After India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) in New Delhi on Friday. People can now pay their respects at the eternal flame at the NWM, military officials said. However, opposition parties, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, criticised the government’s move.
After India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice. It was inaugurated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.
Former Army Chief General Ved Malik supported the government’s decision, stating that it is “a natural thing” to merge flames now as the NWM has been established and all ceremonials related to remembrance and honouring soldiers killed in action are being held there.
Former Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur, however, tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter and requested him to rescind the decision. “Sir, the eternal flame at India Gate is part of India’s psyche. You, I and our generation grew up saluting our brave jawans there,” he stated. While the NWM is great, the memories of the Amar Jawan Jyoti are indelible, Bahadur noted.
6. Hitting back at critics, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted saying, there is a lot of misinformation on the matter, and said the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished but is being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial. It is ironic that people who did not make a National War Memorial for seven decades are now making a hue and cry when a permanent and fitting tribute is being made to our martyrs, Patra said.
It was an odd thing to see that the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti paid homage to the martyrs of the 1971 and other wars but none of their names are present there at the India Gate, Patra said. The names of all Indian martyrs from all the wars are housed at the National War Memorial. Hence, it is a true homage to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there, they added, Patra said.
The names inscribed on the India Gate are of only some martyrs who fought for the British in World War-I and the Anglo-Afghan War and thus is a symbol of the country’s colonial past, government sources said, PTI reported
