You're listening to the witness history podcast from the BBC World Service with me Rameh Rameh

Das Gupta.

We're going back to 1977 when what became the longest serving democratically elected

communist government in the world came to power.

The people were so joyous it was as a revolution has taken place so all these states almost

all localities people celebrated with putting this red lamps the Calcutta became red overnight.

Mohamed Salim was just 20 years old when the communist party began its rule in the Indian

state of West Bengal.

He was a student activist in the state capital Kolkata then known as Calcutta a bustling

city of 7 million people in eastern India.

He remembers the moment as party the communists came to power as if it were yesterday.

How did also people came on the streets and whole life there were celebrations and many

people were not aware of politics they came to know that there's some changes in the

air and some new thing has come.

Like my mother also said because elections are held every five years but what is such

unique that you are celebrating in such a fashion why so many people are on the streets

this is like our new kind of freedom our new era has been in Bengal.

Two years prior to this India's then prime minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state

of emergency suspending all democratic rights for its citizens this help grow the popularity

of the communist party young people like Mohamed Salim felt the need to stand up for their

rights and freedoms.

Had there been no emergency people like us or me would not have joined politics probably

...