Dear Comrades!

The Russian Maoist Party extends its profoundest condolences to, and warmest fraternal solidarity with, the Afghanistan Liberation Organization (ALO) on occasion of its Martyrs’ Day November 12 – the anniversary of the tragic events when the ultra-fundamentalist Hezb-e Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar abducted and cruelly butchered the ALO leader Dr. Faiz Ahmad along with a number of his outstanding comrades-in-arms. Despite the loss of its leader and many revolutionary comrades from its ranks, despite the tremendous difficulties that the ALO has faced in its growth, development and struggle, it has survived, preserved its potential and now stands as the most consistently democratic, patriotic and progressive force of Afghan society.

Chairman Mao said: “the truth of Marxism-Leninism is universally applicable.” The strongest point about the ALO throughout these tumultuous decades has been its staunch adherence to the revolutionary science of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought and its unshakeable resolve to implement its principles in practice. In the 1960s and 1970s, the ALO’s precursors, the Sholayees, were the only progressive forces in Afghan society that saw through the ruses of Soviet social-imperialism that was masquerading as a sincere “friend” of Afghanistan allegedly offering it “disinterested aid.” Having been the first to point to the danger of Islamic fundamentalism in your country and having begun struggling against it as early as 30 years ago and lost valuable comrades as victims in that struggle, the ALO did not hesitate to rise up in arms against the Soviet occupation of your country and fight a terrible battle on two fronts: against the Soviet invaders and their Khalqi and Parchami stooges for national independence on the one hand, and against the Islamist mojahedeen for a secular democratic Afghanistan on the other. Russian veterans of the Afghan war know full well the valor and courage of the ALO fighters: even now, they say that the “red dushmans“¹ – as they style the Sholayee revolutionaries – were much more formidable opponents in battle than ordinary “dushmans” – i. e. Islamist bandits. After the moribund Soviet social-imperialism relinquished its hold on Afghanistan and the country became a bloody battleground where the various rivaling religious-fascist forces, such as the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, were fighting for domination, the ALO comrades shifted the emphasis of their struggle to getting rid of the Islamist authoritarian scum – each and every of those groups being a faithful slave to its foreign master – and to working for the achievement of genuine liberty for your long-suffering country. And, no matter what the balance of forces in Afghanistan may be at the present moment, you will eventually succeed. The truth cannot be eradicated. “The correctness or otherwise of the political and ideological line decides everything,” our great teacher, Mao Zedong, said. We know that one day we will witness the formation of a People’s Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, led by the ALO and engaged in the construction of a socialist and genuinely democratic society in your country.

We, Russian communists, owe a special debt to Afghanistan. For it was under pretext of Communist slogans that the Soviet “socialist” army invaded Afghanistan and established a puppet regime there. Needless to say, the peoples of the Soviet Union had not been consulted in this matter at all. There were numerous protests against it among the Soviet public that were mercilessly crushed by the authorities. Tens of thousands of proletarian lives were lost by our people in that war. Unless the Communist movement of the ex-USSR lands thoroughly reassesses recent history, unless it conducts merciless criticism and self-criticism, detailing exactly how, by whom, and why the ideals of October were betrayed in this country, how it happened that the state that used to be the beacon of freedom and emancipation for all peoples in the world turned into an imperialist power bringing nothing but death, destruction and totalitarian dictatorship to its own people and those outside the USSR Empire (Afghanistan, Czechoslovakia and others) – until that day the Communist movement in the ex-USSR will be utterly incapable of leading our proletarian masses to successful socialist revolution.

Right now, the people of Afghanistan are caught between the hammer and the anvil. On the one hand, you have the tyranny of the Taliban, nipping in the bud any aspirations for a more just and humane society, committing bloody genocide against the peoples of Afghanistan. On the other, you are being subjected to a U.$. aggression that is utterly denying the national independence of Afghanistan and perpetrating unspeakable crimes against the people of your land. It is our belief that you, comrades, are, ultimately, the only force capable of restoring peace and tranquillity to your very, very, very long-suffering country.

The Russian Maoist Party mourns the Afghanistan Liberation Organization martyrs that have fallen in the struggle for a democratic and socialist Afghanistan. We also assert that the blood of these martyrs has not been shed in vain. Together with you, comrades, and together with the Communist and progressive forces of the whole world we will certainly achieve a world without oppression, war and greed – a Communist world!

Workers and oppressed peoples of all countries, unite!
Long live socialist revolution in Afghanistan!
Down with reactionaries of all brands!

1. Dushman is the Dari for “enemy” – RMP.↩