ASI declares freedom fighters' houses as protected monuments

The houses of freedom fighter Batukeshwar Dutt in the state capital and Lord Cornwallis in Danapur will be declared protected monuments by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Dutt's house at Jakkanpur is a trove of historical documents relating to the famous Assembly bomb case in 1929, Batukeshwar's diary, letters from Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and others and some rare photographs. Lord Cornwallis, the Governor General of India during 1786-1798 is learnt to have stayed for some time at a government house at Danapur, said the superintending archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Dr PK Mishra.

"The grave of Cornwallis at Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh is a nationally protected monument of the ASI. Inscriptions at the memorial erected over the grave mention that he stayed in Patna for a few years. Even the list of historical sites relating to 1857 War of Independence sent by the Union Government to the ASI with a proposal to declare them monuments of national importance, mentions the house of Lord Cornwallis at Danapur in Patna," Mishra said.

He said that some buildings at Danapur Cantonment had Gothic architecture. A team of ASI officials visited Danapur on Tuesday in a bid to identify the building where Cornwallis resided.

The ASI is considering developing Batukeshwar Dutt's residence as a heritage museum on the lines of Dr Rajendra Prasad's house at Jiradei. "Dutt was co-accused along with Bhagat Singh in the Assembly Bomb case heard on April 8, 1929. After the trial, he was sent to the Andaman Jail where the historic hunger strike took place. Eminent freedom fighter Jatin Das died during that strike while Dutt survived. He later died due to police torture and was cremated at Hussainiwala in Punjab," Mishra said.