Significance of the Meeting Held in
Chertsey, Quebec in
1989
"... we will march
together and realize the tasks
which we have set for the present time.
Watch us -- we will win!" -
Hardial Bains
Hardial Bains addresses
the historic 1989 meeting of CPC(M-L) in Chertsey, Quebec.
The importance of the meeting held in Chertsey, Quebec
in August 1989 becomes ever more evident with the passage of time.
At the time of the Chertsey speech the world was in a
period of transition from flow of revolution to retreat of revolution.
Within a short while the world saw many changes to the situation
including the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the bi-polar
division of the world. As Comrade Bains described five
years later looking back on the Chertsey meeting, "A great movement of
the peoples demanding deep going economic transformations was still in
the making and was gaining momentum in various parts of the world,
especially in Eastern Europe as well as in some other places. However,
this movement turned against
itself. It was manipulated by world imperialism and revisionism. From a
flow of revolution, the situation turned into one of retreat in a
matter of a few months after the Chertsey conference.... [T]he Chertsey
conference was for us a statement on the part of CPC(M-L) that not only
will the Party not be manipulated
by world imperialism and revisionism but that it must continue to carry
out its work."
Comrade Bains' elaboration of the nature of that period
prepared the Canadian revolutionary forces for what was to come by
analyzing precisely what was unfolding nationally and internationally
at that crucial turning point. He spoke of the historic world victory
led by the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin against
Nazi-fascism and the social programs created by the socialist
societies. He warned about the grave dangers posed by Anglo-American
imperialism and world reaction and described the great tragedies
unleashed on the world's people by U.S. imperialism -- the numerous
wars, invasions, coups d'etat and medieval violence
against the peoples striving for independence and social progress. He
warned of greater tragedies to come.
The prediction of Hardial Bains that the anti-communist
hysteria being whipped up by world reaction would bring about an
assault on the peoples of the imperialist heartlands and elsewhere
became a reality. The old world shouted with euphoria that "communism
was dead" and "history had come to an end."
He predicted that this euphoria would turn into darkest revenge and
reaction which is what we are seeing and resisting today. He led
CPC(M-L) to prepare for the treachery arising within all forces which
persisted in acting in the old way, including within its own ranks. He
led CPC(M-L) to stand steadfast and true.
In this regard, Comrade Bains militantly set out what
the communists should do next to further build CPC(M-L) as the
political party of the working class so as to realize the political
unity of the people. Putting greatest emphasis on the need to elaborate
theory as the summation of the working class movement
for emancipation, he defended the modern communist world outlook as the
necessary condition to usher in a human-centred society. He predicted
with certainty that the youth, despite all of the anti-communism
promoted by reaction, would answer the call of the communists to take a
stand for a just cause. He declared,
"We say very openly that we want the rule of the working class and no
one else... because it is the working class which is the producing
class and is the most thoroughgoing revolutionary class whose aims
cannot be achieved without overthrowing capitalism through
revolution.... Today it does not matter which question
is taken up... the bourgeoisie cannot find a solution. Only the working
class can find a solution. It is the working class which is at the
centre, and our views are the views of the working class."
Comrade Bains pointed out that the most important
problem in terms of specific work is to win the mass of workers over to
the side of history. "One should go with a passion, like one goes
towards a loved one because this beloved of ours, the working class, it
is the only social force which can save the world,
save humankind," he said.
Referring to the grave danger posed by Anglo-American
imperialism and world reaction, Comrade Bains pointed out that there is
no other way to save the world from the crisis which is looming. "The
working class can lose battles but not the war," he said.
He addressed the communist spirit which imbues the
revolutionary movement. This movement has given rise to a new
personality, he said, because the party carries out its work
consciously and with a plan.
Five years after the Chertsey meeting, speaking about
the deed of the party, Comrade Bains pointed out, "In August 1989 on
behalf of CPC(M-L) I had declared that new men and women have come into
being on the soil of Canada. Who are these new persons, new human
beings that came into being? Those
who had lofty ideals, honesty and sincerity, a clear conscience and
they sacrificed everything they had. They trail-blazed a new way of
living under the conditions of capitalist decay. Such a colossal
achievement is now coming under fire of those who want a part-time
revolutionary lifestyle. They are telling us we
are extreme to demand that one should watch one's words and deeds, that
CPC(M-L) will not, in any shape or form, conciliate with the filth and
rottenness capitalist society in its decay is bringing forth. They are
trying to suggest that communists should divide their lives in two: one
dealing with the way they carry
out politics and the other with the way they live. If we degenerate
into such a kind of 'communist' we will become two-faced, we will be a
bourgeois decadent force and we are not going to become such a force.
We have never recognized imbecility or sterility in terms of our
overall work, nor do we accept impotency
in the face of the situation. Our Party speaks with the deepest
convictions on every front. There is no ocean in the world which is
deeper than that. Its ideals are loftier than the highest peaks of the
Himalayas and its resolve is such that nobody can yet define it."
Today, when both nationally and internationally
treachery and betrayal have become a way of life for the Anglo-American
imperialists and big powers of Old Europe, the Chertsey meeting is an
event that assumes greater significance with each passing day. Chertsey
stood then and stands larger still today as the
symbol of strength, maturity and vitality of the Communist Party of
Canada (Marxist-Leninist). The speech delivered by Comrade Bains
provides crucial guidelines which enable modern human beings to take
control over their lives. It provided the guidelines which allowed the
Party to launch its nation-building Historic
Initiative in 1995 and the plans of action to stepwise address its
requirements. It led to the adoption of the program Stop Paying the
Rich -- Increase Funding for Social Programs! in 1997 and, despite the
monumental loss of Comrade Bains on August 24, 1997, to the success of
the Party's 7th Congress held in 1998
which adopted the Party's Historic Initiative and its 8th Congress held
in 2008 under the theme "Laying the
Foundations of the Mass Communist Party."
Comrade Bains concluded that historic meeting at
Chertsey with the exclamation, "... we will march together and realize
the tasks which we have set for the present time. Watch us -- we will
win!"
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