Statement on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Martyrdom
of Siraj Sikder
2 January 2000
By the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement
2 January 2000 represents the twenty-fifth anniversary of a dastardly
act - the killing of comrade Siraj Sikder at the hands of the anti-people
Bangladeshi regime, led at the time by Sheikh Mujib. The reactionary
classes of Bangladesh hated and feared Siraj Sikder because he was
the founder and leader of the Purba Banglar Sharbohara Party (the
Proletarian Party of Purba Bangla or PBSP), which in the few turbulent
years of the early 1970s had emerged as a party capable of arousing
the masses and challenging the rule of imperialism, feudalism and
bureaucrat capitalism. Siraj Sikder symbolised a different future
for Bangladesh and its teeming millions - the future of new-democratic
revolution and the eventual advance to socialism and communism.
Because of this, the oppressors could not tolerate Siraj Sikder
alive, even in captivity. For this reason, he was executed without
even the pretence of a trial, and the president of the country publicly
boasted in parliament of this cowardly act.
Comrade Sikder recognised the historic importance of the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution and learned from the Naxalbari movement of neighbouring
India. He led a fierce struggle against revisionism, which had previously
dominated the communist movement in Bangladesh. Siraj Sikder was
killed at a young age but he had already made important contributions
in linking Marxism-Leninism-Maoism with the particular conditions
of Bangladesh. He made serious efforts to analyse the particularities
of the country from the Maoist standpoint and with the goal of initiating,
sustaining and developing the people's war that will alone lead
to the liberation of the people of Bangladesh. He gave great attention
to how some of the features of Bangladesh, such as its vast and
dense population and its geographical character as a river delta
(in which much of the land is submerged during the rainy season)
could be used to overcome some of the country's unfavourable features,
such as its essentially flat terrain and relatively small surface
area (which facilitates the enemy's ability to quickly mobilise
a superior force to try to encircle and suppress the revolutionary
forces).
Siraj Sikder symbolises daring: daring to take on the responsibility
of forming a vanguard party with nothing less than the total liberation
of the people and the eventual achievement of communism as its goal;
daring to initiate armed struggle; and daring to develop a political
line even if it appeared to differ from some of the policies that
other, more experienced, Maoist parties had been following. Siraj
Sikder dared to put the PBSP, at the time still in its infancy,
at the head of the whole people in the struggle against the Pakistani
ruling classes, when other opposition forces, including the leaders
of the Awami League, fled to India and Sheikh Mujib himself surrendered
to Pakistan. In a word, Siraj Sikder incarnated the Maoist dictum,
"dare to struggle, dare to win".
In the twenty-five years since the murder of Siraj Sikder, the revolution
in Bangladesh has gone through twists and turns. The revolution
faces a powerful and determined enemy, backed to the hilt by imperialism
and Indian expansionism. It has proven difficult to sustain and
develop people's war in the conditions of Bangladesh. Repeated two-line
struggles have broken out within the ranks of the Maoists over whether
and how it is possible to apply the basic Maoist strategy of new-democratic
revolution and protracted people's war in that country.
In all of the political debate among the revolutionary forces of
Bangladesh, Siraj Sikder stands out as an obligatory reference.
No doubt the struggle to develop a correct line in Bangladesh requires
an examination of the correctness or incorrectness of some of the
specific lines and policies of Siraj Sikder. Indeed, such an approach
is completely in keeping with Siraj Sikder's own legacy of critical
thinking. But history has shown that advance will come by building
upon the positive contributions of Siraj Sikder to the theory and
practice of revolution in Bangladesh.
On this 25th death anniversary we remember the past, but our focus
is on the future. The cause for which Siraj Sikder devoted his energy
and shed his blood has yet to be achieved. The masses of workers,
peasants and revolutionary intellectuals in Bangladesh still have
the giant burden of imperialism and the domestic reactionary classes
weighing heavily upon them in old and new forms. The need for revolution,
for people's war, has in no way diminished.
On behalf of all of the participating parties and organisations
of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement we again express
our proletarian internationalist support to today's followers of
Siraj Sikder, the PBSP. We are confident that by applying Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
to the conditions of Bangladesh, by critically assimilating the
advanced experience of the international communist movement, and
by basing themselves on the legacy of Siraj Sikder while learning
from the positive and negative lessons of the past several decades
of struggle, they will overcome all difficulties and write glorious
new chapters in the history of the proletarian revolutionary struggle
in Bangladesh.
Long Live the Revolutionary Legacy of Siraj Sikder!
Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!