Many of Marxist members wanted to announce their strategic turnabout even before the declaration of Marxist wing manifesto. There are many statements made by imprisoned Mojahedin in this regard …Rajavi refusing to reveal the identity of Marxist members as well as his own conversion from Islam to Marxism
The mistakes made by Rajavi can be classified as those made in the early years of his seizing the power as the leader of MKO or the so called PMOI and those made after the victory of Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979…Rajavi made his first big mistake of resorting to armed struggle just to achieve his totalitarian ambitions..
Despite the fact that in almost all political systems and groups it is attempted to conceal the identity of the spies, within MKO / PMOI spying is respected and valued so all members are involved in it openly and consider it to be an ideological and organizational duty ..
It is meaningless to talk of a cult in the absence of its leader because formation of a cult depends on the outstanding ability of the founder termed as the leader or guru who charms and wins over followers. In fact, the life and survival of a cult is strongly tied to the leader that steers it. That is mostly because the purpose of a cultic group is to serve the emotional, financial, political, and in general power ambitions of the leader.
In a cult, the self appointed leader is the centre of power and is the one who determines the values and goals. There is no limit to the authority of the leader. ..MKO / PMOI, taking Marxism as a model, as of its inception and during expansion of its organi-sational structure, administered itself based on democratic centralism or central rule based on majority of votes. According to the Organisation there was a transitional period between the years 1978 and 1979 and between 1979 and 1984 when Rajavi’s authoritarian rule was established and from 1984, the organisation transformed itself into a cult.
In fact, before MKO relocation to Iraq to execute cultic relations in Camp Ashraf as its main cult bastion, the cult thought had passed its embryo stage at Auvers-Sur-Oise in Paris. The importance of Camp Ashraf for Mujahedin Khalq lies in the fact that it was the best remote and controlled spot as needed for cult activities…..The main goal was on the one hand to recruit members with no ideology or whose ideology somehow contradicted that of MKO, and on the other hand the NCR was intended to act as a catalyst between the West and MKO.
Since my separation from your organization and stepping into the free world one and a half years ago, I have concluded, through a variety of studies, that Mujahedin organization is definitely a cult …It is typical of cult leaders to take nobody’s advice and it is a vain attempt to change them….Camp Ashraf in Iraq will have no better ending than David Koresh’s Mount Carmel complex outside of Waco in Texas or the Peoples Temple’s Jonestown located in Guyana in South America.
Unlike normal procedures, Massoud Rajavi, by the effective aid of the brave martyred commander Musa Khyabani, disregarded many existing potentialities and started reorganization by purging all reactionary inclinations in an attempt to accomplish Hanif’s unfulfilled plan of bringing together a versatile cadre. He suspended all previous memberships and started a new recruitment out of the imprisoned Mojahedin
Maryam being closely attached to Rajavi, recognition of him was only possible through attachment to her. She plays the role of a qualified subordinate for the purpose of seeing that other members adhere to her husband’s wishes and rules: Maryam Rajavi was held up as an example to the women in the Mujahedin organisation. It was claimed that women could free themselves from their oppression as women, only by following her example.
A charismatic leader does not appear in a vacuum and is in part the product of a larger social or political trend. To build a hierarchical authority with him atop, a charismatic leader claims divinity or special knowledge and demands unquestioning obedience and devotion from the followers. Doubting or questioning the leader’s authority is not at all tolerated and the leader may be aided by one or more core of leaders.