On Thursday, a tunnel connecting Delhi Legislative Assembly to Red Fort was discovered. The tunnel was formed by Britishers to move freedom fighters without provoking reprisal.
Delhi Legislative Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel, while speaking to news agency ANI, said that the tunnel connects Red Fort with Delhi Assembly and was used by the Britishers.
Goel said, “When I became an MLA in 1993, there was hearsay about a tunnel present here that goes till Red Fort and I tried to search for its history. But there was no clarity over it.”
He further said, “Now we have got the mouth of the tunnel but we are not digging it further as all the paths of the tunnel have been destroyed due to metro projects and sewer installations.”
He further explained that Delhi was used as Central Legislative Assembly after the central capital was shifted to Delhi from Kolkata in 1912, and in 1926 it was converted into a court. The tunnel was used by the Britishers to secretly present freedom fighters in front of the court.
We suspected that there was a room here but never tried to inspect, said the assembly speaker.
“We all knew about the presence of a gallows room here but never opened it. Now it was the 75th year of independence and I decided to inspect that room. We intend to change that room into a shrine for freedom fighters as a tribute to them.” Goel added.
He also said that we are planning to renovate the place as the place has a very rich heritage in the context of freedom fighters. Goel said, “This place has a very rich history in the context of the freedom struggle. We intend to renovate it in a way that tourists and visitors can get a reflection of our history.”