The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate has been merged with the flame at the National War Memorial in New Delhi today. The ceremony to merge the Amar Jawan Jyoti Flame was presided over by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Balabhadra Radha Krishna. 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.
