LALIT Marks Labour Day in Times of War and Genocide
01.05.2026
The 2026 Labour Day in Mauritius was marked by the absence of all the mainstream political parties that usually vie for who can draw the biggest crowd to their own rally to celebrate the power of “labour” against “capital”, compared with the crowd of their adversaries. This time the “big” parties, which are actually small parties that make tactical alliances just before elections, were, all of them, silent. So silent they only went to various cemeteries where dead working class leaders’ remains lie.
Up until now, but maybe no longer since the last general elections, all mainstream political parties in Mauritius stand, in words, for the working class. They all oppose the oligarch sugar estate owners if not the entire bourgeoisie and are indeed all “socialist”, again in words. All are allies of the Palestinian people, mostly in words only. They oppose Apartheid – in words. They oppose all colonialism and imperialism, in words. Or did so. And all are 100% “non-aligned”. Or were.
The reason for all these brave stands was that it has always been, or had always been, impossible to win any election unless you, at least in words, take, or took, these stands. The working class was strong enough in both programmatic and organizational terms to demand this kind of program. However, the working class has never, so far, been strong enough to enforce such a program on these parties once they come to power, parties run by various kinds of lackeys to the bourgeoisie.
Repeated “disappointments” have turned the working people angrily against all the existing mainstream parties. So angry are they this Labour Day 2026 that the parties cannot hold their rallies. It would not have been sufficient this time to organize free buses, free briani, free trips to the seaside afterwards, or even money hand-outs to bribe people to be present to inflate their numbers in the annual numbers game of “who can get the most workers” to come to their rally.
Neither the Government parties nor any of the Opposition parties held their customary rallies. This happens, even as the government alliance fractures after 18 months in power.
It fractured in a strange way in that the caudillo leader of the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) Paul Bérenger, who was Vice Prime Minister, his MMM daughter who was a Junior Minister and one other MMM MP called Chetan Baboolall, ended up first leaving the Government, while all the rest of the MMM stayed on in Government, and then leaving the MMM, itself. They have left themselves bewildered, their former party the MMM bewildered, and the Government, already without a clue where it was going, if anywhere, also bewildered.
So neither Bérenger’s group which is provisionally called “Konba Militan Progresis”, nor the MMM, nor Labour, nor the Rezistans, nor Nouveau Democrates (a bit of the Parti Mauricien Social Democrate - PMSD) held their usual rallies. Neither did the PMSD, itself or the MSM (Mouvement Socialiste Mauricien). Note their names all include concepts key to the class struggle: “labour”, “militant”, “resistance”, “democrat” and “social democrate”, “progressive” and with “konba” even the idea of “struggle”. Again, in name only!
LALIT seems to be the only party that celebrated as it is accustomed to: we held a LALIT get-together where members and supporters invited their families to mark the day, with both celebrations of the power of labour, or at least its potential power, against capital, and a program of demands for a working class strategy for the working class to come to power as a class.
And that is what we did today.
LALIT’s event was held in the “music hall” above member Rajni Lallah’s house in Forest-Side, and music was indeed plaited into the celebration.
The program was built around the speech by Rada Kistnasamy, who situated where the working class in Mauritius is today, in these times of a US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran and its people, even as their genocide against the people of Gaza goes on towards the end of its third year and continues on against all the Palestinian people for its 78th year, and now begins to wipe out parts of the Lebanon and Syria.
Rada pointed out our particular responsibility for our own Government housing the USA’s military base on our land, on Diego Garcia.
He denounced the Ramgoolam government for going begging for a bit of “blood money” from the UK for renting Chagos out for it to be used against the people of Iran when under blatant illegal aggression, and doing this even when international law’s highest Court, the ICJ, has already adjudicated that Chagos was and still is part of Mauritius, and said the UK should get out, taking its lodger USA base on Diego Garcia with it.
Rada said the moment was a strange one. The whole Western colonial empire is falling politically, and the working class has to seize the moment to make clear demands. He referred to the four key demands of the “Common Declaration” signed up to by 26 organizations, and representing some 100,000 working people in all: That the Mauritian government should 1) call for the closure of the Diego Garcia base, 2) join South Africa’s case against Israel for genocide, 3) deny any use of our land by the USA in its war of aggression against Iran, and 4) force the Mauritian sugar oligarchs to plant food crops on one-third of their land, and use their infrastructure to preserve these food products, while hotel bosses should invest in a fishing industry to support this food security plan, and assure a swift to renewable energy, in particular from wind and sun.
But, before Rada’s speech, as people gathered, Rajni played the piano – one of her compositions that conjures up the spirit of struggle from the atmosphere around us into the notes of music. And this was followed by Rajni accompanying me, another LALIT member, as I read a poem “Omaz Doker Jenoa” in praise of the dock workers of Italy for their strike against handling arms for the Israeli Genocide. They gave us a feisty lead to follow.
Only then did Cindy and I begin to preside, with a light touch, situating the event. Cindy, like other speakers, also paid homage to Ram Seegobin, who died three months ago, and who still inspires us.
Cindy then introduced a poem “Zefor Imin” by Jacques Prevert translated by Richard Etienne into Kreol, read by Sofia.
This was followed by haunting Darbuka music live, skillfully performed by Denis.
Gary introduced organizations that had written us messages. He and Alain had prepared this fascinating bit of modern history – the links between LALIT and parties in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas over some 45 years. There were messages from political and working class groups in Japan, Namibia, Britain, the USA, Palestine, France and Australia, each one linked to a short, clear narrative of how we know them. They nearly all referred to the Common Declaration that Rada would later outline, and to Ram’s contribution.
The next music was by Nitin, accompanied by his own guitar, a moving piece of his own, both melancholy and decided, committed.
After Rada’s speech, Gary read the “found poem” where a group of women adult literacy students on seeing a poster of Picasso’s Guernica, had made profound comments on this most iconic of anti-war depictions in all art.
Sarah Honoré and Tharun then played three beautiful compositions, each different from the other, each exquisite and delicate, while also being bold.
Another Sarah, Sarah Jane then read a poem “Kontrol Uvriye: Konn u Lennmi!” by the Irish poet, Christopher Logue, in Kreol.
Marlene, Marc, Clifford and Gerald played three Country and Western songs, two magnificent guitars and drummer, with vocals by first Marlene, then Marc.
Anne-Marie read the Irish poem “Nu’le Pa Plis ki Bul Later” by James Conolly in Kreol translation. “We only want the earth,” a poem teasing those who call for diluting our program for the working class to take power, as a class.
Alain and Marousia, as is their custom, as we began to round up, came in with vibrant working class songs with a sega beat, accompanied by their two fine performances on the ravann.
Then, acapella, we all sang “Linternasyonal”. You could almost have heard it at the Football stadium across the road.
And then, everyone, under two cute little bright-red tents outside, shared the food and drink we had each brought, and chatted away, laughing together.
It was the perfect way to spend this Labour Day. Even the Curepipe weather, Forest-Side even more so, was perfect.
Lindsey Collen, for LALIT, 1 May 2026
