By Revolutionary Students Front (RSF)
Amid the raging new wave of Corona infections, calamitous economic conditions, poor and broken infrastructure of the country where people travel at life risk, the Marxists in Pakistan travelled from far-flung areas of the country to attend the three days, “Summer Marxist School”, held in the city of Pakistan held Kashmir, Rawalakot. This event was the first of its kind since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in the early days of 2020. This year, the Marxists of Pakistan had to postpone their scheduled National Congress, in March 2021 due to pandemic restrictions imposed by the Government. This time, again, the school was mired in utter uncertainty as the new wave of Covid infection had affected many leading comrades and the Government had imposed renewed restrictions on public gatherings. The rising inflation and price hike was another insurmountable obstacle that rendered many comrades hapless to attend the school, as the cost of travelling and attending the school is comparable to the minimum monthly wage of a worker in Pakistan. Despite all these difficulties, the Marxists from all over the country gathered in the sizable number of more than 270 to attend the School.
The Summer Marxist School was organized by Revolutionary Students Front (RSF) and Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF). The three days Marxist School was marked by lively discussions on world and Pakistan perspectives, the Marxist philosophy, political strategy on youth work and cultural activities with revolutionary songs and poetries.
At the start, the former President of Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF) Rashid Sheikh welcomed all the comrades participating in the school. The School was dedicated to the former President of Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation, the late Amjad Shahsawar, who took his last breath while in exile in Malaysia, this year. Sheikh vowed to take the struggle of all those comrades who had died this year to their logical end… the Socialist Revolution.
First Session
The School’s first session was about “World and Pakistan Perspectives”. It was chaired by Akram Misrani, and Fayyaz Chandio opened the discussion on the world economic and political outlook. He presented a general picture of the world economic crisis and the political repercussions of the Corona pandemic and elaborated on the global crisis of capitalism with facts and figures.
Further on, several comrades from different regions intervened in the session including Bushra Aziz, Beenish Kazim, Awais Qarni, Umer Rasheed, Saura Khan, Sarvan, Haji Shah, and Hassan Jan. Who further elaborated on the situations of different parts of the world. At last, Fayyaz Chandio answered the questions of attendees comrades and summed up the discussion of the session.
Second Session
After the lunch break, the second session was started which was about the “Chinese revolution of 1949”. The session was chaired by Saura Khan and the discussion was opened by Badar Rafiq. He briefed the school about the history of ancient China and delved into the colonization of China by imperialist powers, the revolution of 1925-27 and its defeat, the subsequent, “Long March”, that culminated in the revolution of 1949 and elaborated the development of China after the revolution. Later on, many comrades participated in the discussion including Hatim Khan, Umer Khursheed, and Sikander Zounr, who threw light on the history of the Chinese revolution while Imran Kamyana from Lahore profused on the development of China after 1978. At last, Badar Rafiq summed up the discussion on China.
Third Session
On the next day, the third session of the School was on “The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism”. The session was chaired by Ammar Yasir and the discussion was opened by Ali Turab. He excavated into the historical development of Marxist ideology and elaborated the component parts of Marxism and explained the Marxist methodology of social analysis and how Marxist methodology is key to the understanding and transformation of society. Interventions were made by Sangeen Bacha, Akram Misrani, Asif Rasheed, Ali Raza Mongol, Zeeshan Ejaz, Masood Afzal and Awais Qarni. In the end, Ali Turab answered the questions and summed up the session.
Furthermore, the Central Committee of the Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF) and its cabinet met and took important decisions including the holding of the central Convention of JKNSF on October 9, 2021, in Muzaffarabad.
JKNSF Meeting
Fourth Session
On the third day of school, the last session was conducted. It was about the “Tasks of revolutionary youth today”. It was chaired by Mujeeb Khan and the discussion was opened by Omer Abdullah. He discussed the strategy and tactics on how to organize the youth and win them towards revolutionary socialism. Many comrades, from different areas of the country, reported, intervened and discussed the intricacies of organizing the youth.
At the last moments of this marvellous school, Taimur Saleem presented the finance report of the school revealing that the school was a big success both administratively and financially. The closing remarks were given by Imran Kamyana and Awais Qarni. The School was formally closed by the singing of ‘The Internationale’ and heartwarming revolutionary slogans.
Book Stall of The Struggle Publications
Conclusively, this ‘Summer Marxist School’ was a great step forward for the genuine forces of Marxism in Pakistan and the whole of South Asia. Besides political and economic discussions, the school was a great cultural activity in which comrades from different regions of the country (belonging to different cultures, ethnicity and linguistic backgrounds) read poetry and sang songs in their languages. Only Marxist ideology can flourish these colours together. While departing for their home towns, the comrades vowed to further enhance their struggle for building the forces of Marxism, which would play a decisive role in the event of an outbreak of mass revolutionary movement.
