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FREEDOMWAYS
THRID QUARTAR 1972

so-called "debatable" items the initiative came from the Chinese representatives who already were set upon transforming the writers' movement into a "discussion club" and using its rostrum for slander against the socialist world.
  In the course of the Cairo conference and later at a meeting of the Executive Committee in Jakarta (1963) there developed a trend in the writers' movement to subjugate it to the anti-popular and nationalistic goals of those in the Mao Tse-tung clique. The situation in the Afro-Asian writers' movement was thus aggravated and subordinated to the careeristic pursuances of people who cared little for the destinies of Asian and African peoples. The representatives of the Chinese People's Republic opposed with ultra-revolutionary phraseology the desire of many Afro-Asian writers to develop fruitful cooperation.
  R.D. Senanayanke, secretary general of the Permanent Bureau, adopted a line aimed at splitting the ranks of the writers instead of upholding the principles of friendship and solidarity which formed the basis for the writers' conferences in Delhi, Tashkent and Cairo. In spite of demands voiced by member countries Senanayanke did not call a single meeting of the Bureau during the period from 1963 to 1966 although under the existing regulations he was to have held such meetings twice annually. At the same time he rejected the principle of collective leadership and collective responsibility and resorted to activity incompatible with his post of secretary general of an international public organization. For instance "delegations" were sent to various countries of Asia and Africa with the purpose of signing "agreements" and "communiques" on political problems on behalf of the Permanent Bureau. The text of those members of the Bureau and the very dispatch of "delegations" became known to the member countries only from newspaper reports.
  In his day-by-day activities R. D. Senanayanke was guided by personal political likes and dislikes. By this he did not only undermined the unity of progressive writers but also attempted to split the literary movement. Thus, in fact he was detrimental to the struggle against imperialism and colonialism.
  Seeing that the actions taken by the Chinese representatives and Senanayake threatened the very existence of the literary movement of the two continents of Union of Writers of the USSR jointly with writers' organizations in Ceylon, India and the Sudan approached their colleagues in the United Arab Republic and asked them to take the initiative in calling an extraordinary session of the Permanent Bureau if Cairo with the purpose of discussing the situation in the Afro-Asian Writers' Movement.
  The extraordinary session of the Permanent Bureau was held in Cairo in June, 1966. It was attended by representatives of the UAR, India, Cameroon, the USSR, Sudan and Ceylon. Delegates from China, Japan, Ghana and Indonesia did not arrive in Cairo although invitations had been forwarded to them. The Cairo session adopted important decisions, first and foremost on convening the Third Afro-Asian Writers' Conference in Beirouth. The Permanent Bureau was transferred from Colombo to Cairo and its secretary general was no longer Senanayake. These decisions were later approved by the Executive Committee which met in Baku in September, 1966.
  The Chinese did not agree with the decisions of the Cairo session of the Permanent Bureau and effected an open split in the writers' movement by holding in Peking an extraordinary conference of Asian and African writers. The overwhelming majority of progressive writers in the Afro-Asian world refused to go to Peking and did not follow in its wake. This was illustrated by the Third Conference of Afro-Asian Writers in Beirouth in March, 1967. The writers of 48 countries of Asian and Africa meeting in the Lebanese capital reiterated their loyalty to the principles and ideals which brought them together in 1958 into the Afro-Asian writers' organization in Tashkent. Firmly believing in the unbreakable bonds of literature with the peoples and their lives the delegates to the Beirouth conference adopted a Declaration saying in part that it is the sacred duty of literature to serve mankind and to carry high the torch which shoes the way to the struggle from freedom, progress and peace.
  The Beirouth Conference breathed fresh life into the Afro-Asian writers' movement. The Afro-Asian Writer's Association got down to the practical realization of tasks outlined by the Third Conference. The Permanent Bureau resumed its regular session twice annually and prominent writers were invited to participate its work. Publication was started in Cairo of quarterly literary magazine Lotus[[italicized]] in Arabic, English and French. It has an international editorial board comprising prominent writers from ten countries. The magazine became a spokesman from Afro-Asian writers, a focal center for everything that was new and talented in present-day progressive literature of the East. in 1969 the magazine Lotus[[italicized]] awarded its first literary prizes to the best works of Afro-Asian literature ($1,200 dollars, a diploma and a medal). Among the first Lotus[[italicized]]