Pol Pot

Pol Pot was the leader of the of the communist movement in Cambodia known as the Khmer Rouge. He was the Prime Minister of country from 1976 to 1979 and became the de facto leader since 1975. He adopted an anti-intellectual policy. He imposed the concept of "Year Zero". The policy he adopted was a radical version of Maoism. He believed in Mao's theory that peasants were the true proletariat. "Year Zero" means that civilization should be restarted and all former culture and traditions within the society should be abolished. This concept directed against the urban petite bourgeoisie, intellectuals, politicians, bureaucrats, rich people etc. Approximately 750,000 to 1.7 million individuals of belonging to these classes were systematically eliminated through forced labor. This has been viewed by capitalists, anti-Communists and by certain fraction of Marxists as "genocide", while other Marxists like Mao supported his action and helped him when Vietnam invaded Cambodia.