As does every year, 2025 also taught us some unforgettable lessons, posed some uncomfortable questions and gave us some memories to cherish. We lived through the war and the protests to stop the war; we saw attempts to sabotage hard-won rights and also resistance against such attempts. People made their choices that made us sit, think, analyse and learn lessons. Overall, it is yet another year that marched into history, pushing us to search for a better future.

The ruling classes would like us to believe that the turbulence of recent years has settled, that the economy has stabilised, and that democracy remains robust. For millions, this claim rings hollow because for them, the prices did not fall, and job security does not exist. Democratic spaces continue to shrink. What has, in fact, expanded or grown wider is the distance between official claims and everyday experience.

Gaza and the Politics of Selective Peace

Israel’s genocidal aggression on Gaza made it abundantly clear that imperialism is not a system for peace. The growing voices of protest against US imperialism-backed Zionist aggression forced them to consider a ceasefire. But what was advertised as a ceasefire was, in practice, a demand for unilateral restraint. Palestinian resistance was to be dismantled; Israeli military action was to continue under the familiar cover of “security”. This was coercion dressed up as diplomacy. It was a ceasefire imposed only on Palestinian resistance against occupation, while Israeli violations continued. The objective was to impose an arrangement that permanently weakens the Palestinian struggle and secures imperialist strategic interests in the region.

The Indian government’s shameless support for Zionist Israel marked another low for our foreign policy, as the country was moved further away from its historical position of standing unflinchingly with the people of Palestine. This reflects a deeper ideological convergence of Hindutva-Manuvadi forces and Zionism, and both of them are unashamed to support authoritarian and majoritarian projects. This is the cost one has to bear for aligning closely with the US and its imperialist project.

Trump, Tariffs and the Persistence of Imperial Power

Donald Trump’s return to the presidency of the United States brought with it a renewed bout of tariff wars and economic bullying. It reaffirmed a long-standing truth that imperial power does not depend on the personalities or persons in office. It is the system itself that is responsible.

Trump’s tariffs were marketed as weapons to bring back jobs to America. But their real intention was to shift pressure onto weaker economies, discipline rivals, and impose hegemony. For those who have developed illusions about imperialism, listening to Trump’s talk about peace, the National Security Strategy 2025 of the US is an eye-opener. It wants to reinstate the Monroe Doctrine and enforce it over the Western hemisphere immediately. The US attacks in the Caribbean Sea and the threat of military invasion of Venezuela are a reminder that imperialism does not change its character.

For the Indian government that has hitched the country’s interests with those of the US by signing another ten-year extension of the defence framework deal, 2025 should serve as a reminder that alignment with imperialist power only guarantees subjugation.

Elections Without Real Choice

The year was also marked by a series of elections across the world. Turnout figures were debated, alliances analysed, and winners and losers declared.

The election of Catherine Connolly as President of Ireland was the outcome of her long involvement and participation in social struggles for housing, public services, and opposition to militarisation. It demonstrated that sincere commitment towards Left politics gains acceptance from the people. The election of candidates of the Democratic Socialists of America at various levels in the US is yet another testament that people are searching for alternatives. The cherry on the cake, of course, belongs to Zohran Mamdani, who was elected as mayor of New York City, the present-day capital of international finance capital.

But all was not rosy. In many countries, the right-wing triumphed. In Latin America, persistent interventions of the US and the failure of certain Left, progressive governments led to the resurgence of right-wing parties. Bolivia, Chile and Honduras saw the right-wing forces form the governments, defeating the Left, progressive forces. However, it should not be forgotten that despite their victories, the Right does not command more than 25-30 per cent votes in these countries. The scope for the Left reclaiming its place by defeating the Right still exists.

Sri Lanka’s local government elections illustrated the tension between the Left and Right sharply. We hope that the JVP will succeed in smoothening the rough spots and consolidating the goodwill of the people, which saw a slight hit during the local body elections. Elections do not by themselves constitute democracy.  Democracy is the right of choice, participation and role in framing policies and governance. Without sustained political mobilisation and organisation, there is a danger that democracy might be limited to only voting in elections.

Youth, Protest and the Cracks in Authority

In South Asia, 2025 saw youth-led protests that unsettled political establishments. In Nepal, young people took to the streets out of frustration. Corruption, unemployment, and the sense of being locked out of decision-making produced a volatile mix.

In Bangladesh, the situation became more severe. Protests unfolded last year, under conditions of economic hardship, combined with a shrinking democratic space and increasing repression. Popular discontent was cleverly used by the religious fundamentalist forces, who are targeting and attacking religious minorities. Communal polarisation is neither a solution nor beneficial to anyone.  For the Left, these developments pose a challenge. Youth anger requires engagement, organisation and a correct political perspective about real alternatives. Mere romanticising of such protests without being vigilant about the actors lurking around to take advantage of these protests would be a grave mistake.

Europe - The Return of Open Class Conflict

Contrary to the notion that class politics has been tamed in advanced capitalist societies, 2025 saw significant working-class resistance across Europe. Militant and sustained working class actions in France and Greece, strikes in Italy and Portugal and municipal struggles in the United Kingdom demonstrated the fire raging in the bellies of the workers.

The reasons were not obscure. Welfare systems painstakingly achieved after decades of struggle are being dismantled. Wages lag behind rising costs. Public money is diverted towards facilitating corporate profits, while military expenditure is rising and social spending is cut. These contradictions are increasingly coming to the fore.

The significance of these struggles reminds us that capitalism tries hard to manage class conflicts, but cannot resolve them.

These struggles reinforce a simple truth that the working class – the universal class – faces similar problems in various countries. Networks are being built, and efforts are made to synchronise global protests.

Democracy Reduced, Step by Step

If the global situation in 2025 revealed the limits of the existing order, developments within India exposed something more troubling, that is, a deliberate push towards authoritarianism.  The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls carried out in various states is a blatant attempt to disenfranchise a large number of genuine voters by asking them to produce outdated records and demanding documentation that large sections of the population simply do not possess. The exercise places the burden of proof on citizens. Migrant workers, the urban poor, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities were the first to feel its effects. The Election Commission is abdicating its responsibility, and the onus is now on the citizens to show they are eligible to be enrolled as voters. Efforts are being made to implement NRC through the back door. The ECI is assuming powers that are not granted to it by the Constitution and demanding that citizens prove their citizenship.

The announcement of the Census exercise from 2026 is an attempt to rush through the enumeration process to use the data for the delimitation exercise in time for the next general election (2029). Such a move without proper consultations and popular involvement would be disastrous for the country.

Federalism, too, suffered heavily through 2025. Financial pressure, conditional schemes and the routine sidelining of elected state governments are normalised. The Presidential reference on the role of governors did little to restore the constitutional balance. It only green-lighted the attack on federal principles and the federal structure of our society and polity.

An Economy Rewritten for Capital

Alongside these developments runs an unambiguous economic agenda. The labour codes, resisted by trade unions across the country, are notified. By weakening collective bargaining, encouraging contract labour and diluting protections, they aim to remake the world of work in favour of employers. For millions of workers, this is about job security, wages, and dignity.

The scrapping of MGNREGA and replacing it with a toothless VBGRAMG during the year made this even clearer. The character of the scheme is completely changed. It no more remains a demand-driven scheme.  Delayed payments, inadequate allocations and administrative hurdles hollowed out what was once a crucial guarantee for rural households. The right to work remains in law, but its substance is steadily being drained away.   In times of rising prices and uncertain employment, this retreat carries severe consequences. And the Centre wants to skirt its responsibility, and resource-starved states are asked to share 40 per cent of the burden.

The proposed changes to electricity laws follow similar logic. Privatisation, the dismantling of cross-subsidies, and the centralisation of control threaten to make electricity unaffordable for farmers and ordinary consumers while handing profitable segments to private players. That these changes also undermine the rights of states is not incidental. Centralisation and corporatisation go hand in hand.

Attempts to dilute nuclear liability provisions through the so-called SHANTI Bill add another layer to this picture. Here again, the message was clear: public risk is acceptable, but private profits cannot be put at stake. Safety, accountability and public interest are treated as obstacles rather than obligations.

And then comes the Bill to allow 100 per cent FDI in the insurance sector. No more can we look towards the public sector insurance companies to share social responsibilities, because they are put on a slow death. The private and foreign players who are allowed entry will not have any social responsibility. Moreover, they are not even accountable for non-clearance of insurance obligations. Taken together, these measures form a coherent project. They represent a conscious reordering of economic priorities.

Surveillance as a Method of Rule

2025 also witnessed the further normalisation of surveillance. Initiatives such as Sanchar Saathi were promoted as protective measures. In practice, these initiatives only expanded the state’s capacity to monitor communication with little transparency and minimal oversight.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, notified in 2025, deepened these concerns. While the language of consent and protection was repeated, broad exemptions were carved out for the state. Long-standing tools of transparency, particularly the Right to Information, were weakened. In an unequal society, consent offered under compulsion is no consent at all.

This is not merely about data. It is about power. One who controls data wields power. A surveillance-heavy state discourages dissent, fragments organisation, and creates a climate of self-censorship. When combined with corporate control over digital infrastructure, it produces a system in which citizens are monitored extremely closely.

Culture, Memory and Control

The shrinking of democratic space can be seen everywhere. Cultural institutions became sites of right-wing indoctrination. Controversies around film festivals, literary bodies and public commemorations were not about individual works alone. They reflected an intolerance of criticism and an anxiety about historical memory.

The discomfort provoked by films, books or discussions that recall resistance is revealing. Culture shapes how society remembers itself. Attempts to police it are attempts to rewrite that memory. For the Left, the defence of cultural freedom has always been integral to the defence of democracy. A society that learns to fear its artists and writers is being trained to accept political conformity.

Hindutva and the Normalisation of Violence

Underlying these developments was the consistent effort to impose Hindutva as a State ideology. The Prime Minister’s repeated public praise for the RSS signalled the consolidation of a political project that seeks to redefine citizenship and nationhood along religious lines of Hindutva.

Attacks on minorities, Dalits, Adivasis and women continued with disturbing regularity. These were enabled by a political climate that legitimises exclusion and by institutions that are captured by the Hindutva forces and hence too often fail to act.

Countering this requires patient and conscious efforts. It requires sustained political work to defend secularism, equality and those constitutional values that strengthen our democratic Republic.

Taking Stock: The CPI(M) in 2025

In this context, the 24th Party Congress of the CPI(M) assumed particular significance. It reaffirmed the need to strengthen the Party’s independent role, to deepen mass struggles, and to integrate the fight against neoliberalism with the struggle against communalism, authoritarianism and fascistic RSS’s control of government and its institutions.

At the same time, it compelled us to confront our own limitations – work towards expanding the Party throughout the country, rectify our organisational weaknesses and strive for a renewed Party.

The challenges before us are serious. They demand patient work among workers, peasants, youth, students, women, Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalised sections. For this, we have to strengthen our grassroots work and build a revolutionary Party with a mass line.

Preparing for What Lies Ahead

2025 showed that attacks on people did not cow them down and that resistance did not vanish. It appeared unevenly, sometimes hesitantly, but it still appeared in workplaces, on the streets, in cultural spaces, and in the refusal to be silenced.

As we move into 2026, we do so with a lot of hope and confidence.

The task before us is demanding. It always has been. And it will be met cautiously but without retreat. It will be met by deeper work among the people, strengthening class and mass struggles, and never resting till divisive forces are cleared from the society.