Rajnath will lead team comprising Left leaders to Cuba for tributes to Castro

Demonetisation has divided the government and the Opposition, but a united face of India will be present in Cuba to pay last respects to Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

Demonetisation has divided the government and the Opposition, but a united face of India will be present in Cuba to pay last respects to Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh arrives at the Parliament House for the winter session.(Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

The delegation, led by home minister Rajnath Singh, has CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja and Congress’s Anand Sharma among the dignitaries. “We have a lot of programmes in Delhi against demonetisation. But joining the memorial service for Fidel is also our duty. We can’t skip this responsibility,” said Raja.

The team will leave for Havana on Tuesday morning. The leaders will go to Revolutionary Square where Castro’s remains are kept and offer their last respects. They will return on Thursday evening. The delegation also includes MPs from Samajwadi Party and BJD.

After two days of commemorations in Cuba’s capital Havana, Castro’s ashes will go on a four-day island-wide procession starting Wednesday before being buried in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba on December 4.

On Monday, Rajya Sabha paid tributes to Castro. “A champion of anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism, he served as an inspiration for socialist movements and anti-colonial struggles across the world,” Vice-President Hamid Ansari said.

Castro died on November 25 at the age 90. His 1959 revolution toppled a dictatorship with the promise of bringing justice and equality to his Caribbean island.