NEW DELHI: A symbol of the country’s freedom struggle, the iconic 16th-century Mughal citadel, Red Fort got another museum — ‘Azaadi Ke Deewane’ — on Monday. It was inaugurated by Union minister for culture Mahesh Sharma.
The museum, built by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), pays homage to unsung heroes of the freedom struggle. The newly opened museum is fifth in the series in the Red Fort Complex. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated four museums in January, three of which were dedicated to Subhash Chandra Bose and Indian National Army, the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 and the Revolt of 1857.
The fourth one to be inaugurated was Drishyakala, a museum on Indian Art. All these museums have come up in British era barracks, which were renovated by the ASI after being vacated by the Indian Army.
Soon after independence in 1947, the Indian Army took over the Red Fort.
Once the Army vacated the premises in 2003, then Union minister for culture Jagmohan started the restoration of the fort built by Mughal emperor Shahjahan after he had decided to shift his capital to Delhi
from Agra.
“The ‘Azaadi ke Diwane’ museum is a tribute to the selfless sacrifices of the revolutionaries, brave women freedom fighters and children,” an ASI official said.
The minister said, “This new museum will inspire the younger generation and help them learn at what cost our freedom was achieved.”
The museum is “so designed that as one moves from one section of the gallery to the other, a sense of awakening and spiritual awareness overwhelms an individual, a feeling of patriotism sweeps through, inspiring the visitors to relive the struggle of the Indian Freedom fighters,” said a statement issued by the ministry.