Why Assam CM Himanta is promoting Ulfa chief over Che Guevara, curbing Zubeen murals

If people in Assam had to paint a revolutionary in public spaces it better be of Ulfa (I) chief Paresh Baruah than Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday. The controversial remarks promoting the chief of a secessionist insurgent outfit came as Sarma was reacting to the row over a mural of iconic singer Zubeen Garg "painted in Che Guevara style" under a flyover in Guwahati.

Sarma also hinted at restrictions on paintings of Zubeen Garg, saying that only an authorised version of a portrait would be approved by the late singer-actor's wife, Garima Saikia Garg, for all to replicate.

The entire controversy centres around a mural of Zubeen Garg, whose death from drowning in Singapore in September 2025 plunged Assam into weeks of mourning and saw one of the biggest funeral processions in the world. Garg's painting on a flyover in Guwahati's Ganeshguri was erased following a beautification drive in expectation that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would visit the state as part of her India trip. Takaichi's visit to Assam ultimately didn't materialise.

The wiping off of Zubeen's painting sparked a huge controversy in the state where the singer-actor is worshipped as a cultural icon. A fresh painting of Zubeen, however, emerged soon after by Marshall Baruah, the artist who had drawn the original mural.

Sarma said that the people who erased the painting were "genuine Assamese" people who told him that they had failed to recognise that the painting was Zubeen's, saying it was "drawn in Che Guevara style".

"The two painters recorded their statement in the police station that they erased the mural as it did not look like Zubeen Garg's. They are not Muslims or Bangladeshi-Miyas, they are Assamese painters. The contractor who had undertaken the job is also an Assamese and all three are fans of Zubeen," Sarma said.

Sarma then suggested that if revolutionaries needed to be drawn, then they should be ones from Assam like Paresh Baruah and activist Parag Das.

"If you want to draw a revolutionary, then draw Paresh Baruah. He has been continuing his struggle for 30 years, whether it is for good or bad is a different matter. He has to live away from his family. Draw pictures of Parag Das," Sarma said.

While Baruah is running the remnants of Ulfa (I) insurgency from abroad (Myanmar or China), Das was murdered as part of the "secret killings" in Assam in 1996.

"I may not accept Baruah and even condemn him, but if someone has to draw of revolutionaries, let them do so of Assamese ones," Sarma said, according to a PTI report.

However, the promotion of an insurgent who backed secession from India and whose group was behind hundreds of killings in Assam in the 80s and the 90s by a sitting chief minister couldn't be overlooked.

While Sarma promoted Baruah, he downplayed Guevara, an Argentine revolutionary who is considered an icon by youths across the world.

Sarma said he was unaware of Guevara before the controversy and then read up about the revolutionary closely associated with the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro and his brother Raul.

Che Guevara joined Fidel and Raul in Mexico, landed in Cuba in 1956, and eventually led a guerrilla army that overthrew the US-backed Fulgencio Batista regime to establish a Communist regime in the South American country.

"Who is Che Guevara? I have visited Cuba and have studied about them. Most drug trade happens there. What link do we have with him? People cannot go to Cuba; the Indian embassy runs with the help of a single solar power source. There are no roads, no water supply. How can Assam be compared to such a country?" Sarma added.

The Assam chief minister alleged that the painter, Marshall Baruah, was a member of the CPI(M)'s students' outfit, the Students Federation of India (SFI). However, Marshall Baruah, who sports a Guevara-like cap, in a video posted on Instagram, said he had no links to SFI.

"I am wearing this cap because I love Che Guevara," said Baruah. "One of the prime reasons why I love Che is because he was an extraordinary romantic person. Hadn't he been a romatic, he wouldn't have fought for the people," said Baruah in the video.

Sarma also seemed to suggest that the government would only allow a particular portrait of Zubeen Garg to be drawn by painters at least in public spaces. He said all his paintings and pictures should be based on an approved portrait by Garima Saikia Garg.

While Sarma said he was unaware of Che Guevara, Zubeen Garg said he drew inspiration from the revolutionary. But what is most interesting is that to spite an artist whom the chief minister said was from the SFI, Sarma has ended up promoting the head of an insurgent outfit who is still fighting for Assam's secession from India.

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