The February 12, 2026 general strike in India represents a moment of profound significance in the ongoing class struggle—a vast, coordinated uprising of the working masses against the encroaching capitalist state. Over thirty crore workers, farmers, and agricultural laborers took to the streets across the subcontinent, shutting down transport, banking, and public services in a single, unified act of resistance. This was no mere protest; it was a declaration that the working class, when organized and mobilized, can halt the machinery of the state and the dictates of capital.
The spark for this massive mobilization was the implementation of the four Labour Codes—consolidations of twenty-nine existing labor laws into a single, streamlined framework designed to facilitate the interests of capital at the expense of the working class. The Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code represent a systematic assault on the legal protections that have historically given workers a foothold against exploitation. By subsuming these laws into a single, more flexible regime, the Indian state has sought to weaken collective bargaining, erode job security, and dismantle the social safety net that has long been a bulwark against the worst excesses of capitalist accumulation.
Trotsky would recognize in this struggle the classic dynamic of class conflict: the state, in the hands of a ruling class that has consolidated its power through the BJP and its allies, seeks to impose a new legal order that serves the interests of capital. The four Labour Codes are not merely administrative reforms; they are instruments of class rule, designed to make it easier for employers to hire and fire, to undermine union power, and to shift the burden of risk onto the shoulders of workers. In this sense, they are a direct continuation of the policies of neoliberalism that have swept across the globe since the 1980s—a relentless drive to dismantle the social contract and to place the needs of profit above the needs of people.
The scale of the strike is nothing short of historic. Over thirty crore workers participated in what was effectively a general strike, with transport, banking, and public services brought to a standstill. This level of mobilization is a testament to the latent power of the working class—a power that, when unleashed, can bring the entire economy to its knees. Trotsky would point to this as evidence of the growing revolutionary potential of the proletariat, a potential that is increasingly being realized as the contradictions of capitalism deepen and as the state becomes more openly hostile to the interests of the masses.
The strike also highlights the importance of internationalism. The demands of the Indian working class are not isolated; they are part of a broader struggle against the global capitalist order. The four Labour Codes are part of a larger trend of labor law deregulation that has been pursued by governments across the world, from the United States to Europe to Latin America. In this sense, the Indian strike is a piece of a larger puzzle—a piece that, when connected to similar struggles elsewhere, can form a global network of resistance that challenges the capitalist system as a whole.
Of course, the strike is not without its limitations. The trade unions that called it are not all revolutionary; many are reformist, seeking to preserve certain aspects of the existing system rather than to overthrow it. This is a common weakness in the working-class movement, one that Trotsky identified and warned against. The danger is that the strike, while impressive in its scale, may be co-opted by the state or by reformist forces, leading to a compromise that leaves the fundamental structures of exploitation intact. Trotsky would urge the working class to seize this moment to build a revolutionary consciousness, to recognize that the struggle against the four Labour Codes is not merely about winning concessions but about fundamentally transforming the relationship between capital and labor.
The February 12 strike also serves as a reminder of the importance of building a revolutionary party—a party that can articulate the demands of the working class in a clear and coherent way, that can provide leadership and direction, and that can help to transform a spontaneous uprising into a sustained revolutionary movement. Trotsky would argue that without such a party, the working class risks being led astray by reformist forces or by the state itself, and that the potential for a revolutionary transformation will remain unrealized.
In the end, the Indian general strike of February 12, 2026, is a powerful reminder of the enduring relevance of Trotsky’s analysis of class struggle. The state, in the hands of a ruling class that seeks to serve capital, will always seek to undermine the power of the working class. The working class, when organized and mobilized, can and must resist. The February 12 strike is a testament to this truth—a truth that, if understood and acted upon, can lead to a new era of revolutionary struggle, an era in which the working class takes control of its own destiny and builds a society based on the principles of equality, justice, and freedom.