India, led by President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday condoled the demise of Cuban leader Fidel Castro whom it described as revolutionary leader and its friend.
“Heartfelt condolences on sad demise of Cuba’s revolutionary leader, former President and friend of India, Fidel Castro,” President Pranab Mukherjee said in a tweet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the late Cuban leader as one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century and a “good friend” of India. “I extend my deepest condolences to the Government & people of Cuba on the sad demise of Fidel Castro. May his soul rest in peace,” he tweeted.
“Fidel Castro was one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century. India mourns the loss of a great friend,” the Prime Minister said. He said India extends support to the Cuban Government and its people in this tragic hour.
Paying homage to the late revolutionary leader, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said Castro led the oppressed and the striving from the front and stood up to every attempt at stifling the voice of freedom. “His contribution to the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) and his unflinching support for India’s cause on various fora will always remain deeply etched in the minds and hearts of the Indian people,” she said in a statement.
Describing Castro as a source of “inspiration,” CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said he steered Cuba from a very backward country to what it is today. “End of an era. But revolutionaries like Fidel Castro live forever,” Yechury said in a tweet.
In a statement, the CPI said “Fidel Castro played a historic role in building the modern socialist Cuba, which is free from illiteracy, hunger and illness. Castro was great Marxist thinker and a legendary revolutionary fighter”.
DMK President M Karunanidhi paid rich tributes to departed Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, hailing him as a ‘lion cub’ who grew to lead a rebellion in the South American country.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the revolutionary Cuban icon was a brave leader of world communism and will always be remembered as an inspiration for anti-imperialist movements while Marxist veteran and former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan said Castro’s death was a “great loss” to humanity in these days as imperialist forces were spreading its roots globally.
General Secretary of the CPI (Ml) liberation Dipankar Bhattcharya, said ,”#FidelCastro, the communist great who batted through the post-Soviet era, is no more. #RedSalute Comrade, your mission will be fulfilled.”
Reacting to Castro’s death, former diplomat and minister Natwar Singh said, “I had the privilege of meeting him 6-7 times both in Havana and Delhi...He was a very good friend for India. He stood by us through thick and thin.”