The flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti at Delhi’s India Gate is not being extinguished and is only being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, government sources said.
The flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti at Delhi’s India Gate is not being extinguished and is only being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, government sources said.
The government’s clarification comes amid reports that the eternal flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti, lit in memory of soldiers who laid their lives during the 1971 India-Pakistan war, will be doused after 50 years and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial ahead of the Republic Day.
“There is a lot of misinformation circulating regarding the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti,” sources said. “It was an odd thing to see that the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti payed homage to the martyrs of the 1971 and other wars but none of their names are present there.”
“The names inscribed on the India Gate are of only some martyrs who fought for the British in World War 1 and the Anglo-Afghan War and thus is a symbol of our colonial past,” they added.
The names of all Indian martyrs from all the wars, including 1971 and wars before and after it are housed at the National War Memorial. Hence, it is a true shraddhanjali to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there, government sources said.
The government also hit out at the Opposition, calling their criticism over the move “ironic”. “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,” government sources said.
