Thousands of workers across South Asia marked International Workers’ Day (May Day) on May 1, 2025, with rallies in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and other regions. Demonstrators demanded fair wages, better working conditions, and labor rights while condemning capitalist exploitation and expressing solidarity with global anti-imperialist movements, including Palestine’s struggle against Israeli occupation.
Key Highlights:
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India: Massive rallies organized by trade unions (CITU, AITUC) and communist parties in cities like Delhi, Bangalore, and rural areas. Workers protested the BJP-led government’s 2020 labor codes, deemed anti-worker, and called for a national strike on May 20 to demand their repeal. IT employees in Bangalore and agricultural workers in Bihar participated prominently.
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Pakistan: Rallies led by groups like the Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP) and Haqooq-e-Khalq Party (HKP) highlighted issues like privatization, minimum wages, and worker harassment. A rally in Faisalabad honored Asif Jatt, a worker who died protesting management abuses.
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Sri Lanka: The National People’s Power (NPP), led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, celebrated the country’s first leftist government in decades, emphasizing socialist alternatives to capitalism.
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Bangladesh: Bangladesh’s JASOD and Nepal’s GEFONT organized rallies in Dhaka stressing workers’ unity and rights.
- Nepal: The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) took out a massive rally in the capital Kathmandu.
Political Messaging:
Leftist leaders, including India’s D Raja (CPI) and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M), in India, emphasized the need to combat privatization, inequality, and war. Globally, protests linked local labor struggles to broader anti-imperialist movements, underscoring calls for socialism and workers’ unity.
Social media played a key role in amplifying demands, with unions and parties sharing rally highlights and slogans like “Workers of the world unite!” on platform like X.
