Is ultra-leftism an ideology?  If it is not then why does our Party use this terminology and give it recognition?

Shambuprasad Mamgayi, Dehradun

THERE is no denying that ultra-leftism is a political trend which has to be understood and fought in the ideological and public sphere.  Even Lenin had to counter this trend within the Bolshevik Party and he wrote his famous pamphlet “Left Wing Communism – an Infantile Disorder”. Ultra-leftism has the capacity to create confusion in communist ranks because it uses the language of Marxism and also claims to be committed to Marxist ideology.  The practice that extreme-leftists engage in and the tactics that they espouse and encourage, however, are disruptive and actually weaken the revolutionary movement.

Ultra-leftism takes different forms in different societies and countries and has to be studied concretely in each case. A common feature of all ultra-leftism is their dogmatic understanding of Marxist theory and sectarian practice.

In our own country, we have characterised those as individuals and groups who do not participate in the electoral process, call for boycotts of elections and also do not participate in mass activity of any kind including trade union activity, as belonging to the ultra-left. They denounce all these forms of mass activity as deviations that encourage reformism and opportunism. The truth is that this sectarian approach of the ultra- left is very harmful towards building the unity of the working people and all those sections that are suffering at the hands of capitalist, imperialist and feudal exploitation and are engaged in struggles against this.  It is for this reason that the CPI(M) considers  ultra- leftism to be a deviation that weakens the struggle for revolutionary change.  The CPI(M) believes in fighting these deviations politically and always cautions not only its own ranks but all those wanting and fighting for real social, economic and political change not to be taken in by the revolutionary rhetoric of the ultra-leftists but to understand the damage that they are doing to the mobilisation of the masses through all the means at our disposal.