A WORLD TO WIN    #31   (2005)

 


Afghanistan Maoists Unite in a Single Party

The Maoist movement of Afghanistan took a leap forward by uniting into a single communist party, the Communist Party (Maoist) of Afghanistan in a unity congress held in May 2004. The successful conclusion of this process was a great achievement for the Maoist movement in Afghanistan and for revolutionary communists the world over.

This new Party is the fruit of a process that started after the military invasion of Afghanistan by US imperialism and its allies. This dramatic development intensified the pressure on the forces upholding Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM) in Afghanistan to arm themselves with a clear programme and line. In this new situation, a unification process was initiated by the Communist Party of Afghanistan (a participant of RIM) and the Struggle Organisation for the Liberation of Afghanistan (Peykar), which was later joined by the Revolutionary Unity of Workers of Afghanistan. An appeal was issued to all the MLM forces of Afghanistan, which received a warm response.

The fundamental basis for forging unity was ideological and political principles, in particular MLM as the ideology and the guiding thought of the practice of the Communist Party, and new-democratic revolution as the minimum programme of the Party, as preparation for the transition to the maximum programme, socialist revolution and the final goal of communism. Also part of the basis for unity was agreement on the strategy of people's war and on preparation for people's war as the central task of the day. The participants also emphasised internationalism and the struggle within RIM to achieve a new type of international.

Refuting sectarianism in the organisational sphere was a prerequisite for the unity needed, which meant struggling with the goal in mind of achieving a common programme and constitution. What followed was nearly two years of political and ideological struggle, two-line struggle, criticism and self-criticism involving all the participants in the unity process, as well as others who became involved in the process.

However, this unity could not have been achieved without a vigorous struggle against a line that arose in the course of the unity process that viewed the process as immature and hasty; the proponents of this line believed the unity process amounted to a process of merely joining the existing Communist Party of Afghanistan. Instead, it favoured two separate steps: first, to wait until the whole movement outside the CPA unites, only after which would integration with the CPA take place and the "real" Communist Party come into being.

This line failed to grasp the new situation in the world following the post-11 September invasion of the country by the imperialists and the consequent urgency for the country's Maoists to unite around a basically correct line. This line also did not understand that in this situation the Maoists could make rapid advances in revolution in a country that was a focal point of imperialist aggression. Politically, this line failed to shake off erroneous ideas about party-building that had long dominated the communist movement in Afghanistan. Organisationally, these forces were not ready for full integration into a process marked by a party spirit, which required rupturing with what Lenin called a small-circle mentality, and instead tended towards sectarianism and concern about losing the interests of a narrow group or circle.

This struggle in fact strengthened the understanding of the Maoist forces and ultimately nourished the integration process. The fruit of this process, the main weapon for revolution in Afghanistan, i.e. the Communist Party (Maoist) of Afghanistan has indeed followed a long and painful path, full of twists and turns. For many years the masses were deprived of this weapon by shortcomings and deviations. The founding of such a Party is a triumph of four decades of positive and negative experiences and has come at the cost of immense sacrifice.

The Initial Leap Forward

The Maoist movement in Afghanistan has its roots in the struggles of the 1960s, which drew their main inspiration from the fight of Mao Tsetung and the Communist Party of China against the revisionist theories of Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Communist Party. One of the first steps in this process was the formation of the Young Progressive Organisation (YPO) on 6 October 1965. This was a clear alternative to the pro-Soviet revisionists, who were organised under the name of the People's Democratic Party ("Khalq") and later the revisionist party called "Parcham", which split from it. The YPO upheld the banner of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought and offered a strong line of demarcation from revisionism for genuine revolutionaries in the country. It exposed the strategy and tactics of the revisionists, clearly rejecting their parliamentary cretinism and the policy of supporting capitalism in the state sectors as the path to socialism. The YPO called for overthrowing the old system through armed struggle as the only path to liberating the people and paving the way to socialism.

This fundamentally correct orientation won over a majority of the radical youth and intellectuals and a noticeable number of advanced workers, who gathered around the publication of the movement led by the YPO, Shola-Javid ("Eternal Flame"). Shola-Javid played an important role in shaping the thinking of hundreds of thousands of youth who were desperately seeking a revolutionary way out of long years of oppression by the backward semi-feudal system, as well as many workers, peasants, teachers and women. Many cadres, especially from the students and teachers, were trained to became leaders of the movement. Women participated on what was for Afghanistan an unprecedented scale, and in some areas even became revolutionary organisers. Mass protests and demonstrations in the country surged ahead under the powerful influence of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, reaching new heights in 1968-69, in demonstrations that were largely organised by Maoists or held jointly with other organisations.

The period from 1963-73 in Afghanistan is known broadly as the period of "Crown Democracy", but among radical forces as "Semi-Democracy" or "False Democracy". During this period, though Zahir Shah (the King), a representative of the old semi-feudal semi-colonial system, was still in power, some of the traditional parties took advantage of a weakening of the monarchy to emerge or come out in public after long years of repression and suppression by successive rulers.

In this situation, the growing strength of the Maoist movement terrified the reactionary establishment, which tried in vain to suppress it, arresting and imprisoning large numbers. The rise of the Maoists also alarmed the revisionist parties, Khalq and Parcham, who after years of activity were being overshadowed and were facing rejection from the masses, especially the youth, because of their stodgy revisionism and reactionary co-operation with the state. They were hoping to get themselves a share of the reactionary power by relying on their ties with the Soviet social-imperialists, who were themselves far from happy at seeing the growth of a Maoist trend right on their own border.

As for the Islamic fundamentalists, who were associated with feudalism, although they were weak politically, they too were alarmed by the strength of the Maoist movement. Though they were not happy with the way the government was protecting the old semi-feudal semi-colonial relations, they were furious at the widespread enthusiasm, particularly among the youth, for progressive and revolutionary materialistic ideas.

Even the so-called nationalist or progressive religious forces could influence only certain parts of the country and only some sections of society. The only real and genuine political force that could unite all the oppressed, no matter what their nationality or religion or gender, were the Maoist forces organised around the YPO. The truth of this could be seen in the huge steps forward they had been able to take in a short period in a country where backward and reactionary ideas had been dominant for a very long time.

Ultimately, however, the young Maoists' lack of experience and internal differences came to surface and started to wear on the movement. Political-ideological weaknesses in the YPO unfortunately contributed to this trend. The first serious and open opposition came from an adventurist line that appeared in a document called "the Historical View" and which mainly reflected the influence of "focoism" and some of the thinking of Che Guevara.

Organisational changes, and in particular the serious illness of an outstanding leader of the YPO, Comrade Akram Yari, dealt another sharp blow to the political and organisational line of the YPO.

In 1970 a rightist line within the YPO and the new-democratic movement, which came together around a group known as Enteqadion ("the criticisers"), launched a series of attacks on YPO and the line of Shola-Javid. In 1972, after the YPO dissolved, this group seized the opportunity to openly attack the YPO in a pamphlet entitled "Reject Opportunism and Forward Towards the Red Revolution" in which it announced the formation of the Revolutionary Group of Afghanistan's People, which was later changed to Rahaii (the Liberation Organisation of Afghanistan). Raising the argument that "essential attention should be paid to the economic needs of workers", the criticisers liquidated the struggle to prepare for people's war. They also took up an economist line towards the peasants, denied the role of the vanguard party and ignored the importance of ideological and political work among the working class and peasantry.

It soon became apparent that their economist view was a reflection of the Rightist revisionist line that was gaining power in the Communist Party of China. Indeed, as soon as the revisionist line seized power in China the criticisers showed how critical they really were of reaction by supporting it. Soon this economist deviation developed into full-blown revisionism, as they adopted the reactionary Three Worlds Theory. When confronted with the Russian invasion, these forces wound up calling for an Islamic Republic, using the argument that the resistance of the people was an Islamic resistance.

Centrism also had an important influence in the YPO from the beginning. Under its pressure, the YPO did not officially adopt a position against Soviet social-imperialism until the second general meeting. The centrists held back line struggle in the movement and undermined the struggle to achieve clarity on two main questions, the seizure of political power and preparation for People's War, and the necessity of forming a vanguard party.

In part due to this, the very existence of the YPO and its relation to Shola-Javid became known only when differences and criticisms of the organisation surfaced. As the Declaration of the Revolutionary Communists of Afghanistan, one of the participating groups in the unity process, observed: "&due to this policy & a communist journal was not published, the organisation's pamphlets and articles remained internal, waging the ideological and political struggle against the revisionists and other reactionaries was disrupted, and it was not possible to wage struggle against the adventurism of 'a historical view' and the economism of the criticisers on a national scale. As a result, the struggle to forge an ideological-political line and form a communist party was seriously interrupted."

A short while after the Fourth General Meeting of the YPO in 1972, the organisation proved incapable of dealing with the mounting difficulties and it was dissolved, although the Maoists continued to exist in different forms and organisations. As a later Maoist organisation observed: "As a whole the YPO general line and in particular the struggle against Khrushchev revisionism and the popularising of new-democratic thinking was a great achievement, but as a Maoist organisation the YPO failed to forge a more specific programme related to new-democratic revolution in the country and (its connection to the final goal of communism). Without precise principled criteria for political-ideological and organisational struggle, its active political life was paralysed&." (Rstakhiz - theoretical political organ of Struggle Organisation, 6 August 1994).

The YPO had gathered circles and forces who lacked the necessary political and ideological unity. They acted more like a front than a communist organisation, which rendered them incapable of dealing with the economist, centrist and adventurist lines that inevitably emerged. It is also true, however, that the immaturity and inexperience of the movement played an important role. These mistakes weakened the organisation and made it easier for the enemy forces to inflict fatal blows. The worst days, however, were to come later.

The Islamic forces also tried to respond politically to the growth of the radical left. In 1970, the "Young Muslims Organisation" was founded to counter the increased popularity of the left as a whole and Shola-Javid in particular. One of their first actions was the assassination of an outstanding Maoist speaker and organiser in Kabul University, Comrade Seidal Sokhandan, a vile deed that was carried out by Hekmatyar, who later became a feared warlord. Fearful of a response by the Maoists, Hekmatyar fled to Pakistan where he lived under the protection of Pakistani Islamic fundamentalists and the Pakistan secret services, which went on to hook him up with the CIA during the war against Russia. In those difficult times, Hekmatyar put forward the idea that it was easier to beat the Russians than to defeat the Maoists. This served as a justification for the Islamic reactionaries to co-operate in certain ways with the Soviet occupation against the revolutionaries, a reactionary logic that was shared by the so-called Lion of the Panjshir, Ahmed Masood.

In 1973 a coup by Daud Khan, the cousin of Zahir Shah, sent Zahir Shah into exile in Italy. The revisionists in Khalq and Parcham, with their network of connections and the direct assistance of the Soviet embassy, now believed that they had a better chance to work from above and influence the big bourgeois compradors, and so cooperated with the coup. This coup boosted the influence of Soviet social-imperialism in Afghanistan and paved the way for the successive coups that followed, which ultimately led to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The Maoists, though disorganised and disoriented by the dissolution of the YPO in 1972, nevertheless were able to carry on a serious resistance to the regime.

In 1975, Sorkha, the Peoples Liberation Organisation of Afghanistan, was founded while Daud Khan was still in power. This represented an attempt by the final leadership of YPO to reorganise the movement, but Sorkha in fact represented more the shortcomings and errors of the YPO than its strong points, in particular with regard to the question of the path to seizing power. In May 1976 a revisionist coup supported by Soviet social-imperialism put the Khalq party in power. This was not long before the October 1976 coup in China threw the Maoist movement around the world into confusion. Mired in eclectics and deprived of the former base area of world revolution, Sorkha proved unable to resist the brutal, savage attacks of the revisionists in power, who were determined to annihilate anything associated with the Shola trend. Within a short time Sorkha had lost nearly all its leaders and activists, and ceased activity.

The years between 1976 and 1979 (when the Russian invasion took place) was an important period in the history of the communist movement of Afghanistan. The criticisers solidified their position around the Three Worlds theory, and the centrists consolidated their forces around the centrist force Samandar. At this time another group was formed, Struggle to Form the Communist Party of Afghanistan, which was known as Akhgar after its paper. Many of Akhgar's cadres had split from the Criticisers. They set their main task as the formation of a communist party and in 1976 raised the banner of Mao Tsetung Thought, sharply attacking the Three World Theory as well as the centrists around Samandar. However, many cadres, including a number of intellectuals in exile in Europe, were influenced by the dogmato-revisionist response of Enver Hoxha and the Albanian Party of Labour to the events in China. The leadership of Akhgar soon fell prey to Hoxhaism and published a "critique" of Mao in Akhgar. The struggle to defend Mao's line continued but did not make much headway, and finally Akhgar as an organisation succumbed to liquidationism from 1983.

After the Soviet Invasion

The next period is marked by the invasion of Soviet social-imperialism in January 1980. The dominant forces during this period were the Islamic fundamentalists, due in particular to the military and financial help of the CIA and regional intelligence services (in particular Pakistan) and also due to the rise of the mullahs in Iran. The Maoists became increasingly disoriented due to the fundamental weaknesses in their political and ideological line, as well as the continuing crisis in the international communist movement as a result of the coup in China. They were unable to pull together and come up with a correct summation of past mistakes and correctly analyse the new situation and, on that basis, seize the opportunity to build a communist party and wage a war of resistance against the invaders as part of a people's war. Instead, most of the forces degenerated into appendages of various bourgeois and feudal jihadis. SAMA (Liberation Organisation of the People of Afghanistan), the strongest revolutionary organisation of this period, was formed in 1979. It grew out of a coming together of a number of forces that had belonged to the new-democratic movement (Shola-Javid) and also included some smaller groups that had formed independently after that time. But it is clear that the dominant section of SAMA's leadership was from the centrist section of the new-democratic movement.

SAMA was in fact essentially a front consisting of a wide range of forces with communist elements, including some who had a past in the YPO and the new-democratic movement. After the founding conference, it openly rejected any sign of past communist inclinations and, in the name of adopting language common to the people, it eliminated any socialist elements in its programme and made it a national-democratic programme. After the capture of Majid, the main leader of SAMA, and the split-off of a left faction (Samandar forces, the centrist faction in the YPO), SAMA retreated further and publicly withdrew the national-democratic programme, treating it instead as an "internal" programme. An "Islamic programme" was produced for open use. Upon being pressed, SAMA's leaders argued that "this is just a cover". They believed that using this Islamic cover could save them from the Islamic fundamentalists. History showed instead that, far from being a shield that could protect them from the sword of the Islamic fundamentalists, this tactic was suicidal poison for the revolutionary movement in Afghanistan.

A short while later, in the summer of 1981 a series of fights erupted between SAMA forces and forces of Hekmatyar's Islamic Party in the Kuhdaman region, during which SAMA was successively defeated. In an effort to save SAMA, its leadership entered negotiations with the government. This led to crisis, followed by splits and desertions. It was the beginning of the end of SAMA, which went on to suffer further degeneration and contamination under the influence of the imperialists and Chinese revisionists.

Summation of the disastrous trajectory of SAMA has been decisive for forging a correct political and ideological line in the Afghanistan movement.

The New Communist Movement

The new communist movement of Afghanistan initially was inspired by the formation of RIM in 1984. The Committee for MLM Propaganda and Agitation (at that time understood as Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-tung Thought, MLMTT) was formed in 1985 and started publishing Shola. Another group of comrades split from SAMA and obtained, read and discussed the RIM Declaration. They went on to call themselves the Revolutionary Nucleus and adopted the RIM line. These developments were a slap in the face to SAMA's leadership, who accused the newly organising Maoist forces of being a "KGB front". RIM used these forces to make some initial efforts to deepen its understanding of the situation in Afghanistan and begin to bring together the genuine Maoist forces.

Another group, the Organisation to Struggle for the Liberation of Afghanistan (Peykar), had formed in 1979 just before the Russian invasion and took part in the anti-Soviet resistance. Despite numerous difficulties, they managed to make some summation of the history of the communist movement in Afghanistan and to uphold MLMTT and later MLM, and to support RIM. Another group that supported RIM and Maoism was formed among the centrist forces of the Unity of Marxist-Leninists of Afghanistan (UMLA). This group broke with the centrists and, under the name of UMLA (Mao Tsetung Thought Section), joined the new Maoist current.

So from the mid 1980s, under the influence of the political and ideological line of RIM, the new communist movement in Afghanistan began to emerge from a period of deviations and disorientations and take new organisational forms. The attempt to unite these forces into a vanguard party led in the early 1990s to the formation of the Consolidation and Unity Committee of the Communist Movement of Afghanistan. This Committee was initiated by the PAC and RN and then UMLA (MTT Section) and subsequently joined by Peykar. Despite its efforts, at this time continuing differences made it impossible to unite all these groups into a new party. RN and UMLA (MTT Section) formed the Revolutionary Organisation of Afghanistan, which became a RIM participant and later founded the Communist Party of Afghanistan. PAC joined the Party a few months later.

As the report to the Unity Congress states, "the foundation of the Communist Party of Afghanistan in 1991 was a qualitative rupture from the line that made the formation of the party an aim in itself and set various unnecessary and incorrect preconditions. Nevertheless, due to shortcomings that the whole MLM communist movement of Afghanistan, including the founders of the Communist Party in 1991, were suffering from, this ideological-political and organisational rupture was not able to successfully lead to uniting the communist movement of the country into a single party."

During the 1990s, the Communist Party of Afghanistan and Peykar each tried on their own to struggle and unite the different parts of the Maoist movement. And each had some success. These moves were welcomed by RIM, which vigorously promoted the struggle to unite the Maoist movement in Afghanistan. Another group, the Revolutionary Unity of the Workers of Afghanistan, though it supported a united Maoist party and RIM, had been limited by Taliban suppression to its own area. They now joined in the unity process.

It is now up to the new Party to actively intervene politically and ideologically to unite the many comrades who are still outside the Party or those who have been held captive by revisionist organisations such as SAMA and Rahaii. Those who are still yearning to be revolutionary communists need to check out the line of this new party and the embryonic international communist center that this Party is part of, RIM, and join with it to strengthen the Party and take its Programme to the masses, especially to the young generation, in order to prepare to launch a people's war of resistance against the imperialist invaders and the reactionary feudal forces, Islamic or other.

The Communist Party (Maoist) of Afghanistan faces the crucial test of defending and applying Marxism-Leninism-Maoism in a complex ideological battlefield where monstrous crimes were committed by the Soviet Union cloaked as "communists" and where Islamic fundamentalism has had a deep and pernicious influence in the society. Only a vibrant and bold Maoism capable of answering the most demanding questions of the masses and responding to their deepest aspirations will be able to build upon the achievements of the early stages of the movement and offer a living alternative to all stripes of non-proletarian ideology, whether in its obscurantist, bourgeois-democratic or revisionist forms.

The Maoists in Afghanistan have won great respect from many masses, and the fire of Maoism that was lit by the YPO and its leaders, especially martyred Comrade Akram Yari, has never died. Though the incorrect lines that dominated the various sections of the communist movement after the disintegration of the YPO inflicted bitter blows to the movement, the new communist movement has now taken a giant step out of that period. The new communist movement in Afghanistan, inspired by the formation of RIM and the struggle of the Maoists the world over, and by summing up past experience and learning the bitter lessons of that experience, has reorganised itself, giving rise to the Communist Party (Maoist) of Afghanistan . As is stated in the report to the Unity Congress: "The successful conclusion of this congress and the uniting of the communist movement (MLM) into a single communist party will surely enable the MLMists in Afghanistan to complete the great struggle to prepare a revolutionary people's national resistance war against the invaders and their pitiful lackeys, as the present concrete form of People's War in Afghanistan, and as quickly as possible to raise the red banner of resistance in a principled way on the bloody battlefield of Afghanistan. This is the only way that our Party as a participant in RIM can rightfully assume its internationalist tasks and responsibilities."

Resolution of the Unity Congress of the Communist (MLM) Movement of Afghanistan

We have the honour and pride to announce that the communist (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) movement of Afghanistan is united in the Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist). This victorious stride is the result of the unification process of the MLM movement of Afghanistan, which culminated specifically in holding the successful Congress of the Party.

To respond in a principled and proper way to the needs of the communist and national-democratic struggle - leading to a victorious new-democratic revolution, socialism and world communism - it is crucial to unite the Marxist-Leninist-Maoists on the basis of a principled communist line. This essential task became imminent after the US launched an overall campaign of aggression after 11 September, specifically directed against Afghanistan. The communist movement of Afghanistan responded to the challenge. Shortly after the aggression of the US and its allies against Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Maoists started to unite the communist movement of Afghanistan in a single party.

This process, despite ebbs and flows and turns and twists, proceeded successfully. The ideological and political struggle launched around the Draft Programme and the Constitution of the party proved to be an unprecedented ideological-political struggle that has been unique in the history of the communist movement of the country. From the start the process was marked by a significant international aspect and continued to develop and strengthen its proletarian aspects.

The process of uniting the communist movement of Afghanistan (MLM) benefited from the orientation of the RIM Committee. An outstanding example was RIM's calling for the Joint Regional Conference of MLM Parties and Organisations of Iran and Afghanistan. The Conference, in addition to making advances in the process of uniting the communist movement of Afghanistan, was an important qualitative leap in strengthening the unity of the MLM movement in the region.

The Communist Party of Iran (MLM) demonstrated a comradely internationalist spirit and made qualitative contributions throughout the process of uniting the MLM movement of Afghanistan. Our Congress greatly appreciates this contribution and we hope our joint struggle in the region further strengthens our relationship in the future.

The common ground that was established in the process of struggle further advanced the communist movement of Afghanistan. One of the important aspects of the unification was the joint resolutions issued by the organisations participating in the unity process.

The Unity Congress of the communist (MLM) movement of Afghanistan as the final step of the process to unite the MLM movement in a single party, that is, the Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist), was held by the Communist Party of Afghanistan, the Struggle Organisation for the Liberation of Afghanistan, and the Revolutionary Unity of Workers of Afghanistan.

The Congress began with the singing of the Internationale anthem. The participants engaged in an active struggle that culminated in a successful Congress. In adopting the Programme and the Constitution of the Party, as well as in electing the members of the leadership of the Party, they demonstrated a great spirit of internationalism. The report to the Congress was received and discussed by the Congress enthusiastically. The discussion of different sections of the Draft Programme and Constitution of the Party was marked by excellent struggle and a spirit of unity. The Programme and Constitution both were adopted by unanimous vote. In electing the leadership a high proletarian spirit was manifested by all the participant comrades.

Another strong point of the Congress was a message from the RIM Committee to the congress, which was received with great appreciation and enthusiasm. In response, the keynote speaker of the Congress reciprocated by expressing appreciation of the message. The Congress decided to deliver a comradely message in response to the RIM Committee's message.

The message to the Congress from the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) demonstrated its internationalist spirit as well as its keen interest in uniting the Maoist movement of Afghanistan in a single communist party. The Congress will respond to the message, showing its great appreciation for the comradely endeavours of the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist).

In the unity process, the communist movement of Afghanistan was inspired by the advances of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on the path of people's war. In the midst of holding the Congress we learned that the People's War in Nepal has made new advances, and this heightened the enthusiasm of our Congress. The Congress salutes the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and will send a message to this party.

The role of internationalist struggle of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA in preparing revolution in the USA, as well as in opposing the war of aggression led by US imperialism specifically in Afghanistan, is crucial to the international communist movement and to the people's resistance movement world-wide. At the present time, as Afghanistan is directly occupied by the US and its allies, the unity between our two people's struggles is an important task. We salute the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA and hope their struggle continues to be heightened.

The Unity Congress of the communist (MLM) movement of Afghanistan salutes and greets the Communist Party of Peru, the Maoist Communist Centre of India, the Maoist Communist Party [Turkey and North Kurdistan] and all the other participating parties and organisations of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement and all the Maoists world-wide, who are involved in revolutionary struggle against imperialism and reaction, and hopes for increasing success in their revolutionary struggle against the class enemy.

We declare that our Congress successfully concluded the process of uniting the Maoist movement of Afghanistan in a single Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist). The Unity Congress is confident that the organisational integration of different participant forces in the Congress on a principled basis and based on the Programme and Constitution of the Party in all different levels will be completed quickly and that the comrades will be able to carry out their revolutionary tasks united. The process of the Congress and its successful conclusion in a single communist party, the Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist), is an important and qualitative step in the direction of the further development and advance of the Afghanistan Maoists to prepare, initiate, and develop the revolutionary and popular national war of resistance in Afghanistan against the imperialist invaders and national traitors, as the present concrete form of people's war in Afghanistan. This path must be travelled on a correct basis and as soon as possible so that the banner of the proletariat is hoisted in practice in the battlefields of the national war of resistance.

The unity of Maoists of Afghanistan in the single Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist) is an achievement for the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. Our Congress hopes that this achievement plays a positive role in serving the overall struggle of RIM.

The Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist) is the direct result of the successful conclusion of the unity process of the Maoist movement in Afghanistan. The banner of this Party is the banner of all Maoists of Afghanistan. The Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist) invites all Maoists of the country to step forward to join the Party in order to be able to carry out their national-democratic task based on proletarian principles.

The Congress concluded with the singing of the Internationale.

Long Live the Unity Congress of the Communist Movement (MLM) of Afghanistan!

Long Live the Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist)!

Long Live the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement!

Down with the US Imperialist Invaders and Their Allies!

Step Forward to Initiate and Develop the Revolutionary National War of Resistance!

The Unity Congress of the communist (MLM) movement

of Afghanistan

1 May 2004