NEW DELHI: A structure within the main building of Delhi assembly, which was inaugurated by the then AAP government as a British-era 'fansi ghar' (gallows chamber), will be dismantled by the current BJP dispensation. The BJP claims that the structure originally housed a service staircase meant to deliver tiffin to British officers. The Kejriwal government spent Rs 1 crore to renovate it to resemble a jail - installing murals of freedom fighters, erecting symbolic prison bars, and placing a couple of nooses. Ram Niwas Goel, the then speaker, had claimed that prisoners held in Red Fort used to be taken to this room for execution. CM Rekha Gupta, while speaking in the House on Wednesday, called it a gross distortion of history, an insult to martyrs, and a betrayal of public trust. She ordered the structure to be removed, an inquiry initiated, and an FIR registered.

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No Historical Evidence Of Gallows At Delhi Assembly Site, Says CM Kejriwal had inaugurated the so-called 'gallows chamber' along with a memorial dedicated to 'Covid warriors'. Located to the left of the assembly hall, the structure displays items purportedly belonging to British-era prisoners, along with an "original noose", offering visitors a glimpse into the country's past.

CM Gupta alleged that Kejriwal, in a calculated attempt to gain public sympathy, arbitrarily declared a portion of the assembly as a gallows site without any documentary or historical evidence. She said the building was constructed in 1912 and served as the venue for sessions of the Imperial Legislative Council from 1913 to 1926. In contrast, the actual site of the old Delhi jail where executions used to take place was located at what is now Maulana Azad Medical College, she said, urging the current speaker Vijender Gupta to immediately remove the misleading signage referencing the 'fansi ghar' from the assembly building. She said this process should be completed ahead of the All India Speakers' Conference scheduled for 24-25 August so that dignitaries from across the country are not presented with a "falsified version of history" and the reputation of the Delhi Assembly remains intact. During a debate over the issue, the leader of the opposition Atishi and some other AAP MLAs were escorted out of the assembly following a heated exchange with BJP members. AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha defended the room's historical significance, arguing that many such execution sites were never officially recorded. "Historians have differing views on such places. In the 1912 map of this building, that is the only double-storey structure consistent with a hanging chamber," he said. Jha warned against "whitewashing British tyranny" in an attempt to target Kejriwal and urged that materials from the site be examined by ASI.