ALO Martyrs Day marked

November 12 is the Afghanistan Liberation Organisation’s Martyrs Day. On November 12, 1986 Comrade Dr Faiz Ahmad, the founding leader of ALO, together with Comrade Ashraf, member of the ALO’s central leadership group, and a number of prominent ALO cadres were abducted in Peshawar, Pakistan, by Golbodin Hekmatyar’s fundamentalist Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party) in connivance with a traitor named Khan Mohammad, and subsequently cruelly butchered to death.

The ALO has endeavoured ever since to mark this day to the best of its means and capabilities in fond memory of our departed comrades. This year (November 12, 1997) the day was marked in a grand function organised through the efforts and initiative of mostly young ALO members. The function was attended by men and women ALO cadres and members, family members of martyred comrades, personalities from Afghan and Pakistani communist and revolutionary groupings and sympathisers and well-wishers of the revolutionary movement in Afghanistan.

The hall where the function was to be held was decorated with portraits of the great proletarian leaders Marx, Engles, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong. Portraits of a number of martyred leaders and trail blazers of the revolutionary movement in Afghanistan, (other than ALO members) Comrades Akram Yari, Majid Kalakani, Bashir Bahman, Qayum Rahbar, Saydal Sokhandan, Haidar Laheeb, Abdulilah Rastakhez, Hussain Toghian, Aniss Azad, Unos Zaryab, Latif Mahmoudi and others were put up in homage to their ultimate sacrifice at the alter of their lofty revolutionary ideals. One wall was decorated with the portraits of some 70 martyred ALO comrades who met heroic deaths at the hands of Russian stooges in the course of the War of Resistance against the Russian occupation (1980-1989) or in the torture chambers, either of the Russian myrmidon regime or savage Islamic fundamentalist psychopaths. Slogans expressing the resilience and immortality of the Marxist revolutionary struggle all over the world and also expressive of the burning demand for revenge on traitors and enemies of the people of Afghanistan were also on display.

After the function was formally opened (Click here for opening speech in Persian) Comrade Raouf elaborated on the viewpoints and policies of the ALO in regard to major topical issues and highlighted the obtaining divergence of views vis-à-vis other groupings belonging to the revolutionary Marxist movement in Afghanistan. Touching upon the issue of unity of different communist groupings in the Afghan revolutionary movement and on-going debates in this regard, Comrade Raouf stressed that under the present conditions when the revolutionary camp all over the globe in general and in Afghanistan in particular is in a state of utter theoretical discomposure and organisational disarray, it devolves upon all Afghan Marxist revolutionaries and revolutionary groupings to unite in the face of the enemy’s onslaught under their minimum common slogans and denominators. It would be a mistake, he said, to stipulate the formation of a party as the sine qua non end-result of collaboration and co-operation between revolutionaries today, as the history of the revolutionary movement in Afghanistan bears witness to the futility of overnight union pacts. A revolutionary party must be built in the course of practical struggles and amongst the masses, he maintained, and not consequent to abstract theoretical debates conducted in the safety and comfort of a cosy corner in Europe or America. At the present juncture in time when our homeland is passing through a most sanguinary and critical period in its history, it is imperative to wake up to the urgency of the anti-fundamentalist life-and-death struggle and to fight this scourge unitedly. Under no circumstances, he stressed, should this critical duty be made conditional to the formation of a party.

In another speech, Comrade Samaa spoke about the vitality of communism, and in the light of facts and figures highlighted current crises besetting world imperialism. Comrade Samaa highlighted imperialist gold-minting from the flames of ethnic and religious fires ablaze around the world and fuelled by imperialist hypocrisy. Speaking about social conditions in the United States of America, the “crown jewel” of world imperialism, Comrade Samaa elaborated on the rate of violent crime in the US. The number of the unemployed, the homeless and the illiterate reach millions, she said. Mention was made of Marxist parties and organisations the world over who, with the banner of communism in one hand and a gun in the other, do not allow world imperialism to sleep the sleep of the just. Homage was paid to workers and fighters for social justice who with their rebellious protests break the spell of imperialist peace in advanced capitalist countries, such as happened in Los Angeles in recent years and more recently in France. Such outbreaks, Comrade Samaa maintained, shows the utter helplessness of imperialism and the repugnancy of the system to the masses at large. Comrade Samaa pointed out on the weight of concrete examples that another October Revolution is in the offing and that undercurrents in the world at large are harbingers of a forthcoming communist renaissance.

In another episode of the function, a comrade spoke about the issue of nationalities and approaches leading to the resolution of national and ethnic antagonisms in Afghanistan. It was pointed out that Jihadi parties and groupings [mainly fundamentalist parties and groupings motivated by Islamic ideology to take part in Jihad “Holy War” – as they term the War of Resistance against Soviet aggression and occupation -] and the Taliban monster entity strive to hoodwink the masses by fanning the flames of ethnic and religious hatred and are setting different ethnic and religious groups upon each other while they perpetuate their stranglehold on blood-dripping power in the country. A key duty devolving upon Marxists, the comrade maintained, is to raise the consciousness of the masses and to take practical steps for the solution of these problems.

Reminisces of martyred comrades and highlights of their lives and heroism were shared. Such reminiscence provided stirring and motivating examples to young ALO members and were greatly appreciated by all.

Towards the end of the function, a member of Pakistan Labour Party briefly addressed the gathering and expressed his deep appreciation and encouragement at the existence and vivacity of active communists in Afghanistan and expressed the firm belief that the communist movement will be resurrected to march forward towards final victory of the oppressed.

Throughout the function, moving revolutionary songs and anthems were sung in Dari (Persian) and Pashtu languages by young ALO boy and girl members. (Click here to sample) Revolutionary poems were declaimed by young ALO members, including a poem by Abdulilah Rastakhez, a martyred protagonist of the communist movement in Afghanistan.

The close of the function was marked by all participants standing up and joining in the singing of the International.