Soldiers marched with the eternal flame from India Gate to the new war memorial around 400 metres away.
The flame of the ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ is NOT being extinguished. It is being MERGED with the eternal flame which honours fallen soldiers at National War Memorial, says gov official.
Staff Reporter
The Amar Jawan Jyoti or the “eternal flame” for soldiers at India Gate was put out today after 50 years and moved in a military parade to the National War Memorial, where it will be merged with a torch.
Soldiers marched with the eternal flame from India Gate to the new war memorial around 400 metres away.
The National War Memorial, built in 2019, will now be the only destination for tribute to fallen soldiers since 1947.
The flame of the ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ is NOT being extinguished. It is being MERGED with the eternal flame which honours fallen soldiers at National War Memorial, says gov official.
India Gate was unveiled in 1931 and it was built to honour the 70 thousand soldiers of British India who gave supreme sacrifice. The Amar Jawan Jyoti was set up after the 1971 Indo-Pak war. After a long wait and multiple considerations, the National War Memorial was built in the India Gate complex was inaugurated in February 2019.
Earlier the government clarified over the misinformation circulating regarding the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti. It said, the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished and it is being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial. The 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 the World War I and the Anglo Afghan War and thus is a symbol of our colonial past. The Government Sources said, 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 tribute to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there.
It said, 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.