Lessons of the struggle

The meaning of the title, "Prisonersof Partition", the recently published pamphlet of Peoples Democracy, is sharply illustrated in the following paragraph:

"The prisoners are therefore "prisoners of partition" in seve— ral distinct senses. They arein jail because of the mass political convulsion that has challenged imperialist rule in lrelandover the past twelve years. They are in jail because of the special political laws and the political mechanisms of torture, repression and judicial internment that are necessary tokeep partition alive. Finally, their treatment in prison is part of anattempt tolegitimate partition and secure Britishrule over yet another generation of the Irishpeople".

It also sums up the approach of the pamphlet — ie,broadly anal y— tical of the anti-imperialist struggle over the last decade. Itis, above, all, anattempt to (in its own words) "learn as much as we can from thishistory of our struggle rather than repeat the mistakes of the past".

"Prisoners ofPartition", lays squarely the blame for a second hunger strike on British shoul-— ders. They have refused to concede to the five demands andrejected any form of compromise with the prisoners.

For five longyears, the menin Long Kesh have been "'on the blanket"! and the women in Armagh have joined the protest of their comrades, The pamphlet makes it clear that for five years Britishintransigence isnot sim—le stubbornness or even pure vindictiveness. Notatall, criminalisation of political prisonersispartandparcel of aplan to legitimise the Britishpresence andpartition by way of smashing the anti-imperialist resistance.

Imperialist Strategy, by way of the establishment of the sectarian six county state and the whole arsenal of repressive legislation is also tackledin "Prisoners of Fartition". Internment , Bloody Sunday, Diplock Courts, Emergency Provisions Act, Preventionof TerrorismAct, the use of torture both the forerunner and the transmission belt to the H-Block andArmagh, are marked off clearly.

No one nowcan be in any doubt of Prisoners of Partition neweoneomg 4 Op to 1976. The intensity of repress— ion doesnot explain the decline. Quite the contrary, as the pamphlet argues —- "'The movement was able to grow and move forward even under the hammer— blows of internment and Bloody Sunday. The full force of Loy— alist terror was felt after the decline of the mass movement, not before".

The decline was inevitable due to the political confusion and lack of aclear perspective and strategy inside the movement. AsPrisoners of Partition states:

"It had achieved sufficient clarity andunity inits demands, and methods to bring down Stormont, but not sufficient to force out the British and achieve an United Ireland".

The pamphlet takes a hardanddir— ect look at the mistakes of the anti-imperialist movement and -notably of the main constituent organisation, the Provos. Their militarist emphasis strategically is traced throughout therise, decline andrise again of the mass movement from the Coalisland Conference, through the Burn—tollet Commemoration, the Eur-— opean Elections and the establishment of the National H-Block/ Armagh campaign.

The repetition of some mistakes made once in the RAC!s andnow again inside the campaign, the "restrictions" on democratic representation are highlighted as impediments to the campaign.

The important andcentral role of Peoples Democracy, its traditions andreal roots in the struggle are explainedtoreaders. It isa tradition of the fight for arevolutionary Marxist analysis of the struggle against BritishImperialism and the programme to lead it to success.

Perhaps the most important section of the pamphlet is the last one entitled "Where do we go from here!!, Aimed at the H-Block/ Armagh campaign, it best encapsulates themain political con-cepts of the pamphlet as a whole andlaysbefore the reader a strategic orientation for the anti-imperialist movement in this prison struggle. It wouldbe difficult to summarise - why not buy andread the pamphlet yourself!

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