New Delhi, Feb. 11 -- Last month, two artworks by iconic painter MF Husain were confiscated from an art gallery in Delhi and sent to a large padlocked, fortified room that serves as the "maalkhana", or storage area, of the Parliament Street police station. The grounds for the seizure was a court case filed by a local advocate who found the drawings "obscene" and said they hurt her religious sentiments.

While the case is being heard in a city court, the artworks are now stored in a place that is a veritable treasure trove in its own right - it has the usual accoutrement of posters and documents; but there's more.

From the pamphlets freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt hurled in the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi on A...