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'Red October' is not 'Red' any longer!!!

Published : Tuesday, 2 October, 2018 at 12:00 AM  Count : 787
Shahriar Feroze
Shahriar Feroze

Shahriar Feroze

October is back in our lives once more. Does the political slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" ring a bell? It was this simple political slogan that had bonded, united and strengthened the working class of pre-communist Russians -- leading to a massive revolt -- eminently branded as the legendary October Revolution.

The revolution led by the Bolsheviks over a century ago on October 25 through an armed insurrection in Petrograd (St. Petersburg today) brought about the transformation of the then Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), replacing Russia's traditional monarchy with the world's first communist state.

However, since then the capitalist nations defined and interpreted the October Revolution as according to their socio-political-economic interests , but history confirms it was the first massive uprising led by the working class people that promised of a new world order.

Rather sadly, the revolution that was supposed to secure the rights for the working class people based on Marxism and Leninism ideologies in the former Soviet union failed to live up to its dreams, and even more dangerously the movement was misled by a group that had ultimately paved the path for dictatorship behind the fa�ade of socialism; and a ruthless one led by Stalin in the 30's who, like Hitler, believed in expansionist and oppression theories too.
The Communist Party , be it in the former Soviet union or today's China , was meant to be a highly principled working-class force that would control and redefine government bureaucracy, but it did not happen. And that didn't happen because of ego, greed and lust for power. The socialist theory merely remained a political tool for justifying assumption of power illegally. Thus, the spirit of October Revolution was compromised.

Also, the bureaucratic functioning combined with the brutalising effects of the Russian civil war, transformed the Communist Party into an increasingly authoritarian body. Thus the goal of a great revolution was derailed. For many years, the example of the Russian Revolution of 1917 inspired workers and other oppressed people throughout the world. It was noticeable not only during the massive international communist movement in the past century, but also among many others, determined to challenge the established political and bureaucratic orders.

What's important here: The Russian revolutionary experiences of October 1917 influenced later revolutions across the globe throughout the 20th century, while its legacy and objective had been deliberately distorted to stay in power. But the revolution staged by the Russian masses in 1917 taught a valuable lesson: without a revolutionary theory there can't be any revolutionary movement. As Che Guevara reportedly said, "the revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall".

Lenin truly made it fall for the Russian masses, but only to be consumed by the thinly camouflaged soviet dictators.  
From this writer's limited understanding - the October Revolution had occurred not only because the masses wanted to remove the Tsar's realm along with its companions for the cause of a monarchy-cum-authoritarian regime -- the revolution promised a change for a better life for the common people.

On top of it, the revolution's importance is not that it was the first and officially recorded revolution led by the working class. The participants of the great uprising had a dream to witness democratic values, teachings and norms. They expected the communists to realise their dreams but events took a different direction. Whatever history's judgment of Lenin may be, not even a single Russian leader possessed his decisiveness and strength of a political vision for Russia's future.

As believed by many in the capitalist West -- October was not actually a coup conducted by a secretive and elitist band in pre-communist Russia. Above all, the revolution was about the mobilisation of the masses - workers, soldiers and peasants - in a struggle to change their world. That is to this day the most important legacy of the red October -- unity of the masses against tyrannical rule.

After the fall of communism in Russia, and China's're- invention and re-defining of communism' behind the smokescreen of self-seeking capitalism -- much of the spirit and legacy of the once promising Red October is truly lost.
Today it's a mere history of the glorified past, yet smaller fractions of many left leaning political establishments cling towards Leninism and Marxism till today. Many are still living the dream of an 'ideologically perfect world where equality between classes' will be established while there will be no short of resources and opportunities.  That said -- the dream is undeniably positive, but perhaps never realistic until the world comes to an end.

No matter what, for this writer the October Revolution was a landmark event to have reshaped the global political order for a few decades only , but it was also a revolution that horribly failed to live up to its promises. Marx, Lenin, Stalin to Castro are all history today, and it is time for the diehard communists to locate the deficiencies within communism, and re-introduce it in a made-to-order form.

Most of the eminent student leaders, politicians and intellectuals who had embraced communism in Bangladesh and the erstwhile East Pakistan are dead. And the ones who are still struggling appears to be somewhat struck between time and the old-world-charm of vanished communist rule.

The communists, living and dead in this country, never assumed power, and probably they never will. Let them continue with whatever they have to say and do, since the people have tacitly rejected their existence. For their complicated divisions, separate groups and explanations, it is unfathomable to comprehend what they actually want in Bangladesh. Once more, as Che said, "a revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love". However, in our recent small and big scale uprisings there are clear elements of unity, anger, hatred, resentment and un-fulfilment, but no love for sure. It's right on this point where I badly miss the late Castro, he said -- "the revolution is a dictatorship of the exploited against the exploiters".  But in most cases it was the exploiters who became the dictators -- not the exploited. He was outright honest in his definition about the nature of communist rule.

And China's Mao is reported to have said, "A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery". I am sure he would have committed suicide, had he lived to witness the degenerative transformation of Chinese Communism today.

Last but not the least, the political situation in Bangladesh appears to be boiling with rallies, counter-rallies, processions, political programmes announced here and there.  More to it, with Mrs. Zia in jail there is a new political alliance in the scene, which I often define as 'old-kids-in-the-new-block'.

There may or may not be a massive political outburst any time soon. But October, seems to have been badly hit by the adverse effects of climate change, it doesn't seem 'Red' any longer. It appears to be white these days. And if the political oppositions here are planning for staging a revolution in this country, remember what Lenin quoted, "you cannot make a revolution in white glove."

The writer is the Assistant Editor, The Daily Observer


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