Statement of Workers’ Organisations of West and South Asia

We, the undersigned members of the West and South Asia region of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations (ICMLPO), having convened under the current conditions of the Corona-19 Pandemic to assess the current situation in the world and in South and West Asia, reviewed the work of our parties and organisations in the initial period of the pandemic and discussed the details of the work we are conducting under the conditions of the “second wave” of the pandemic.

The meeting started with a moment of silence in memory of Comrade Raul Marco whose contribution to the formation of ICMLPO has been very significant.

The conference discussed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the conduct of the respective governments on the working people and their movement and adopted the following statement.

The toiling people of the world have been deeply affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which has exacerbated the pre-existing fundamental contradictions of capitalist order. The toiling people are faced with massive loss of employment, cut in wages and increase in working hours along with  acute health hazards. Crisis is endemic to capitalism. The years preceding 2020 saw growing economic stress with deceleration of growth, increase in unemployment, and growing inequality. The year 2020 was marked by the pandemic and the eruption of a new economic crisis of capitalism with a global character, the crisis which has been aggravated by the pandemic and has developed with it.

The bourgeoisie has used the pandemic as a means of overcoming some of its economic difficulties, of suppressing the rights of the workers and toilers and ignoring their demands. Capitalism used the Covid-19 pandemic to limit and erode democracy and the organisations of the working people. The policies adopted by the bourgeois governments with regard to the pandemic and the medical treatment have a class bias and there has been a complete disregard for the concerns and requirements of the laboring masses.

In most countries while the capitalists are economically and financially supported, the working class, labouring peasantry, lower strata including the oppressed castes and tribal peoples have all been left unsupported. Work at full capacity continued at factories and workplaces with no regard for workers’ health. The pandemic was broached completely with a class attitude by the rulers which took care of the requirements of the rich and powerful and ignored the health requirement of the labouring people. Many of our countries do not have adequate public health systems. Existing hospitals in general do not provide services for free.

The pandemic was completely ignored in countries like Iran, and its existence denied. Even after the virus affected large masses of people, and the Iranian government was forced to admit its existence it adopted the policy of so called ‘herd immunity’. The government labeled the call to quarantine the infected areas and workplaces as the voice of ‘counter-revolution’. Capitalist production was not interrupted even during the most challenging periods of the pandemic in Turkey. In India, under conditions of ill-conceived lockdown, migrant workers were compelled to walk hundreds of kilometres with their families from the cities to their villages. In Bangladesh, the laboring poor were left to perish uncared for.

And in the aftermath of the pandemic, the ruling classes are attempting to present the pandemic as the cause of the capitalist crisis, thus whitewashing their neoliberal policies which actually aggravated the crisis. They have also set out to use the pandemic to take further new anti-worker measures. Laws concerning the protection of labour and decent working conditions which were badly implemented even in normal times were largely shelved under the excuse of the pandemic. Instead of  protecting the workers and the toiling people, the ruling bourgeoisie has been and plans to continue shifting the entire burden of the crisis and the pandemic onto the shoulders of the working masses. There has been massive loss of jobs, wage cuts, unsafe working conditions and forced lay off causing acute distress to the working people. We cannot accept such transferring of the burdens of the pandemic and the crisis onto the shoulders of the workers and labourers. All the blame lies with capitalists and their governments, and the burdens should be shouldered by the capitalists and their governments.

The pandemic has not only led to the deepening of class contradictions but has also aggravated inter-imperialist contradictions. In Asia, we are witnessing the intensification of inter-imperialist rivalry, especially between the USA and China, and their fight for the spheres of influence has drawn our countries within it.

It is impossible to overcome the epidemics in a humane way in the capitalist system in which private ownership of the means of production and profit determines public policy. Pandemics like Covid-19 which are likely to occur in the future can only be handled effectively in a socialist system in which all productive resources are publicly held and the interests of the working people determine policies. It is incontestable that the struggle against the pandemic cannot be separated from the struggle against imperialism, capitalism, and other forms of oppression. The conditions we are undergoing have taught us all to struggle against the Covid-19 pandemic and capitalism together.

In the current situation, therefore, we call upon the workers and all toiling people, the democratic and progressive forces of the regions to demand from their governments to adopt the policy of quarantine while providing support to the needy masses. We must fight against the laws and activities of the domestic bourgeoisie that threaten and restrict the rights of the people, and be vigilant that democratic rights are not violated and that fascism is not established.

We demand;

* Governments should abandon the policy of “herd immunity” that has caused innumerable deaths and take the responsibility of safeguarding the wellbeing of the masses seriously!

* Health is a public right; provide equal and free public health services for all.

* Workplaces with coronavirus infection must be closed down and workers’ pay should be secured by the states

* Ban retrenchments and ensure right to paid leave for workers during lock down.

* Ensure safety of workers in worksites. No safe working conditions, no production!.

* Provide adequate food and monetary support for working class families, including the unemployed and those in the informal sector, migrant workers and the displaced persons without any preconditions

* Prisons where infection has spread should be evacuated! Political prisoners should be freed!

* Doctors and health staff in the forefront of the fight against the pandemic should be supported. Reduce the daily work hours for the medical and healthcare professionals!

* Discourage large gatherings, religious or otherwise, which increase the chance of contamination without compromising democratic rights of people.

* Strikes and demonstrations cannot be banned; it is not acceptable to restrict the right to strike, protest, political and trade union association, freedom of the press with the excuse of the pandemic. No to state repression and the police violence!

* No to ethnic, national, and religious discrimination, and xenophobia! Equality of rights and opportunity for all including the oppressed castes and tribal peoples.

* Give special protection to at risk segments of the population, those for whom contamination causes a higher risk of death!

* Quarantine the provinces and cities in which the corona contamination is on the rise!

* Vaccinate the population free of charge when an effective and reliable vaccine becomes available!

* Education should continue with the necessary hygiene measures in place; classes infected with the virus should be closed temporarily, and online education should be provided with necessary equipment, and without cost to the students. Bridge the ‘digital divide’ before resorting to online education.

* End imperialist wars and military bases across the world.

* Reduce war expenditures; budgets for armaments should go to health and education.

We call upon the working peoples of all nationalities of South and West Asia to struggle, with these demands, against the governments which do not consider the Covid-19 pandemic as  a public health issue and against bourgeois governments which do not carry out this fight by prioritising public health.

We call upon the working people to combine the fight against the pandemic with the fight to end capitalism, imperialism, all forms of exploitation and oppression to create a new Socialist Society where such pandemics will not lead to mass unemployment, starvation and deprivation.

We, the Marxist-Leninist communists of West and South Asia (Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh) are doing everything in our power to unite Labour against Capital and for progress of its struggle and will continue to do so.

We can ward off the effects of the pandemic like unemployment, misery and future uncertainty only through relentless struggle of the working class and toiling people. We, the working class, working peasantry, labourers, youth and women can overcome both the pandemic and capitalism with its destructive crises. It is only we who can achieve this.

Let us unite to emancipate ourselves from the rule of capital that has brought us crisis after crisis!

Long live the struggle for Democracy!

Only Socialism can end poverty, misery, health crises, and social injustice!

Communist Party of Bangladesh (ML)

Labour Party (EMEP), Turkey

Organisation “Revolutionary Democracy”, India

Pakistan Mazdoor Mahaz

Party of Labour (Toufan), Iran

16th January 2021

Movement for the Reorganisation of the Communist Party of Greece 1918-1955 (Anasintaxi)

Movement for the Reorganisation of the Communist Party of Greece 1918-1955 (Anasintaxi) was founded in 1996. Anasintaxi, which fights for the unification of the...

Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela (PCMLV)

The Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela (PCMLV) was founded in 2009. The PCMLV is a member of CIPOML. Web site

Workers’ Party of Tunisia (PTT)

Founded in 1986 as the Communist Party of Tunisian Workers (Parti des Travailleurs de Tunisie - PTT), the party started its legal activities in...

The Communist Party of Peru (Marxist-Leninist)

The Communist Party of Peru (Marxist-Leninist) was founded in January 1964 following a split in the Communist Party of Peru and was initially known...

Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist)

The Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist) is the vanguard detachment of the proletarian class in Mexico. The PC de M (m-l) has waged an intense...

“Revolusjon”, Norway

Revolusjon (Revolution) was initially an extended editorial board that published a journal to help prepare the conditions for the re-establishment of a Marxist-Leninist Communist...

Communist Platform – for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy

Communist Platform (PC) was established in February 2008, through the merger of communist groups from different cities in Italy that had started working together...

Communist Party of Labour (PCT), Dominican Republic

The Communist Party of Labour (PCT) was formed in 1980, splitting from the Maoist Dominican People's Movement. The PCT is a member of CIPOML and...

Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist)

Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist), split from the Communist Party of Colombia in 1965. The party and its armed wing suffered a major blow in...

Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) – PCE(ml)

The Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) was founded in 1964 as a result of a split within the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). The Communist...

Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan)

The Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan) is the result of years of tireless struggle by Marxist-Leninists gathered in the Toufan Marxist Leninist Organisation,...

Workers’ Communist Party of France (PCOF)

Workers’ Communist Party of France (PCOF) was born on 18 March 1979 at the Congress of the Paris Commune. Its creation was necessitated by...

Communist Party of Benin

The Communist Party of Benin (PCB) was founded in 1977 by the Communist League of Dahomey. The party was first called the Communist Party...

Labour Party (EMEP), Turkey

Founded in 1996, the Labour Party (EMEP) takes scientific socialism, the world view of the working class, as its guide; the solidity of its...

Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador – PCMLE

The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador (PCMLE) was founded on 1 August 1964, and its Founding Congress was held in Pascuales, Guayas province. The antecedents...

Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR), Brazil

Founded in Recife in May 1966, the Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR) was organised by a group of militants who criticised the line of the...

Revolutionary Democracy, India

The organisation Revolutionary Democracy publishes the theoretical and political semi-annual journal Revolutionary Democracy in India. It contains material on the problems facing the communist movement,...

Democratic Way, Morocco

Founded in 1995, the Democratic Way considers itself to be a continuation of the Moroccan Marxist-Leninist Movement (MMLM), and in particular its main component,...

Workers’ Communist Party (APK), Denmark

The Workers’ Communist Party (Danish Arbejderpartiet Kommunisterne, APK) was founded at the Founding Congress held in Copenhagen on 20-23 April 2000. The APK Founding Congress...

Communist Party of Albania

The Communist Party of Albania is a Marxist-Leninist and anti-revisionist communist party founded in 1991. It was formed after the split of the former...

American Party of Labor (APL)

The American Party of Labor was founded in 2008 as the only openly anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist party in the United States. The Program of the American...

Solidarity with the Palestinian people!

After the operation Al Aqsa Flood launched on 7 October by different groups of Palestinian resistance, the Zionist state of Israel leaded by the...

Israel is committing a massacre in Gaza: It is a genocide, not war!

A month has passed. Israeli Zionism, using the raid of the Palestine Liberation Organisations in the south of the occupied territories on 7 October...

CIPOML stands by the Palestinian resistance, we support the Resistance

The apartheid state of Israel has raised its attacks on the Palestinian people to a new level following the "operation" Al Aqsa Flood against...