What were the Khmer Rouge's reasons for committing genocide in Cambodia?

Answer 1

Pol Pot described pre revolutionary Cambodia as consisting of peasants and workers, bourgeoisie, capitalists and feudalists. After the revolution, it consisted of workers, peasants and all other Kampuchean working people. No concessions were made for landlords and bourgeoisie that were sympathetic to the movement, as had been done during the Chinese revolution. The Middle class or people living in urban areas were reclassified as "new people", and defined as those who were unsympathetic to Democratic Kampuchea, were moved constantly and subjected to the hardest work.

Answer 2

"Pol Pot" was trying to bring Cambodia back to what he called 'Ground Zero'. 'Ground Zero' was his idea of what a utopian society should be. In order to reach this perfect society, all the citizens would have to be peasants who lived life on a subsistence level. Another theory is that was afraid that since he wasn't very powerful, revolt and overthrow could easily be obtained. So killing all of the city dwellers was his only hope for retarding a coup, because he figured that only the educated and already tainted citizens would have the power to unite against him."

Source: somewhere on the internet , but makes sense to me :D

An attempt by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot to form a Communist peasant farming society resulted in the deaths of 25 percent (approx. 2 million) of the country's population from starvation, overwork and half were by executions. In the "The Killing Fields", a 1984 film, journalist: Dith Pran, feigns simple-mindedness as intellectuals are made to disappear.

Answer 3

they wanted to make an "all farming" country. so they wanted to keep all the farmers and killed everyone else that didnt fit the requirements.