Source: Build the PKI along the Marxist-Leninist line to the the People's Democratic Revolution in Indonesia. Published by the Delegation of the CC PKI, 1971. PDF Scan.
Today, May 23, 1967 the Communist Party of Indonesia, the Party we revere and dearly love, commemorates the 47th anniversary of its founding. It is for the second time that we commemorate this historic day for the Indonesian revolution under the rampaging tyranny of the counter-revolutionary rule headed by the Suharto-Nasution fascist military clique. But as compared to one year ago when we commemorated the 46th birthday of our Party, the situation has now become relatively better. Our Party and the Indonesian revolutionary movement are in the process of resurgence, and are marching forward step by step but steadily along the road of revolution. The rebuilding of the PKI and the revolutionary forces are being carried out not only in Java, but also in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, the Nusa Tenggara Island and the Moluccas. On the other hand, the counter-revolutionary forces are facing grave difficulties both nationally and internationally, in the political as well as economic fields, difficulties they will never be able to surmount.
One year ago, on the occasion of the 46th birthday of our Party, under the most brutal and savage fascist persecution and terror, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee firmly resolved to conduct self-criticism, correcting the serious mistakes made by the Party in the period since 1951 up to 1965. The Political Bureau was firmly convinced that by correcting the past mistakes of the Party and discussing the method of overcoming them, the PKI could never be destroyed, despite the most barbarous large-scale white terror in history it had to face. The Self-Criticism of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party was then carried in a document issued in September, 1966. Thanks to the self-criticism that was conducted in a Marxist-Leninist way, the PKI, which had been thrown into disarray, could be successfully rebuilt step by step into a Marxist-Leninist Party. The serious danger of a split that would have harmed further the Indonesia revolutionary movement could be averted. By unfolding criticism and self-criticism in a Marxist-Leninist way, the PKI, which has decreased quantitatively in terms of the size of membership, has qualitatively achieved really important progress. Outwardly, the PKI has shrunk but essentially it is bourgeoisie resurging. Though not all problems pertaining to the historical experience of the Party and the Indonesian revolution have been completely clarified by the Self-Criticism of the Political Bureau –something impossible to accomplish in so short a time—we have nevertheless succeeded in finding the way out from darkness by the formulation of the Three Banners of the Party (New) which made up the three main prerequisites for the victory of the people’s democratic revolution.
The criticism and self-criticism conducted in a Marxist-Leninist way in the Party have transformed the grief and sorrow of the Indonesian Communists a revolutionary people into an indestructible will to fight. Determined to take revenge for the death and tortures inflicted on hundreds of thousands of their comrades-in-arms, the Indonesian Communists and revolutionary people are rising from the ground, picking up the red banner of Marxism-Leninism and raising it high, and marching resolutely onward to armed revolution.
By correcting the opportunist and revisionist mistakes, the Indonesian Marxist-Leninists have joined the ranks of the world Marxist-Leninists. The heart of the Indonesian Marxist-Leninists are closely linked with the hearts of the world Marxist-Leninists, who are consolidating their ranks and keeping up the great struggle against modern revisionism headed by the leading clique of the CPSU. For the Indonesian Marxist-Leninists and every Indonesian who cherish independence and liberation, the fight against the revisionist clique of the Soviet Union is absolutely indispensable, because the Soviet revisionist clique, in collusion with the U.S. imperialism, has propped up the Suharto-Nasution fascist military regime which has led the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Communists and patriots.
In the process of resurgence of the Party and the Indonesian revolutionary movement will still encounter uninterrupted difficulties, obstacles and counter-revolutionary attacks. Even as late as the end of 1966 heavy fresh attacks were mounted by the counter-revolutionaries with the help of a handful of traitors of the Party. These fresh attacks at the end of last year have brought about great losses for the Central Committee and the Greater Jakarta Committee. Our Party again has lost leading members if the Central Committee, including comrades Sudisman, Anwar Sanusi and Djokosudjono, as well as leading members of the Greater Jakarta Committee. But, however numerous the obstacles and difficulties and however heavy the new attacks, facts are proving that they can never prevent the resurgence of the Party and the Indonesian revolutionary movement that have again found their orientation in revolution.
How is the situation of the counter-revolution today? The victory of the Indonesian counter-revolutionary forces and their superiority over the revolutionary forces have been achieved not because the Indonesian counter-revolutionary forces are in rising development. This has happened because the revolutionary forces led by the PKI had undergone major deterioration, as a result of the opportunist and revisionist errors of our Party, which had enabled the counter-revolutionary forces to deal heavy blows at the PKI and the Indonesian revolutionary movement. This victory of the counter-revolutionary forces in Indonesia as well as their superiority over the revolutionary forces are temporary in nature. It is taking place in a situation when the forces of counter-revolution on a global scale are heading for their total downfall. The mainstay of the Indonesian counter-revolutionary forces is shaky. Internationally, the Indonesian counter-revolutionary forces rely on a decadent social system, namely the vestiges of feudalism which are totally in contradiction with the vast masses of the Indonesian people. Externally, the Indonesian counter-revolutionary forces rely on U.S. imperialism and are supported by the revisionist leading clique of the Soviet Union. This external mainstay too, is not a stable mainstay but a decaying one.
After eighteen months in power, the Indonesian counter-revolutionary forces headed by Suharto-Nasution fascist military clique presently are plagued by mountains of difficulties which they can never surmount. In its efforts to overcome the ever worsening economic and financial crisis, the Indonesian fascist military regime is resorting to two means: firstly, by increasing taxes which strangle the people and arbitrarily carrying out mass dismissals of employees in state enterprises, state trading companies and other government agencies, and secondly, by begging for “aid” and credits from the imperialist countries. At the same time, the Indonesian fascist military regime is giving the broadest opportunist to foreign monopoly capitalists, especially of the U.S., to invest their capital in the industrial, agricultural and commercial fields. In that way the Indonesian fascist military regime has sold the national interests of Indonesia to the imperialists, especially U.S. imperialists, and transformed Indonesia into new-type colony of the U.S. imperialists. By taking this road, the Indonesian Right-wing clique will never be able to surmount the difficulties confronting them. On the contrary, this road will only lead to the further deepening of the economic and financial crisis, the bankruptcy of the national and small businessmen, the spread of unemployment and the steady drop of the people’s purchasing power. Consequently, this will inevitably give rise to the broadest resistance by the workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie and patriotic national bourgeoisie; in short by all strata of the people.
The Right-wing military regime of Indonesia in the service of its master, the U.S. imperialists, and in order to divert the attention of the public from the great difficulties they are facing, is pursuing an anti-China and anti-Chinese policy. They have launched the most outrageous large-scale suppression and persecution of the overseas Chinese. The unparalleled racist suppression has met with the just and courageous resistance of the overseas Chinese. The valiant resistance of the overseas Chinese has dealt heavy blows at and led to new difficulties for the fascist military regime, especially in the economic field. The large-scale racist suppression has aroused the strong denunciation of the Indonesian and world revolutionary peoples. The Indonesian people express their deep sympathy to the persecuted overseas Chinese. The Indonesian people and the Chinese people have for a long time forged a militant friendship. The militant friendship between the Indonesian people and the Chinese people can never be destroyed by the large-scale racist suppression of the overseas Chinese perpetrated by the Right-wing military regime of Indonesia. On the contrary, this friendship will surely be further consolidated in the common struggle against the tyranny of the Indonesian fascist military regime and U.S. imperialism.
Apart from having to face those difficulties, the counter-revolutionary forces are also beset by contradictions emerging in their own camp, contradictions within the reactionary clique in the scramble for power, in the political as well as economic fields, which sometimes develop into sharp contradictions. Besides, the economic and financial crisis has led to the increasingly rampant corruption, smuggling and black mail carried out by personnel of the Indonesian Right-wing military regime. These have served to deepen the hatred of the broad masses of the people towards the regime.
Of late, the development of the political situation in the country shows that objective conditions favourable for the revolution are growing, while the counter-revolutionary forces are beginning to encounter difficulties which gradually reduce their superiority. By all its reactionary actions, the Suharto-Nasution fascist military regime is creating its own grave-diggers.
The objective conditions favourable for the Indonesian revolution also exist in the development of the international situation. The position of the two major forces which constitute the aspects in the main contradiction of the world today is such: Socialism is advancing to world-wide victory, while imperialism is heading for total collapse.
At the time when imperialism is on the verge of death, it finds its chief accomplice in the modern revisionist clique of the Soviet Union. The modern revisionist clique of the Soviet Union is attempting to check the advance of the wheel of history. They have replaced the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Soviet Union and in a number of other countries with the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, and socialism with capitalism. In coordination with U.S. imperialism and other counter-revolutionary forces throughout the world, the modern revisionist clique of the Soviet Union is trying to prevent the peoples of the world from taking the road of liberation and socialism. However, the vicious schemes of the modern revisionist clique will never succeed in checking the high tide of the world revolution. On the contrary, the dirty counter-revolutionary role of the Soviet modern revisionist clique has now been further exposed before the revolutionary peoples of the world. The total collapse which will befall its imperialism will certainly befall its most faithful accomplice, the modern revisionist clique of the Soviet Union, too.
The process of the inevitably and total collapse of imperialism is being demonstrated by the fact that in Asian, African and Latin American countries, which are the source of life of imperialism, the revolutions for national liberation are advancing to storm the fortresses of imperialism. Revolutionary peoples in many countries are taking up arms and waging people’s war as the only road to liberation. U.S. imperialism, the chieftain of world imperialism, and all reactionaries and dark forces, are suffering heavy blows which continually weaken their strength. The brilliant victories of the people’s war launched by the Vietnamese people against U.S. imperialist aggression and for national salvation clearly show that U.S. imperialism is facing its downfall.
The tremendous successes of China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is the current greatest international event of great historic significance. Under the guidance of the great thought of Mao Tsetung, the Chinese people who have achieved brilliant successes in the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution, swept away the modern revisionist who were taking the capitalist road from within the Communist Party of China, the state organs and the cultural institutions, and consolidated socialist China as the most powerful and reliable bastion of the world revolution. The Indonesian revolutionary people together with the revolutionary peoples of the world exultantly hail this great victory of the Chinese people and of Mao Tsetung Thought. Mao Tsetung Thought has solved a series of theoretical and practical problems of class struggle in socialism society, ensured the consolidation of the proletarian dictatorship and the socialist system and prevented the restoration of capitalism. Thus, Comrade Mao Tsetung has developed Marxism-Leninism to a completely new stage, Mao Tsetung Thought, the peak of Marxism-Leninism in the present era, is the beacon-light for the world revolutionary peoples in their struggle to achieve liberation and Socialism. Mao Tsetung Thought gives inexhaustible inspiration to the oppression peoples in their struggles, and is the great guidance for the world Marxist-Leninists in the great struggle against modern revisionism. The Indonesian Marxist-Leninists unhesitatingly recognize Mao Tsetung Thought as the peak of Marxism-Leninism in the present era, and are determined to study and use it as an effective weapon in the struggle for the liberation of Indonesia, which inevitably will have to follow the road if people’s war as shown by Comrade Mao Tsetung.
Such is the international situation of the present time, which can be briefly summed up as being favourable for the revolution and unfavourable for the counter-revolution. In appraising the position of the revolutionary forces and of the counter-revolutionary forces, with a view to arming the Indonesian people with the courage and skill to fight their enemies who are still superior for the time being, we must firmly hold to Comrade Mao Tsetung’s thesis on the double nature of imperialism and all reactionaries. They are real tigers, and at the same time they are paper tigers. On the one hand, the counter-revolutionary forces of Indonesia are real tigers who have killed hundreds of thousands of people. But meanwhile a process is taking place that will change this situation. The Indonesian revolutionary people are waging a tit-for-tat struggle against counter-revolutionary suppression. Through their unyielding revolutionary struggle under the leadership of the Communist Party of Indonesia – and only through this struggle—the counter-revolutionary forces of Indonesia will be reduced to paper tigers, and finally completely annihilated. All the actions of the Indonesian fascist military regime will only serve as dry faggots that will set ablaze the fire of people’s resistance. The time will come when it will surely be blazing and burn down all the forces of counter-revolution to ashes.
The domestic and international objective factors which are favourable for the Indonesian revolution will only really be effective when the subjective factor, namely our Party, is able to utilize them correctly. Our Party has formulated the Three Banners of the Party (New) which set great and urgent tasks that must be resolutely carried out. To carry out consistently the tasks set by the Three Banners of the Party means to create subjective conditions to lead the revolution. On this occasion of commemorating the 47th birthday of our Party, let us strengthen our determination to accomplish more successfully the great and urgent tasks set by the Three Banners of the Party.
We must work harder in realizing the tasks to rebuild the Communist Party of Indonesia into a Marxist-Leninist party, in line with the general principles of party building at the present time, namely party building which serves the armed struggle, stresses the work in the countryside and underground work. We must continue to eradicate completely the remnants of the opportunist and revisionist mistakes by uprooting their ideological source and eliminating the conditions for their growth, eradicating the spirit of individualism and fostering the spirit of selfless sacrifice for the interests of the people and the Party. For this purpose we must more assiduously study, master and practice Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tsetung Thought.
We must work still better to arouse the masses and lead their struggle against political oppression and economic exploitation, and especially to kindle and lead the armed struggle or people’s war as the only road towards liberation.
We must work still better to establish a revolutionary united front of all forces fighting against U.S. imperialism and the Indonesian fascist military regime. We must unite the broad masses of the people who are the victims of the reactionary policy of the Suharto-Nasution fascist military regime.
By consistently carrying out the tasks set by the Three Banners of the Party, we will possess the three main weapons to win victory for the people’s democratic revolution in Indonesia, namely: first, a Marxist-Leninist party which constitutes the core of leadership of the revolution; second, a people’s armed force under the leadership of the Party as the main form of organization of the revolution; and third, a revolutionary united front under the leadership of the Party as the embodiment of all revolutionary forces in Indonesia.
On this glorious day we bow out heads in solemn tribute to hundreds of thousands of our comrades-in-arms who have died gloriously in upholding Communist prestige and honour. We pledge to avenge their death. The vengeance of hundreds of thousands of Communists is welded into a single determination to crush the Suharto-Nasution fascist military regime, the blood debt incurred by the Indonesian reactionaries must be paid in blood.
In the solemnity of commemorating this historic day for the Party and the Indonesian revolution, the Political Bureau extends the warmest greetings and most heartfelt barbarous tortures in the prisons of the Suharto-Nasution fascist military regime. We hope and are convinced that your Communist spirit will keep ablaze and will give you the strength to surmount all kinds of difficulties and to subdue all kinds of sufferings. Your courageous struggle in surmounting the thousand-and-one difficulties and against the tortures will break through the prison walls and inspire the comrades outside the jails in their struggle.
Our greetings and sympathy are also addressed to the members of Communist families who are steadfastly facing all kinds of sufferings. We hope and are convinced that at these moments of great difficulties you will surely strengthen solidarity, for only by the strength of our solidarity can all difficulties surely be surmounted.
To the comrades who are staying abroad we wish to express our hope and conviction that you will work still harder and do everything for the Indonesian revolution and for the lofty cause of Communism.
Let us be resolute, hold high the banner of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tsetung Thought, and march forward along the road revolution!
Long live and glory to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tsetung Thought!
Long live and glory to the Communist Party of Indonesia!
POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE CC PKI
May 23, 1967