Breaking its silence on the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong-led Cultural Revolution in which millions of people were killed, China's official media today called it a "huge disaster" and "decade of calamity", saying it will never be repeated as modern China has "no place for it".
"The Cultural Revolution era is long over. We have bid farewell to the Cultural Revolution. We can say it once again today that the Cultural Revolution cannot and will not come back. There is no place for it in today's China," state-run Global Times said in its editorial.
The Communist party-controlled daily said "the decade-long internal chaos was a huge disaster."
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Though the Monday's anniversary which also marks the death of Mao was observed by his supporters in his home village Shaoshan in Hunan province it was largely ignored by CPC and the government.
No official memorial events were held to remember a period during which up to 2 million lives are thought to have been lost as Red Guards ran riot and the army battled to restore order.
In the editorial, the Global Times, said "It is not possible for such a revolution to be repeated. The decade of calamity caused severe damage, leaving permanent pain for many Chinese. Entirely denying the values of the Cultural Revolution will help Chinese society remain vigilant against the danger of all kinds of disorder."
Five decades ago, on May 16 the CPC headed by Mao issued a top directive calling on its people to rid society of "members of the bourgeoisie threatening to seize political power from the proletariat", marking the start of a decade-long violent class struggle.
For 10 tumultuous years from 1966, the country underwent massive socio-political upheaval that saw countless politicians and intellectuals driven to their deaths, civilians killed in armed conflicts, and cultural relics and artefacts destroyed.
Cultural Revolution, the brain child of Mao, which also radically impacted the communist movements all around the world including India, died along with him in 1976 after moderates headed by Deng Xiaoping seized power from "gang of four" headed by Mao's widow and liberalised Marxian ideology with economic reforms which made China world's second largest economy in about three decades.
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The editorial said, "Resolution on certain questions in the history of our party since the founding of the People's Republic of China, adopted in 1981 by the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the authoritative conclusion of the utter denial of Cultural Revolution."
"Since then, generations of Chinese leaders have all firmly stuck to the conclusion of the resolution. Completely denying the values of the Cultural Revolution is not only an understanding throughout the party, but also a stable consensus of the whole of Chinese society," it said.
The daily, however, claimed that the Cultural Revolution gifted the country a "certain immunity" from civil unrest.
"Over the past few years, many developing countries have experienced civil strife, but not China. A significant reason is that the lessons the Cultural Revolution taught us has given the nation a certain immunity. Nobody fears turmoil, and desires stability more than us," it said.
