MAMC: A hospital where fourteen freedom fighters were hanged

On the occasion of transferring the capital of British India from Calcutta to New Delhi, on December 23, 1912, a procession was taken out for the Governor-general of India. When the procession was passing through Chandni Chowk, a home-made bomb was hurled at the convoy of Viceroy of India, Lord Hardinge.

Hardinge survived the attack and the incident was known as Delhi-Lahore conspiracy. The incident led to the execution of four Indian revolutionaries - Amir Chand, Avadh Bihari, Bal Mukund, and Basant Kumar Biswas. All the four were captured and hanged. While the first three were hanged on May 8, 1915, in Delhi, Basant Kumar was hanged a day later in Ambala Central Jail.

The 'Shaheed Smarak' inside the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) campus, where millions of patients are treated for their illnesses, stands as a reminder of the lives lost during the freedom struggle. The granite smarak was raised in the memory of the martyrs at the site of this 'Phansi Ghar' of the Old Delhi Jail complex and a homage is paid here every year on May 8.

"When we joined college, we heard these stories of sacrifice and how this is an important structure of the freedom struggle," said Dr Sunil Kushwaha, a MAMC graduate, currently pursuing his Post Graduate at the Lady Hardinge Medical College.

"Every year the Art and Culture Society of College conducts heritage walks here and talks about the events that led to the hanging of these brave men," he further added.

Fifteen years after the Lady Hardinge Medical College, in the same campus, was constructed, the'Phansi Ghar'was still active and seven more were hanged here between 1944 and 1945. The structure has fourteen names of freedom fighters written on it, but locals say that the number is much higher.

"Our college has important history attached to it, and thus, every year the new batch of doctors are reminded of this and told to take care of the citizens of this nation," said Dr Sidharth Ramji, Dean, MAMC.