Speaking by phone from his home, he told the audience, "Our history teaches us that the future is ours to make. As Dr Martin Luther King said, 'change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.' We have succeeded before and we can succeed again".
The Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA) held its annual Awards Night on December 4, in Gresham, OR. The ACHA Star Award is meant for individuals (and organisations), who have made a significant contribution to the cause of peace in South Asia and harmony among South Asians.
This year, all the three recipients of the ACHA Star Award - Dr Abul Hammed Nayyar, Dr Ram Punyani, and Sundeep Waslekar - were from South Asia. They were individuals who have spent a lifetime working for peace and understanding in the volatile context of inter-national, inter-religious and sectarian conflicts. They have relentlessly pursued peace and harmony against great odds and/or at great personal sacrifice.
An event that I was invited to was the launch of the Urdu version of Ted Grant, Alan Woods and Lal Khan's book 'National Question and Marxist Internationalism' by Javed Shaheen, organised by the Islamabad Cultural Forum for Peace and Democracy, at the Trust for Voluntary Organisations. Munnoo Bhai, Dr Tanvir Gondal, Ashfaq Saleem Mirza and Javed Shaheen spoke about the book on the occasion.
Professor Ashaq Saleem Mirza initiated the talk with Kishwar Naheed and Ahmad Faraz provided interesting quips during the proceedings. Dr Tanvir Gondal spoke comprehensively on the book covering all aspects. Excerpts from his talk are: While giving a brief "Comrade Ted Grant was born in South Africa and joined the communist party of South Africa at the age of 13. Right now he is 93 years old and for eighty years he worked continuously as a full time Marxist revolutionist.
Ted Grant has the honour of being the individual who has analysed the Marxism completely and recreated it.
Ted Grants predictions in the 40s about the breaking up of Soviet Union and the polemics about the capitalist upswing in Europe have turned out to be true. In 1959 he again predicted that there is going to be a slump in capitalism and the world economy will collapse and this did happen in 1974. Moreover he has authored many literary works and one of his books is 'Russian Revolution to Counter Revolution' that has been translated in Urdu. Another book is 'Unbroken Facts' in which he has penned down the theoretical facts. Alan Woods is from Wales UK."
The reason behind translating this book a long time after Soviet Union had already disintegrated and the left literature just disappeared were the significant questions such as the National Question viewed through Marxism point of view that should be relayed to the younger generation of this country. Bourgeoisie philosophy is static while Marxist philosophy is based on dialectics that lead to changes in society.
The states are constantly changing in every era and only those societies develop progressively that are aware of the needs of the people. How governments have changed and there have been trans-migrations that have evolved state structures. Primitive communism can be seen in the ruins of Mohenjodaro.
Today's nationalism is bourgeoisie in nature and it has transformed into a new type of nation state that is a product of social democratic revolutions that happened in the capitalist states in the 15th and 16th centuries. And the result was the creation of a nation state that is visible today.
For instance, before 1848, there was no country called Germany. Bismarck initiated a revolution through which he combined Bulgaria, Prussia and Ruhr creating the modern nation state called Germany. The creation of a nation state was a progressive development.
However, the Industrial Revolution multiplied the productivity of labour that resulted in excessive production and expansion that the character of those nation states changed into imperialism and colonisation. It is observed that Asia, Africa and Latin America became the brunt for colonisation and imperial stranglehold resulting in issues that the national democratic revolution of bourgeoisie could not solve.
If the issues have gotten resolved then it has been through a constant struggle. Issues that have not been resolved and that cannot be resolved affect the Third World countries. The basis for the national democratic revolution was national unity, creation of a nation state and the creation of an identity for the nation.
However, the formation of a nation state as stated has not taken place. Therefore, the national question is not progressive everywhere as it can be reactionary in nature as well. The fundamental difference between Rosa Luxemburg and Lenin was the Poland issue. Rosa Luxemburg was herself Polish, therefore, wanted to skip the national question.
And Lenin didn't want it to be skipped and, therefore, he wrote on the right of nations to self-determination. There is always a risk with the historical polemics that they bend the true picture changing the formation of a nation state. And the imperialists later exploited Lenin and in response Lenin himself wrote critical remarks on National Question. And in this Lenin writes " In the final analysis the bourgeoisie's of the oppressed nations are more reactionary than the oppressor nations."
The third debate was on the Thesis of the National Position that happened in the 1920s explains that " To support the right of self-determination does not exclude your right to fight against separatism and national chauvinism." This apparently shows that Lenin has contradictory positions but in fact Lenin has to be viewed dialectically that substantiates his point of view. Lenin and Marx both favoured the right of self-determination and were not interested in the national oppression of the bourgeoisie class.
That is the reason why Lenin loved the Russian art, music and culture but hated Russian chauvinism. And the empire that was created after the revolution was USSR (Union of the Soviet Socialists Republics) and there was no mention of Russia in it. Lenin's position was very clear that Marxism supported the struggle against oppression and discrimination.
The speakers gave an in-depth review on the book and opened up new ways of looking at the national question with reference to Marxism. Javed Shaheen thanked the speakers and recited his poems towards the end.
Another event that I attended was held at Marriott on Christmas eve. A group of young girls sang carols with one of them playing the guitar near the Christmas tree. It was a happy gathering with smiles all around.
These children represented the Family Educational Services Foundation, Lahore. People that run the foundation are from Brazil and Indonesia and are operating the Deaf Reach Training Centre, initiated by. Mr and Mrs. Martin who left in May, for Costa Rica in Central America to begin a new project after having been here in Pakistan for almost 20 years! The Deaf Reach Training Centre started its operations three years ago and so far 134 students have graduated from it.
Two hospital programmes: the "Cheer Up" Sick Children's programme, plus Ante-natal classes for the expectant mothers are in the pipeline by this foundation. The mission of the foundation is to enhance the quality of life for all members of the community, especially those who are disadvantaged.
They invest in today's youth- the leaders of tomorrow- by providing knowledge and character building education and guidance to help strengthen them, their families and their communities.
The week ended on a note of enthusiasm and anticipation for what the future will hold. So long until next week.