries is still not on the correct track. One of the causes of issues related to maintaining party discipline, organizational instability, and frequent party splits, among other things, is this incorrect method of imparting correct revolutionary doctrines to the new party members”, the chief of the proscribed KYKL said.
N Oken argued that there are many more non-revolutionary practices in addition to those listed here. There are also a number of flaws in the way organizational structures are built. It is not an attribute of a revolutionary to come to the conclusion that the revolutionary movement must be abandoned and capitulated to the enemy if the movement moves backwards, rather than sorting out all of these mistaken ideas and practices in order to form a new type of revolutionary party based on correct revolutionary principles. This is a staunchly anti-revolutionary position.
“We must not, in any case, act in this manner. It is never too late to turn a revolutionary movement around in the correct direction. A revolutionary movement that is on the correct path cannot be stopped”, he asserted.
N Oken argued that the annihilation of the revolutionary movement has grave consequences for the indigenous people of the region. “It may be stated that we, the indigenous peoples of the region, are rushing towards extinction. It is the epochal task of true revolutionaries and revolutionary organizations to ensure the organizations’ continuity and consistency, and re-invigorate in order to safeguard the people from such catastrophic situations. Many lives and generations may have been lost in the process of completing this historic task. Several revolutionary efforts have been recorded as taking a long time to win throughout human history”, he said.
He also took a dig at people or organizations that join revolutionary movements when the situation is advantageous to the movement but join the enemy when the circumstance is unfavorable to the movement are argued that they are not revolutionaries or revolutionary organizations.
“Given the objective conditions in the WESEA region, we must continue the revolutionary struggle and remain consistent in our commitment to the cause”, N Oken said.
He also stated that although Hijam Irabot’s followers had surrendered to the Indian political structure, “he never kowtowed to his enemies, but instead lived in juggles and rugged terrains until the end of his life. After his death 12 years later, a few of his followers set up a revolutionary organization that carried on the Kanglei revolutionary movement to this day”, he said.
“Our generation now has to follow his footsteps and uphold his revolutionary ideals. It is an undeniable objective reality substantiated by both internal and external conditions that if we launch a revolutionary movement in Kangleipak without disrupting the historical trajectory of revolutionary movements in this region, the movement will spread like wildfire throughout the entire WESEA region in no time. The above viewpoints have been presented to all revolutionaries and Kanglei people for further debate and discussion regarding its precincts, viability, correctness, incorrectness, and limitations”, the KYKL chief concluded.