New Delhi: Left parties on Saturday paid rich tributes to Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, saying the departed leader was a great friend of the Indian Communist movement and India.
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.
"He steered Cuba from a very backward country to what it is today. It has got the world's highest rate of literacy, development in medical sciences where even the US sends doctors for training there. And he remained and remains a big revolutionary and source of inspiration," he said.
"End of an era. But revolutionaries like Fidel Castro live forever," he 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". "He was great friend of Indian Communist movement and India. He played remarkable role in the non-aligned movement giving it a new orientation," the party said.
Expressing "deep sorrow" over the demise of the former Cuban President, the CPI said, "his demise is not just a loss for Cuba but for the whole world and for all revolutionary."
Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 US presidents during his half century rule, died in Havana on Friday night.
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."
