File picture  |  Photo Credit: IANS
Key Highlights
- The flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be extinguished on Friday afternoon and merged with the flame of the National War Memorial
- The National War Memorial is just 400 metres away on the other side of India Gate
- On February 25, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National War Memorial, where names of 25,942 soldiers have been engraved in golden letters on granite tablets
New Delhi: After the Congress attacked the government over the decision to “extinguish” the eternal flame at the India Gate, the Indian government sources on Friday said that it is ironic that people who did not create a National War Memorial for seven decades are now making a fuss when a permanent and fitting tribute is being made to martyrs.
Quite a few misinformations are circulating about the flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti, said the Indian government sources.
“The flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished,” said the sources, adding that it is going to be merged with that of the National War Memorial.
It was odd seeing that the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti celebrated martyrs from 1971 and other wars but there was no mention of their names, the Indian government sources said further.
Names inscribed on the India Gate refer to only a few martyrs who fought for the British in the World War 1 and Anglo-Afghan War and are therefore a symbol of our colonial past, they added.
A listing of all Indian martyrs from all wars, including 1971 and wars before and after, can be found at the National War Memorial. Thus, it is a true ‘Shraddhanjali’ to have the flame there paying homage to the martyrs, said sources.
In the run-up to Republic Day, the eternal flame at the India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years and merged with the flame at the adjacent National War Memorial.
Amar Jawan Jyoti, or the eternal flame, was built underneath the India Gate arch in 1972 to commemorate the soldiers who died during the Indo-Pak War in 1971. There is an inverted bayonet and soldier’s helmet on top of it, with an eternal flame burning beside it.
It was inaugurated on January 26, 1972 by then-prime minister Indira Gandhi.