Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class | |
---|---|
Leader | |
Founded | 1979 |
Dissolved | 1983 |
Split from | People's Mujahedin of Iran |
Newspaper | Peykar |
Membership | Maximum 3,000 equipped with light weapons[3] |
Ideology | |
Political position | Far-left |
National affiliation | Septuple Coalition |
The Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class (Persian: سازمان پیکار در راه آزادی طبقه کارگر, romanized: Sāzmān-e peykār dar rāh-e āzādī-e ṭabaqa-ye kārgar, lit. 'The Combat Organization on the Road for the Emancipation of the Working Class'),[5] or simply known as Peykar (Persian: پيکار, lit. 'battle'), also called the Marxist Mojahedin, was a splinter group from the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMoI/MEK), the largest of Iran's guerrilla groups. Its members broke away from the MEK to support Marxism Leninism, rather than the Leftist Islamist modernism of the People's Mujahedin. Originating in 1972 and officially founded in 1975, by the early 1980s Peykar was no longer considered active.[6] Peykar was considered "the most extreme" among all Iranian communist groups active at the time, and unlike most left-wing groups it opposed the new government from the very beginning.[7] Peykar was subsequently suppressed and through imprisonment and executions, its existence came to an end by early 1980s.[7]
History
Schism
In the mid1970s, an internal coup was launched in the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran with some members trying to change the organization from Muslim into a Marxist-Leninist group. This led to two rival Mojahedins, with the Marxist faction later forming Peykar.[8][9][10][11][12]
From 1975 to 1979, Peykar was known as “the Marxist Mojahedin”. After the Iranian 1979 Revolution, the group adopted the name “Sazman-i Paykar dar Rah-i Azad-i Tabaqeh-i Kargar (The Fighting Organisation of the Road to Liberating the Working Class)”, also known as Peykar (or Paykar).[13][14][15][8][16]
According to Dr. Allan Hassaniyan, Peykar was founded in 1975, and after the Iran revolution it moved activities to Kurdistan.[17]
Author Yadullah Shahibzadeh says that the Mojahedin’s Marxist-Leninist faction generated several other Marxist-Leninist groups, and the most prominent of them became known as Peykar.[18] According to Ervand Abrahamian, the schism between the opposing Marxist and Muslim factions of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran was complicated and lasted more than a year.[19] The Islamic members of the Mojahedin refused to give up the Mojahedin name, and the Marxist Mojahedin later adopted the name Peykar.[20][21][22][23] In his 1989 book “Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin”, Abrahamian says that the Marxist Mojahedin had originally taken the name of the “People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran”. Then in 1978, it assumed the name “Bakhsh-e Marksisti-Leninisti-ye Sazeman-e Mojahedin-e Khalq-e Iran (The Marxist-Leninist Branch of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran)”, and then during the 1979 Iran revolution it merged with Maoist groups, forming the group “Sazeman-e Paykar dar Rah-e Azadi-ye Tabaqeh-ye Kargar (The Combat Organization on the Road for the Emancipation of the Working Class)”, which became known as “Paykar”.[24] In his 1999 book "Tortured Confessions", Abrahamian says that the "Marxist Mojahedin" gave itself the name Peykar,[8] and in his 1982 book "Iran Between Two Revolutions", he described Peykar as synonymous to the "Marxist Mojahedin".[25]
According to Iranian scholar Parvin Paidar, The split between the two groups strengthened the Islamic identity of the original People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran.[26]
Foundation
Peykar was co-founded by three leading members of MEK Marxist faction, Hossein Ahmadi-Rouhani, Torab Haghshenas and Alireza Sepasi-Ashtiani,[7] the three who had ousted Taghi Shahram from the ranks of the faction.[27] By 1978, the MEK Marxist faction was in a weak position, both organizationally and theoretically.[28] In the summer of 1978, a council of representatives met in order to reorganize the group[7] and came to the conclusion that they should abandon armed struggle and concentrate on agitating the working class against the establishment.[28]
On 7 December 1978, the triumvirate officially declared existence as the Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class (named after the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class which Vladimir Lenin had founded in 1895). However, some refused to accept the changes and two other groups were established, namely the Group for the Combat for Emancipation of the Working Class and the United Campaign for Fulfillment of Working-class Aspirations, which were small in comparison to Peykar.[7] Another group whose membership included elements from the MEK's Marxist faction was the Organization of Revolutionary Workers of Iran – The Worker’s Way.[5]
As the Iranian Revolution was taking place, Peykar's role in the developments was marginal, because it was relatively small and unprepared for the events to come.[28] Its activities during the final days to the revolution was limited to some political agitation.[28]
Some small Maoist groups were also merged into Peykar.[29] An example of groups joining Peykar was Comrades of Heydar Amu Oqli (Goruh-e Yaran-e Heydar Amu Oqli).[30]
Hossein Rouhani was another prominent Peykar member. He ran for Majles candidate in Tehran, and caused a major scandal in 1980 by divulging for the first time secret PMoI negotiations with Ayatollah Khomeini. Ruhani also made Peykar "the first left-wing organization to personally criticize Khomeini", when he called Khomeini a "mediaeval obscurantist" and his regime "reactionary" and "fascistic." Later Ruhani was arrested and imprisoned. In May 1982 he appeared on television as one of the first of numerous opponents of the regime to recant their opposition in what is widely thought to have been the work of prison torture. Ruhani denounced his membership in Peykar, praised "the Imam" Khomeini and proclaimed that he felt freer in prison than "in the outside world."[31]
Early revolutionary years (1979–1980)
In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Peykar was able to reorganize freely.[28]
In May 1979, Peykar organized a "unity conference" in Tehran with an aim to create a united front.[32] Among participants in the conference were the Organization of Working-class Freedom Fighters, two other offshoots from Marxist Mojahedin who had refused joining Peykar,[7] Komala and the newly-reorganized Communist League of Iran.[32] As a result of Peykar's policy to place unity under its leadership, no agreement was achieved though it managed to co-opt two small cells without offering full-membership to them.[32] In the same month, the group started publishing an eponymous official weekly newspaper, Peykar, which was printed until October 1981.[7]
Peykar supported Kurdish rebellion and had a tactical alliance with Komala.[32] It considered the group's Kurdish rival, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, a "bourgeois party" and accused it of collusion with the Iranian government.[33] It had a mixed view of the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas (OIPFG). While accepting the OIPFG as the largest Iranian Marxist group, Peykar criticized it for being made up of the petite bourgeoisie rather than the proletariat.[33] During the OIPFG schism, Peykar sided with the Minority faction and became hostile to the Majority faction, treating the latter like the Tudeh Party.[33]
When Iran–Iraq War started in September 1980, Peykar launched a propaganda campaign promoting anti-war views.[7] It was the only Marxist group that did not interpret the Iraqi invasion of Iran as imperialism's preemptive action against Iranian revolution.[34] Instead, they said it was not a just war and encouraged the working class both in Iran and Iraq to unite and fight against anti-revolutionary forces in power.[35] This position resulted in execution of some Peykar members by the Iranian government.[7]
Conflict and dissolution (1981–1982)
Internal factionalism, as well as suppression by the Iranian government, led to dissolution of Peykar.[7]
Due to preaching secular opposition to the ruling clergy, Peykar became a principal target of suppression by the Iranian government.[7] In February 1981, along with the MEK, Peykar was involved in a rebellion in Tabriz that threatened Tabriz Air Base. As a security measure two brigades from the 28th Division were deployed to the region amidst the war with Iraq.[36] In June 1981, when MEK unrest happened, the government became determined to suppress Peykar despite the organization not supporting the MEK.[37][38] The group adopted more radical slogans against the Iranian government, openly calling for its overthrow.[33] In return, the Iranian government executed Mohsen Fazel, one of the group's leader experienced in guerilla warfare.[33] Fazel had been arrested in January 1981 on his way to Syria to make contact to Palestinians.[39]
Later that month, Peykar was split into three factions as a result of internal conflicts.[33] One faction was in favor of adopting the new policy of supporting Islamic liberals who were removed from power (led by Ahmadi-Rouhani and Sepasi-Ashtiani); the other which was unrepresented in the central committed and made a bid for leadership, called itself The Revolutionary Line and accused the leadership of deviation to right-wing; the third faction which had one representative in the central committee called for the previous policies to continue and reshuffle the leadership.[33]
From August 1981 onwards, Peykar was hit hard by the security forces and two leaders of the group were arrested in February 1982.[33] Sepasi-Ashtiani died in custody while Ahmadi-Rouhani collaborated with the authorities. The latter not only appeared on television to confess and denounce Peykar, but became a born-again Muslim and collaborated with the government to uproot Peykar.[33][40] Ahmadi-Rouhani was nonetheless executed and became a "nonperson", while Peykar refused to list him as a martyr.[41]
On 14 April 1982, Peykar assailants attacked Iranian consulate in Geneva, damaged the property and took 6 people inside as hostages. According to MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base, the hostage-taking by 18 perpetrators lasted for two hours, and hostages were released unharmed.[42]
The crackdown of Peykar led many members of the group flee the country, while those who remained inside Iran were imprisoned or executed.[7] The remnants of the organization, the majority of whom belonged to the new policy faction, joined members of some other minor communist groups to found the Communist Party of Iran in 1983.[7][43] The few members remaining in exile did not succeed in reviving the organization, and it was soon considered defunct by mid-1980s.[7][43]
A total number of 255 Peykar members were executed between June 1981 and June 1985, according to Mojahed.[44] Some members of Peykar who were imprisoned, did not survive 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners. Of the incomplete list of 615 victims compiled by the Majority Fedaian, 3 are recorded as affiliated with Peykar.[45]
Organization and leadership
Actual membership of Peykar was small while the group did not attempt to recruit new members.[28] It had thousands of supporters, but the number of members who played a role in leading it was probably between 30 and 50.[28] Pierre Razoux estimates that the group had 3,000 members at peak, mainly scattered through Tehran, Azerbaijan and the North.[46]
The group had a five-member central committee, of which only two members –Hossein Ahmadi-Rouhani and Alireza Sepasi-Ashtiani– are known and the names of the other three was never made public.[28] Other leading members of the group included Torab Haghsehnas, Pouran Bazargan, Mohsen Fazel, Qassem Abedini, Ebrahim Nazari and Morteza Aladpoush.[28]
Peykar had an affiliated student wing named Trailblazing Students Supporting Peykar (Sazman-e Daneshamouzan-e Pishtaz Havadar-e Peykar), as well as a teacher's wing named Organization of Trailblazing Teachers Supporting Peykar (Sazman-e Mo’alleman-e Pishtaz Havadar-e Peykar).[47]
Ideology
Peykar espoused Marxism–Leninism and from 1979 to 1982, it was considered "the main standard-bearer of Maoism and Stalinism in Iran".[28] It has been also described as having Trotskyist views.[48]
The organization was extremely hostile to policies of both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.[28] While it maintained that the United States was the principal enemy of the revolution in Iran, Peykar considered the Soviets an imminent threat to Iran.[28] They called the Soviet Union a "socialist-imperialist power" and regarded the Tudeh Party a Soviet "fifth column".[28] The only communist state that the group favored was the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, which it took as a role model.[28]
See also
- People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (est. 1965)
- Marxist faction (1975–1979)
- Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (est. 1979)
References
Footnotes
- ^ Abrahamian 1999, p. 150.
- ^ Reisinezhad 2018, p. 8.
- ^ Razoux 2015, Appendix E: Armed Opposition: "PEYKAR (DISSIDENT MARXIST WING OF THE MUJAHIDIN EKHALQ) Leader Hossein Ruhani (arrested 1982). Maximum strength (from 1980 to 1982): 3,000 fighter equipped with light weapon"
- ^ Jebnoun, Noureddine; Kia, Mehrdad; Kirk, Mimi, eds. (2013). Modern Middle East Authoritarianism: Roots, Ramifications, and Crisis. Routledge. p. 72. ISBN 9781135007317.
In 1975, the Mojahedin split into two factions. One faction denounced Islam and declared its loyalty to Marxism-Leninism through a Maoist interpretation. This faction renamed itself Peykar (Struggle) and emerged as one of the most active leftist revolutionary organizations during the 1979 revolution.
- ^ a b Abrahamian 1989, p. 146
- ^ Arash Reisinezhad (2018). The Shah of Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, and the Lebanese Shia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 8. ASIN B07FBB6L8Y.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ḥaqšenās 2011
- ^ a b c Abrahamian 1999, p. 151: "Immediately after the revolution, when the Marxist Mojahedin renamed itself Peykar"
- ^ Hooshang Amirahmadi (2019). Postrevolutionary Iran. Routledge. p. url.
It might be worth noting that Peykar had its origins within the Mojahedin. It once constituted the Marxist wing of the organization.
- ^ Iran at War: 1500-1988 (General Military) by Kaveh Farrokh, page 450|quote="The Marxist branch was to name itself as the Paykar Group following the Iranian revolution"
- ^ The Democratic Islamic Republic of Iran in Exile The Mojahedin-e Khalq and its Struggle for Survival James A. Piazza|quote="Paykar, the Neo-Marxist splinter group which broke away from the Mojahedin prior to the revolution."
- ^ The Shah of Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, and the Lebanese Shia By Arash Reisinezhad, page 337|quote="While the remaining primary members of MEK, including Masoud Rajavi, were imprisoned, some of the early members of MEK ... formed a new Marxist organization, later known as Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class or simply Peykar."
- ^ Afshar, Halehr (1985). Iran A Revolution in Turmoil. Springer. p. 151.
"The Marxist offshoot from the Sazman-i Mojahedin-i Khalq-i Iran. From 1975 to 1979, this organization was known as the Marxist Mojahedin. After the revolution, it adopted the title of Sazman-i Paykar dar Rah-i Azad-i Tabaqeh-i Kargar (The Fighting Organisation of the Road to Liberating the Working Class). It is now known simply as Kaykar (Battle)”
- ^ Pouya Alimagham (2020). Contesting the Iranian Revolution: The Green Uprisings. Cambridge University Press. p. 153.
sided with the Marxist faction during the schism that produced two groups - one that stayed true to its original Islamic worldview and the other, the Marxist Mujahedin, which eventually became Paykar
- ^ Ellis J. Goldberg (1993). Rules and Rights in the Middle East: Democracy, Law, and Society. University of Washington Press. p. 213.
Converting to Marxism in the mid-1970s, he had led the Mojahedin's Marxist offshoot, which, after the revolution, adopted the name Sazeman-e Paykar dar Rah-e Azadi-ye Tabaqeh-ye Kargar (Combat organization on the road to the emancipation of the working class) - better known as Paykar.
- ^ Hiro, Dilip (2013). Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-135-04381-0.
Marxist-Leninist Mujahedin. Soon after the revolution it acquired a new name: Sazman-e Paykar dar Rah-e Azadi-e Tabaqah-e Kargar (The Combat Organisation on the Road to the Liberation of the Working Class), commonly known as Paykar, Combat
- ^ Allan Hassaniyan (2021). Kurdish Politics in Iran: Crossborder Interactions and Mobilisation since 1947. Cambridge University Press. p. 142.
a splinter organization from the People's Mojahedin of Iran (MEK). Peykar was a Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1975, and in the post-revolutionary era it moved its activities to Kurdistan
- ^ Shahibzadeh 2019, p. 166
- ^ Abrahamian 1989, p. 146: "The 1975 conversion of the Mojahedin from Islam to Marxism was not the result of a sudden coup, as some claimed; it was rather the culmination of a slow and painful soul-searching process that lasted more than one year."
- ^ SHIREEN T. HUNTER (2014). Iran Divided The Historical Roots of Iranian Debates on Identity, Culture, and Governance in the Twenty-First Century. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 78.
The Islamic wing of the Mojahedin refused to give up the name, and eventually the Marxist Mojahedin adopted the name Peykar (Struggle)
- ^ Halleh Ghorashi (2014). Ways to Survive, Battles to Win: Iranian Women Exiles in the Netherlands and United States. Nova Science Pub Inc. p. 57.
However, when the imprisoned cadres faithful to the original orientation of the organization were released after the revolution, the Marxist branch dropped the name Mojahedin-Khalq and chose the new name The Fighting Organization on the Road for the Liberation of the Working Class (Peykar dar Rah-e Azadi-e Tabaghey-e Kargar, hereafter Peykar)
- ^ Mohsen M Milani (1994). The Making Of Iran's Islamic Revolution From Monarchy To Islamic Republic. Routledge. p. url.
The Marxist faction staged a coup and purged the non-Marxist elements. In 1978, the Marxist faction renamed itself Peykar and resumed its activities, and the Moslem members recaptured the leadership of the Mojahedin
- ^ Susan C. Cloninger (2017). Understanding Angry Groups: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Their Motivations and Effects on Society. Praeger. p. url.
The Marxist group was later renamed Sazman-e Peykar dar Rah-e Azadi Tabagheh Kargar or simply Peykar (The Organization for the Liberation of the Working Class), but the Islamic Mojahedin retained the original name.
- ^ Abrahamian 1989, pp. 14–148.
- ^ Iran Between Two Revolutions by Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press, 1982, p.558|quote="Paykar organization” (Marxist Mujahedin)"
- ^ Parvin Paidar (1995). Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 202.
In 1976, the Mojaedin split into two opposing sections. A group of Mojahedin denounced the path of armed struggle and the reference to Islam, and split to set up a secular guerilla organisation by the name of Peykar Khalgh. This split served to strengthen the Islamic identity of the original Mojahedin Khalgh Organisation.
- ^ Behrooz 1999, p. 72–73
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Behrooz 1999, p. 121
- ^ Vahabzadeh 2010, p. 173–174
- ^ Boroujerdi & Rahimkhani 2018, p. 332
- ^ Abrahamian, Ervand, Tortured Confessions, University of California Press, (1999), p.151-2
- ^ a b c d Behrooz 1999, p. 122
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Behrooz 1999, p. 123
- ^ Shahibzadeh 2019, p. 195
- ^ Shahibzadeh 2019, p. 211
- ^ Razoux 2015, p. 158
- ^ Razoux 2015, p. 173
- ^ Abrahamian 1999, p. 151
- ^ Abrahamian 1999, p. 128
- ^ Abrahamian 1999, p. 152
- ^ Abrahamian 1999, p. 154
- ^ MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base.
- ^ a b Behrooz 1999, p. 124
- ^ Abrahamian 1999, p. 130
- ^ Abrahamian 1999, p. 216
- ^ Razoux 2015, p. 544
- ^ Boroujerdi & Rahimkhani 2018, p. 337
- ^ Zabir 2011, p. 140
Sources
- Ḥaqšenās, Torāb (27 October 2011) [15 December 1992]. "COMMUNISM iii. In Persia after 1953". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Fasc. 1. Vol. VI. New York City: Bibliotheca Persica Press. pp. 105–112. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- Abrahamian, Ervand (1989), Radical Islam: The Iranian Mojahedin, I.B. Tauris, Yale University Press, ISBN 9781850430773
- Abrahamian, Ervand (1999), Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran, University of California Press, p. 130, ISBN 9780520216235
- Vahabzadeh, Peyman (2010), Guerrilla Odyssey: Modernization, Secularism, Democracy, and the Fadai Period of National Liberation In Iran, 1971–1979, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 9780815651475
- Behrooz, Maziar (1999), Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran, Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN 9781860643811
- Razoux, Pierre (2015), The Iran-Iraq War, translated by Nicholas Elliott, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-91571-8
- GTD ID 198204140006, MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base, archived from the original on 23 December 2013
- Reisinezhad, Arash (2018), The Shah of Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, and the Lebanese Shia, Palgrave Macmillan
- Zabir, Sepehr (2011), Iran Since the Revolution (RLE Iran A), Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-61069-8
- Boroujerdi, Mehrzad; Rahimkhani, Kourosh (2018), Postrevolutionary Iran: A Political Handbook, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 9780815654322
- Shahibzadeh, Yadullah (2019), Marxism and Left-Wing Politics in Europe and Iran, Palgrave Macmillan Cham, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92522-6, ISBN 978-3-319-92522-6