The king among Communists

The body of former West Bengal Chief Minster Jyoti Basu being shifted to a morgue in Calcutta on January 17.

Not
many leaders have taken such a step, even in hardcore communist
countries. Even the body of Karl Marx, the founder of the Marxist
movement, was buried. Vladimir Lenin's body has been kept at the Lenin
Mausoleum for posterity by embalming it, but has not been donated for
research. Joseph Stalin's body was kept next to Lenin's for while and
was later buried near other minor leaders of Revolution near the Lenin
Mausoleum.

China's Deng Xiaoping's organs were donated, remains
cremated and ashes scattered over the seas. Another Communist leader
from China, Chou en Lai's body too was cremated and ashes scattered by
air over hills and valleys according to his wishes. Communist leaders
in India like EMS Namboodriripad and Harkishan Surjeet Singh too were
cremated.