Observing 141st May Day in the Context of Aggravating Imperialist-Fascist Offensive!
As usual, Communist Parties the world over, together with Workers and Oppressed Peoples, are observing 1 May as International Workers’ Day. It was in solidarity with the historic 8-hr working-day demand raised by Chicago workers on 1 May 1886, and in commemoration of the martyrdom of workers in Haymarket, that the International Federation of Socialist Groups and Trade Unions designated 1 May as International Workers’ Day with the clarion call “Workers of the World, Unite”, a slogan originally coined by Marx and Engels. Following October Revolution and formation of Comintern (Communist International) led by Lenin, and as necessitated by the revolutionary tasks in the epoch of imperialism, at the Second Congress of the Communist International Lenin further developed the strategic slogan to “Workers and Oppressed Peoples of the World, Unite”, which became the motto of May Day since then.
Of course, after the October Revolution, there had been a world-wide surge in anti-colonial/anti-imperialist struggles led by both working class and oppressed peoples. This new situation prompted imperialism to resort to a shift from its colonial phase to neocolonialism, “more sinister and pernicious” phase of imperialism, along with the adoption of a “welfare” mask conceding 8-hour working day and some democratic rights and welfare measures till the 1970s. However, taking advantage of the ideological-political setbacks of the Communist movement, and to facilitate the accumulation process in the context of the bouncing back of inherent imperialist crisis since 1970s, US-led imperialism abandoned the “welfare state” and embraced neoliberal globalisation leading to unfettered freedom to corporate capital for plundering labour and nature.
As a result, over the last half-decade, all the hard-earned rights of workers including 8-hr work, minimum wage, social security, etc., are being increasingly snatched away from them, while all kinds of oppression in relation to caste, gender, race, nationality, and so on, have intensified several-fold. At a time when rapid technological advancements under neoliberalism, especially 21st century ‘frontier technologies’ including Digitization and Artificial Intelligence, have brought about several-fold increase in productivity of labour, rather than contributing to an increase in real wages and reduction in the working time, these are resulting in skyrocketing corporate accumulation, super-exploitation of workers including their “informalization”, inequality, poverty and plunder of nature leading to ecological catastrophes everywhere. And, one of the outcomes of technologies like AI is unprecedented levels of unemployment transforming the whole world, whether imperialist or neocolonial, into a “waste-land of unemployment”.
Now, as workers and oppressed peoples together with Left and Democratic forces across the world, are rising up in varying forms against this horrific situation, imperialist powers and their dependent regimes are becoming more oppressive by resorting to neo-fascism (i.e. fascism in the neoliberal period) across the world. In this neofascist offensive, while the usual “anti-Communism” and anti-Muslimness or Islamophobia are being globally used as the ideological bases of fascism, according to the concrete social and historical condition of countries, varying ideologies such as Evangelism in the Americas, Racism and Xenophobia in Europe, Zionism in Israel, Casteist Hindutva (political Hinduism) in India, etc., are providing ideological orientation to fascism. As such, the condition of the working class and oppressed peoples including minorities, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, women, transgenders, and above all, the most oppressed Dalits as in India, has become all the more vulnerable.
In this context, the second coming of neo-fascist Trump as the president of US, the leading imperialist power and world’s biggest military machine, and the further strengthening of the “US-Zionist axis of evil” have led to disastrous consequences. In continuation of the horrors and holocausts upon Palestine people, the US-Zionist axis of evil, world people’s number one enemy today, is committing unprecedented aggression and crimes on Iran in violation of all international laws and precedents. Of late, though this US-Zionist crimes in Middle East have led to unprecedented inter-imperialist contradictions, except rhetorical statements, the other self-seeking imperialist powers are not taking any serious intervention in restraining the US-Zionist axis, the root cause of all the geopolitical tensions in the Gulf today. Even now, there are self-professed communist parties, who still pursue an approach of balancing US-Zionist axis of evil with Iranian regime. Meanwhile, as the heroic and historic resistance of the Iranian people against US-Zionist axis is getting whole-hearted solidarity from world people, both US imperialism and the Zionist regime, the Middle East military outpost of US, remain as the most hated regimes by international community. At the same time, the emerging inter-imperialist contradictions also depict a tilt in imperialist power balance and consequent geopolitical shift away from the declining US-led Anglo-Saxon West towards a multi-polar configuration in which China-led coalition has a major role.
Regarding India, that comprises one of the largest contingents of international proletariat, the fascism led by world’s biggest political party BJP, the political tool of RSS, world’s largest and longest-running fascist organisation, has become more horrific. Today, while these lines are written, as part of the Hindu Rashtra agenda od RSS, using the Election Commission and the entire administration and even judiciary at its disposal, the Modi regime is engaged in a “political genocide”, mainly targeting the Muslims by disenfranchising and eventually denying citizenship to them. Modi regime, the lackey of US imperialism, and serving the most corrupt elements of corporate capital, is the biggest enemy of Indian working class, vast majority of whom are informal or unorganised, divided into caste-imposed heterogeneous categories, and condemned to sell their labour power at the cheapest wages. The neofascist legislation by Modi government converting the prevailing 44 Labour Laws into four Labour Codes, in conformity with the “ease of doing business” diktat promulgated by Fund-Bank-WTO trio and imperialist think-tanks at the behest of global corporate capital and its junior Indian partners, are intended to transform the Indian workers into 21st century bonded/slave labourers who are bound to work on casual and contract basis devoid of basic democratic/human rights. Long-cherished goals of the working class such as 8-hour working day, permanent employment, pension system, equal pay for equal work, gender-friendly working conditions and so on have become a myth under fascist Modi regime. As part of neoliberal-corporatism, the Modi government, after transforming itself as a ‘corporate-facilitator’ has already withdrawn from all infrastructure, industrial and service sectors and everything is entrusted with the most corrupt corporate billionaires for plundering labour and nature as they like.
Another crucial issue, that requires the attention of the Indian working class and oppressed peoples while observing May Day, is the flourishing corruption in India under the fascist regime. While Parliament is kept as a mere edifice, policy decisions are made in corporate board rooms. While corporate funds are flowing into the coffers of the ruling party though notorious Electoral Bonds, under the cover of Corporate Social Responsibility and through non-transparent contributions on the one hand, through horrific corporate tax-cuts, disinvestment of PSUs, direct channelling of several lakh crores of bank money to crony corporates through ‘Non-Performing Assets’ and so on, wealth concentration among the billionaire class under Modi regime has reached unparalleled proportions. The gap between the common people and the super-rich has reached hitherto unknown levels. For instance, the top one percent of super-rich Indians holds 40 percent of the national wealth, more than that under British colonialism, while that of bottom 50 percent of the people having only 3 percent, which is much less than what it was at the time of Power Transfer in 1947. Corporate crony capitalists in whom India’s wealth is concentrated and who are totally depending on imperialist centres for technology and expertise are least interested in employment-generating real production and are engaged in money-spinning speculative businesses. As a result, unemployment has become unprecedented, while working class and oppressed people with steeply going down real income and declining purchasing power are unable even to subsist amidst sky-rocketing prices of food, fuel, medicine and other items. Today, with more than half of world’s “absolute poor” or extreme poor, India is called a “citadel of global poverty”.
At this critical juncture, it is the solemn task of all workers and oppressed people to stand in solidarity with the world-wide struggles rising up against neofascism and imperialism in all their manifestations including wars, super-exploitation of workers and toiling and oppressed peoples, against environmental destruction, etc. While extending warmest May Day greetings to international proletariat and all oppressed peoples of the world, and while building up revolutionary, fraternal comradeship with them and all like-minded forces in the struggle for people’s democracy and socialism, the revolutionary Communists and all democratic forces in India today have a two-pronged but interrelated tasks in front of them. First is the strategic and long-term task of resisting and defeating the ruling system and establish a people’s democratic state. However, under fascism that denies even the basic democratic rights, this long-term task can be taken up only by creating minimum conditions necessary for waging struggles and campaigns. Therefore, the immediate and urgent task before us is to defeat and remove the most reactionary RSS fascism at the earliest.
To be precise, when we commemorate the 141st May Day at this critical juncture when RSS fascism, with Islamophobia and most inhuman Brahmanical caste-system as ideological base is super-imposing its fascist stranglehold over the Indian people, it is the indispensable task to rise up against this horrific situation utilising all options at the disposal. That’s, while always upholding international solidarity, it is the solemn task of India’s workers and oppressed to commemorate this May Day calling for a no-holds-barred offensive against RSS fascism. This is essential for creating the conditions for taking up the strategic march towards the establishment of people’s democracy and socialism in solidarity with all workers and oppressed peoples of the world today.
Long Live May Day!
Workers and Oppressed Peoples of the World, Unite!
Down with Imperialism and Fascism!
Wipe out US-Zionist Axis of Evil!
Solidarity with the People of Palestine and Iran!
(Editorial: Red Star Monthly, May 2026 Issue)
