On the 21st anniversary of the death of Maqbool Butt (the late hero of the national struggle in Kashmir), who was hanged by the Indian State on February 11, 1984, the Marxists in Kashmir launched a week of activities dedicated to all the martyrs of the struggle for freedom in Kashmir and the whole – including all those who died in last year’s earthquake. The ideological struggle of the Marxists against the nationalists in the Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF) reached a decisive stage last September (see Marxists hold Mass Rally and Conference in Kashmir). This struggle in the JKNSF was temporarily cut across by last year’s earthquake. But now, as the comrades have a chance to restart their political work around this anniversary, they launched a nationwide series of activities to re-establish and reorganize their work and re-launch the struggle. Rallies and meetings will be held all across Kashmir as a part of this week of activities.
The anniversary of the death of Maqbool Butt is widely celebrated in Kashmir. All the nationalist groups in Kashmir, as well as those in exile, take part in the activities around the anniversary. As the Marxists in Kashmir are striving to link up the struggle for freedom of the Kashmiri masses with the struggle of the working class for the socialist transformation of the subcontinent, we decided to connect the struggle of Maqbool Butt with the struggle of other martyrs like Che Guevera and Baghat Singh.
Maqbool Butt was tortured by both the Pakistani and Indian states and was finally assassinated by the Indian state because he was a true nationalist and was struggling for an independent country. All the genuine Kashmiri nationalists celebrate him as a national hero of the freedom struggle and continue their struggle based upon the severe antagonism and hatred of the people of both Pakistan and India - without taking the class struggle into account. To break out of this narrow circle of the nationalists, the Marxists decided to celebrate his memory along with the memory of other freedom fighters and to connect it to the class struggle, to the socialist revolution.
The main purpose of these activities is to relaunch the offensive against the official leadership of the JKNSF in order to get the executive dissolved and to call a new convention. The series of activities will be concluded on February 18 in Muzafarabad, the devastated capital of Kashmir. Some 2000 members of the JKNSF, as well as activits from Pakistan, are expected to turn out for a day of activities. These activities will provide a launching pad for the decisive struggle of the Marxists against the nationalist leadership of the JKNSF. There is a massive feeling of resentment against the state for its failure in the aftermath of the earthquake. The Marxists, due to the correct tactics and methods in the aftermath of the earthquake, have already gained a lot of support amongst the youth of Kashmir. The victory of the Marxists in the JKNSF will mark a decisive stage in the development of a mass revolutionary party in Kashmir.
We will be providing more reports of the activities during this week of action.
Report by Ajmal Rasheed