Delhi assembly to throw open ‘secret’ tunnel to public by Independence Day, 2022

Goel said that the government has already floated a tender for the restoration of the room where executions were conducted, adding that they will also lay down SOPs for visitors to see the tunnel.

The Delhi assembly plans to renovate a ‘faansi ghar’ (execution chamber) in the state assembly and throw it open to the public along with a secret tunnel discovered in the premises in 2016 by Independence Day next year, assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel said on Friday.

Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said that the tunnel runs between the legislative assembly and the Red Fort, and was used by the British to move freedom fighters. Historians have expressed apprehensions over the claim. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

Goel said that the assembly has already floated a tender for the restoration of the room where executions were conducted, adding that they will also lay down SOPs for visitors to see the tunnel.

Goel said that since 2017, people from Delhi and other cities are allowed to visit the Delhi assembly on January 26-27 and August 14-15 without any permission. “They will be allowed to visit the tunnel and the faansi ghar and learn about the history of the assembly once the makeover is done by next year,” said Goel.

The execution room is a two-room suite outside the assembly chamber that can be accessed via a wooden staircase. The rooms contain old pictures, files, and worn out furniture.

“The faansi ghar was reopened three months ago. It’s not in a good condition. Now, we will renovate it and give it a good makeover. Designs for the renovation have already been prepared and a tender has been given to the PWD,” said Goel.

Goel claimed that the tunnel runs between the legislative assembly and the Red Fort, and was used by the Britishers to move freedom fighters. The legislative assembly building was initially a court and the tunnel allowed British to move freedom fighters to the building without attracting public attention. So far, there is no documentary evidence that sheds light on the history of the tunnel or supports the claim that it connects to the Red Fort.

“After 1926, the premises were being used as court for trials of revolutionaries. I can’t say if the tunnel was made in 1926 or 27. However, the tunnel was used for the movement of revolutionaries from Red Fort till the court here. In my estimation, one end of the tunnel opened at the Red Fort and prisoners were taken to the court for hearing on the other end, and later to the faansi ghar,” said Goel.

The Vidhan Sabha was once the seat of British India and housed both the Central Legislative Council (today’s Parliament) and a temporary Central Secretariat when the capital of British India was shifted from Kolkata (then Calcutta) to Delhi in December 1911.

Many historians have, however, expressed doubts about Goel’s claims about the tunnel. “It’s highly improbable that any tunnel would be made in the 1920s that led to the Red Fort. It would have been much shorter and for some more mundane function,” said Safvi, adding that she had not visited the tunnel and more details could only be ascertained after that. “Till I see the tunnel, I will be difficult to comment on details,” said Safvi.