At 70, he describes himself as a ``matured anarchist'', with his leader Charu Majumdar dead, and the movement no longer raising its head. Yet, his belief in Marxist-Leninist ideology and ``armed revolution'' remains firm.

Saifuddin was in the Capital in connection with the fourth national one-day rally of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), an organisation of which he is one of the founder-members. The IFTU holds rallies once in four years as a mark of solidarity.

The Central Government had issued shoot-at-sight orders against Saifuddin during the movement and he went into hiding for 10 years, till 1978.

Known for his sharpshooting skills, he displays a mark of his expertise --his left hand has been folded at the elbow for good, by a bullet injury.

``I escaped thrice from being killed in encounters, each time with the help of people.On one occasion when I was gheraoed, a young Muslim jenana (woman) made me wear her burkha and took me to the ladies' toilet. She helped me scale the wall and I escaped. That was in Titagarh in 24 Paraganas,'' he reminisces.

While he moved about disguised, at times like a sadhu or clad in a lungi with an umbrella slung across his shoulder, someone squealed to the police, and he was picked up from one of his shelters. ``He (the informant) was murdered by them in custody. Later, the body was given to his wife, but we could not see it as it was covered all over. It had been torn apart with bullets,'' he says.

He dismisses rumours that he had differed from the extremist views of Charu Majumdar and joined hands with moderates like S N Sinh, who believed in making it a mass movement. For him, the most memorable moments of his life were those of living with armed squads in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, ``slinging rifles on my shoulders and being a political commissar. I stillfeel elated when I am with red squads, in Bengal, Bihar or AP,'' he says.

He is confident that ``armed revolution'' was the only solution to society's ills.