Revolutionary Workers Organisation: What does the RWO stand for
Introduction by the RKOB (5.12.2011)
We publish here the English-language translation of the political platform of the Revolutionary Workers Organisation (RWO) in Pakistan. The RWO was founded recently as a result of a faction struggle in the Revolutionary Socialist Movement (RSM) which is the LFI section in Pakistan (who is Workers Power in Britain). The faction – which called itself “Left Opposition” – opposed the RSM’s ignorance of the question of national minorities in Pakistan, its adaption towards the union bureaucracy, the reformist and centrist left and its lack of orientation towards workers and national oppressed. It also criticised the degeneration of the LFI towards centrism expressed by their adaption towards the labour aristocracy, its political adaption towards the labour bureaucracy and centrism and their failure to join the August Uprising of the poor in Britain. It also opposed the LFI majority’s bureaucratic expulsion of those members of its international leadership which later founded the RKOB.
The split happened after the RSM leadership refused to call an emergency conference and to distribute the platform of the faction (which called itself the “Left Opposition”) until the leadership has written a document against the faction.
The comrades of the RWO adopted the following platform and decided to join the Revolutionary Communist Organisation for Liberation (RKOB), the United Lankan Workers Party (Sri Lanka) and the Revolutionary Workers Collective (USA) in their struggle to build a revolutionary workers' 5th International.
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What does the RWO stand for
The Revolutionary Workers Organisation (RWO) is a combat organisation for the liberation of the working class and all oppressed. The working class is the class of all those (and their families) who are forced to sell their labour power as wage earners to the capitalists. The RWO stands on the theory and practice of the revolutionary workers' movement associated with the names of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.
Capitalism endangers our lives and the future of humanity. Unemployment, war, environmental disasters, hunger, exploitation, the misery of the peasants, the national oppression of migrants and nations, the oppression of women, young people and homosexuals – all this are part of everyday life under capitalism. Therefore, we want to eliminate capitalism.
The liberation of the working class, the peasants and all oppressed is possible only in a classless society without exploitation and oppression. Such a society can only be established internationally.
Therefore, the RWO is fighting for a socialist revolution at home and around the world.
This revolution must be carried out and lead by the working class, for she is the only class that has nothing to lose but their chains. Under the leadership of the working class the poor peasants can play an important role in the liberation struggle.
The revolution can not proceed peacefully because never before has a ruling class voluntarily surrendered their power. The road to liberation includes necessarily the armed insurrection and civil war against the capitalists.
The RWO is fighting for the establishment of workers' and peasants’ republics, where the oppressed organize themselves in rank and file meetings in factories, neighbourhoods and schools – in councils. These councils elect and control the government and all other authorities and can always replace them.
Real socialism and communism has nothing to do with the so-called "real existing socialism" in the Soviet Union, China, Cuba or Eastern Europe. In these countries, a bureaucracy dominated and oppressed the proletariat.
The RWO supports all efforts to improve the living conditions of workers, the peasants and the oppressed. We combine this with a perspective of the overthrow of capitalism.
A small minority of capitalists and land owners control the economy and therefore the basis for our life. They have the power to sack workers, raise prices, close factories and expel peasants from their land. We fight for:
* High taxation of the rich!
* Workers control in the enterprises so that workers can veto the management!
* Open the books so that people can control the accounts of the capitalists and land owners and see their huge wealth!
* Build price control committees to stop the inflation!
* Expropriation of the capitalists and land owners and nationalisation of their property under control of the producers, i.e. the workers and peasants!
We work inside the trade unions and advocate class struggle, socialism and workers' democracy. We fight against the divisions of the union movement in many small unions. For broad, mass unions which organise the workers in the whole industrial branch. Unfortunately the trade unions are controlled by a bureaucracy. This bureaucracy is a layer which is connected with the state and capital via jobs and privileges. It is far from the interests and living circumstances of the members. The struggle for the liberation of the working class must be based on the broad mass of the proletariat rather than their upper strata. For a mass campaign to win the broad masses for the unions (including the overwhelmingly female domestic workers).
The RWO strives for unity in action with other organizations. However, we are aware that the policy of progressive liberals, nationalists, populists, reformists and the pseudo-revolutionary groups is dangerous and they ultimately represent an obstacle to the emancipation of the working class. This is also true for the PPP which is not a people’s party but a bourgeois-populist party in the service of a sector of the capitalists and big land owners.
Like most countries in the world Pakistan is a semi-colonial country. It is formally independent but in fact exploited and oppressed by imperialist power like the USA, EU or nowadays also the new imperialist power China. The ruling class and bourgeois parties like the PPP sometimes make speeches against imperialism. But in fact they collaborate with the great powers. While we critically support any practical steps of petty-bourgeois or bourgeois forces against imperialism we also say: Only the working class and the peasants can consistently fight against imperialist oppression and achieve national independence.
The Pakistani ruling class has a long history of fostering hatred against other people and states. Three times it was involved in wars with India. The RWO fights for international brotherhood of the people of South Asia. We oppose the nationalist war-mongering of the governments in Pakistan and India. In the three wars revolutionaries took a revolutionary defeatist position – they stood for the defeat of their own government in both countries. Our goal is a socialist federation of South Asia!
The RWO supports the struggle of the Kashmir people for independence. For a united, independent socialist Kashmir!
The Middle East is plagued by the imperialist war drive. Afghanistan, Iraq etc. everywhere the imperialists try to oppress and exploit poor countries. They even wage a reactionary war against local tribes with the help of the government in Pakistan in the North-West Territories. While we are strongly opposed to Islamism we support the resistance of the people against the reactionary war of the US-occupiers and the Pakistan army.
We support national liberation movements against oppression. We also support the anti-imperialist struggles of oppressed peoples against the great powers. Within these movements we advocate a revolutionary leadership as an alternative to nationalist or reformist forces.
In Pakistan a number of different nations and nationalities are living but many are discriminated and oppressed. The RWO fights for the right of self-determination including the right to secede of people like the Balochis. We fight for full equality of all national groups and migrants. Equal wages for migrant and national minority workers! Against the state language - for full equality of the languages of all nations in court, in the media, in the educations system! For local self-government and autonomy for all areas where discriminated national and ethnic groups live. Our goal is revolutionary integration – the unity of the workers and peasants from all different nations to fight together against the ruling class and for the socialist liberation.
We stand for the separation of state and religion. For massive building of public education institutions with free food so that the poor don’t have to send their children to the religious madrasses. We oppose the justification of oppression – particularly of women and youth – in daily life (education, clothes, sexual orientation etc) in the name of religion. Everyone must have the right to choose voluntarily if and which religion and religious practice he/she wants to follow. We defend atheists and religious minorities (like the Shiites, Hindus, Christens) against discrimination and physical attacks.
For women's liberation! Women must have the possibility to get a full job outside of their home. For massive increase of public child care facilities, communal kitchens for eating and launderettes for cleaning clothes so that women are free to work outside of their home! Women should have equal wages as men for doing the same work. Abolition of all laws that discriminate against women! We are for the right of women to control their own childbearing ability, i.e. for the right to contraception and abortion if they so wish. Against forced marriages!
Freedom for the youth! Abolish child labour so that all children can access public education. Full democratic rights for young people: Those who can work must have the right to vote too – for the right to at the age of 15. For self governed youth centres free of charge where young people can spend their time beside the patriarchal family control.
The struggle against national oppression, for full democratic rights, for the expropriation of the big land owners and for land for the peasants can never succeed as long as capitalism exists. This is why the struggle for democratic rights cannot and must not be separated from the struggle for working class power. Similarly the victorious socialist revolution must degenerate in the long run if it remains isolated in one country. The Stalinist theory of separating the revolutionary class struggle into schematically separated stages has proven wrong by historical experience. Therefore the RWO fights for a permanent revolution – the democratic revolution must be combined with the socialist revolution and the revolution on the national terrain must be combined with the international revolution.
Only with a revolutionary party fighting as its leadership can the working class win. The construction of such a party and the conduct of a successful revolution as it were demonstrated by the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky in Russia are a model for the revolutionary parties and revolutions also in the 21 Century.
For a new, revolutionary workers' party! For a 5th Workers International on a revolutionary basis!
This is what we in the RWO are fighting for together with our comrades in the ULWP (Sri Lanka), the RWC (USA) and the RKOB (Austria). If you agree with us – join us!
No future without socialism! No socialism without a revolution! No revolution without a revolutionary party!