Red Books Day
Towards Building a Left Culture
Fatima Shahzad

February 21, 2026 marks the 178th anniversary of the publication of the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels. The celebration of Red Books Day was started in 2020 by various left publishers, particularly in India, and then going on to spread all over the world more broadly by left organisations, parties and unions. The Day is also recognised as International Mother Language Day. The significance is thus twofold: to advance the struggle of Left culture, which is rooted in the traditions of class, anti-imperialist and anti-colonial politics. It embodies the interconnected spirit of internationalism on the one hand, and indigenous revolutionary movements and experiences on the other.
On this day in Pakistan, we at the Progressive Students Federation (PrSF) come together with Naked Punch Publishers and Roshni Publications to organise a range of activities throughout the country. Since International Mother Language Day is rooted in the historic resistance of the Bangla-speaking people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the importance of highlighting the people’s history of our region against the US-aligned ruling classes that carry out genocides and operations to erase our struggle from 1971 to the present day, needs to be emphasised. Ghassan Kanafani famously said: “Imperialism has laid its body over the world, the head in Eastern Asia, the heart in the Middle East, its arteries reaching Africa and Latin America. Wherever you strike it, you damage it, and you serve the World Revolution.”
The theme of Red Books Day 2026 was Anti-Imperialism, for the oppressed and working masses of the world to collectively oppose the brazen aggression from Iran and Palestine to Cuba and Venezuela. We do this by involving voices from ongoing movements against class, gender and national oppression, who teach us how we situate our struggles in the current geopolitical landscape while expressing solidarity. My humble attempt to encapsulate our vision for this year’s Red Books Day is through this hand-painted poster showing students from various backgrounds engaging with revolutionary literature.

A Report of Red Books Day Activities in Pakistan
In Hyderabad, PrSF Red Books Day programme was held in collaboration with Roshni Publications at the Indie Art Commune. It consisted of opening remarks on the history and relevance of The Communist Manifesto by Federal President PrSF, Comrade Jai Kumar. This was followed by a panel of student leaders talking about the revolutionary role of youth and students in society. The concluding remarks on “Lessons of revolutionary history in fighting military rule” were delivered by veteran revolutionary Ustad Mir Talpur. In between sessions, there was a raqs-e-mazahmat (dance of resistance) by Sufi Sattar and traditional folk music performance by chang artist, Ali Muhammad Roonjho.
In Islamabad, a session around Lenin’s Imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism was organised at The BlackHole, in which I was invited to speak on the topic. Alongside this, PrSF members arranged a stall of artwork, posters and bookmarks that depicted socialist and anti-imperialist thinkers and movements. Even on a late afternoon in Ramadan, the auditorium was full and the audience engaged enthusiastically with the topic. A circle on “Poetry of the People” was organized in NUST, where members read out selected verses of Sahir Ludhianvi and other revolutionary poets. Lastly, PrSF arranged a circle at F-9 Park with left leader from Gilgit Baltistan Comrade Baba Jan on the topic of “Resource governance in the absence of constitutional status”.
In Lahore, PrSF and Naked Punch Publishers co-organised a session at Nasir Bagh on the topic of “People’s history and ongoing movements: challenging colonial capitalism, exploitation and militarisation”. Speakers included Comrade Baderunissa (peasant leader from Anjuman Mazaireen Punjab), Rana Muhammad Tahir (President of Labour Qaumi Movement), Dr Nida Kirmani (Lecturer at LUMS) and Professor Qalandar Memon (Lecturer at FCC and Editor Naked Punch).
In Peshawar, a book stall and session was organised to commemorate Red Books Day on the occasion of the Third District Political School by PrSF Peshawar. Various student organisers, activists, teachers and researchers gathered for the course of three days to discuss a series of different topics.

The Battle of Ideas
In the words of Fidel Castro: “Culture is not a privilege of the few, but a right of the people. The revolution will open the doors of the museums, the theatres and the libraries to all Cubans.”
Each year we see how capitalism and imperialism tries to destroy the cultural and social life of the masses. The world is witness to how the US-Israeli war machine continues to commit a genocide that has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Palestinian children, children who had the right to grow and learn but had this stolen from them. Imperialist wars have reduced libraries to rubble across Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc. Just this month (March 2026), they bombed an elementary school in Iran. In our own country, we see tens of millions of children kept out of school due to privatisation of education and the slashing of budgets every year. Young people are being pushed into poverty under record high unemployment. We see enforced disappearances of students and militarisation of our educational institutions, particularly targeting oppressed nationalities like the Baloch, Pashtun, Sindhi, etc.
The task of building a revolutionary culture in working class communities, campuses and small villages is a crucial aspect for the Left. It is a task that combines political education and creative expression to foster collective life and raise class consciousness. It is also the ideological battle that must be won against the ruling classes that are constantly manufacturing narratives echoed by their intelligentsia and corporate media to consolidate their power and militaristic aggression. In Pakistan, most of the educated class is familiar with the annual Literary Festivals, which are nothing more than a co-option of our movements, sponsored by corporations and the elite. These spaces are a faux display of intellectual authority and free speech, but are politically hollow and toothless.
Last year, over five million people throughout the world celebrated Red Books Day, which represents an organised effort by those who are actively engaged in fighting capitalist imperialism. In our 2025 activities in Pakistan, we mobilized over 1,500 students. This was the first attempt by our organisation to introduce this practice of revolutionary education and internationalism in our part of the world. This year, we were honoured to host voices of indigenous movements of resistance and make Red Books Day an activity that connects regional struggles to global solidarity amongst the oppressed and working people. This is therefore not just a report of the work, but a call to join this movement to build the cultural and literary spaces of the Left.