SUNDAY PUNCH 2

From time immemorial the First of May had been celebrated in many countries for a great variety of reasons. For the Romans, it was the Festival of flowers, Forelia the Roman Goddess of flowers. For the Greeks it was the spring festival, with May taking its name from Mais, the goddess of fertility. It was only in 1886 when more than 40,000 workers struck work in Chicago on May 1st demanding for a maximum eight hour working day without loss of pay that the first of May became known as the day of the workers.

In Lanka too, the Samasamajist party and the Communist parties also cottoned onto the tradition of celebrating May Day as the day of the working class. Preaching Red Russia’s utopian communist ideology by day and imbibing the golden waters of Scotland by night, they sought to ride to power on the backs of the labourers. But at least, the slogans they shouted on the streets were dedicated to advancing the interests of the workhorses of the nation.

No more. Today all political parties have hijacked workers day; and in the name of the sweating, toiling workman, are bent on nothing more than advancing their own political agenda. For some years there was at least some semblance of marching in the name of the working classes. Now the pretence is off and no attempt is made to disguise the true intent and purpose.

Take this year’s May Day for instance.