By Nikos Mottas
Karl Marx, the greatest thinker of all times whose revolutionary
teachings became a guide for the struggles of the working class throughout the
world, continues giving nightmares to fascists, reactionaries and
anti-communists.
His tomb in Highgate cemetery in North London has been a target of
cowardly attacks and vandalism by far-right thugs. In 2019, in a space of a
month, the grave was vandalised twice by fascists who caused extensive damage to the marble plaque.
Recently, during mass protests over George Floyd’s murder in the USA,
demonstrators tore down the statue of slave-trader Edward Colston in Bristol,
whilst the statue of arch-imperialist criminal Winston Churchill was defaced by
anti-racist protesters during a Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration in
London.
In the USA, a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was
toppled in Richmond, Virginia and numerous statues of Christopher Colombus,
from Miami to Boston, became the target of angry demonstrators.
A bunch of conservatives and fascists in Britain thought this is the
right time to take revenge. They created a petition, addressed to Mayor of
London Sadiq Khan, asking for the removal of Karl Marx’s tomb from Highgate cemetery.
In their text accompanying the shameful petition, the fascists repeat the same
old anti-communist nonsense about the supposed “100 million victims of
Communism” and they accuse Karl Marx of “anti-Semitism”.
Responding to this filthy initiative, the Marx Grave Trust, which is the
legal owner of Marx’s family grave and its monument, said: “In the wake of the
welcome campaign to remove or re-site the statues of racists and slave-owners,
there has been a black-lash by pro-fascist elements and their right-wing
supporters...all he has is a grave, together with his wife and family. This has
now been targeted. Such threats are not only rank desecration but an insult to
the worldwide socialist movement for whom Marx is an inspiration.”
The trust said it had taken measures to secure evidence should it be
attacked again and “calls on everyone to support the work of the Friends of
Highgate Cemetery and the Marx Grave Trust … and by countering every attempt to
damage the grave of a man who challenged exploitation and oppression”.
Endorsing every single word included in the statement of the Marx Grave
Trust, we urge all communists living in Britain, every person who supports and
admires Karl Marx’s legacy, every man and woman who stands against fascism and
exploitation, to rise up against any attempt to desecrate the grave of the
greatest philosopher humanity has ever seen.
Marx was, is and will always be a thorn in the eye of the bourgeois
class, an enemy for exploiters and oppressors. Today, the struggle for Socialism–Communism
is more necessary and timelier than ever. It is a certainty that the 21st
century will be the century of new socialist revolutions despite the current
unfavourable correlation of forces.
To the fascists and their allies, there is one message: HANDS OFF KARL
MARX’S GRAVE!
