The Association started its journey on 24 January 1972, when normal day-to-day life of the people of this province was going through a suffocating environment under state terror, which had never been experienced by them in the post-independence period. On that date, in a protest meeting convened in the historical Indian Association Hall, Kolkata, Jyoti Basu, legendary leader of the people of West Bengal and the whole country, in his speech reminded the outstanding role played by the cultural movements during decades of 30’s and 40’s to arouse the masses to fight for freedom from British Colonial Rule.