Comes the topic of Fidel Castro, and Indian Left liberals forget all about the revolutionary vs dictator debate. Their hero worship of the former Cuban President has survived generations, and the dubious fan following shows no signs of fading.
On 13 August, Castro would have turned 100 had he been alive. For his Indian acolytes more than 13,000 kilometres away, the centenary of the ‘Red fellow Comrade’ meant mourning and tributes to his ‘struggles’ during the Cuban revolution and his subsequent five-decade one-party reign.
The CPI(M) on Thursday saluted him, gushing over him as the “people’s leader” and an “anti-imperialist” icon.
“Fidel and the Cuban people taught the world that revolution is possible, that the people can make it, and that in the contemporary world there are no forces capable of halting the liberation movement of the peoples,” the party posted on X.
Remembering the people’s leader, anti-imperialist icon and Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, on his 100th birth anniversary. Fidel and the Cuban people taught the world that revolution is possible, that the people can make it, and that in the… pic.twitter.com/fcx3peieEV
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 13, 2026
It did not stop at that. CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby looked freshly bereaved while delivering a monologue on X for the centenary. He even addressed the ‘Western Hemisphere’ first, keeping the Indian Left liberals as a second choice. What else could have been expected when the ideology is drawn from Russia and China?
“It is important today to draw correct lessons from the life and struggles of Fidel Castro. The way he communicated with people; the very dialectical approach he evolved in his struggles at different phases of his (personal and political) life. Then his unwavering commitment in the fight against imperialism, for creating an egalitarian society free from exploitation and oppression or racial discrimination,” Baby said.
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The irony of worshipping a dictator
It is fairly normal to idolise a historical figure. Castro was instrumental in dethroning the brutal Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, endured decades of conflict with the far more powerful US, and became one of the most iconic faces in global history. Yet, that is just one smaller part of his career.
The rest, during which he sat at the helm of Cuba, remains questionable. Beyond the picturesque figure who smoked cigars and showed his muscle to the US was an authoritarian who propagated one-party politics, suppressed dissent and restricted political freedoms in his country. He restricted basic civil liberties such as free speech and a free press for decades.
“Castro’s draconian rule and the harsh punishments he meted out to dissidents kept his repressive system rooted firmly in place for decades,” José Miguel Vivanco, former Americas director at Human Rights Watch, had said back in 2016.
The CPI(M) supporting and hero-worshipping this kind of leader is hypocrisy, especially when it accuses the current ruling government in India of crushing democracy and freedom and imposing authoritarian rule.
From meeting former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to visiting Kolkata (then Calcutta), Castro’s fame in India made sense in the 1980s, when New Delhi believed in non-alignment. But 50 years later, when most of Castro’s fans are working in corporate jobs and using smartphones manufactured by capitalist companies, their continued, unnecessary fandom for a communist dictator reeks of double standards.
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The cost of idolising leaders like Castro
With each passing day, the Left is disappearing from India’s political landscape. Obviously not from social media, but from EVMs. Today, there are zero Left-ruled states in India. And Castro’s hero worship by the CPI(M) shows us why.
At a time when the Indian Left is pleading with voters for a seat, its leaders continue to celebrate ‘icons’ who represented an old politics that is no longer relevant in today’s India. Castro may have been a revolutionary icon to an earlier generation, but today, his glorification does not help Left liberals. In fact, it weakens their position. What ideals are they even standing up for if Castro is their icon?
My dear comrades, a salute to Indian leaders might have served you better than another tribute to Castro. There are many. Shift the focus to real leaders and real problems.
There is an old saying about communism: “If you are not a communist at 20, you have no heart; if you are still a communist at 30, you have no head.”
Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)