Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday attacked the central government, accusing it of extinguishing the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate in New Delhi.
The former Congress president said that “some people cannot understand patriotism”. This despite the government clarifying that the eternal flame will not be extinguished but merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, 400-metres away from India Gate.
“It is a matter of great sadness that the immortal flame that used to burn for our brave soldiers will be extinguished today. Some people cannot understand patriotism and sacrifice – never mind. We will once again light the Amar Jawan Jyoti for our soldiers,” Gandhi wrote on Twitter.
According to officials, the merger of flames will be done in an elaborate ceremony which is scheduled for 3:30 pm today at India Gate. The flame will be moved in a torch to the National War Memorial along with Guard Contingent and the two flames will be merged.
The India Gate memorial was built by the British government in memory of the British Indian Army soldiers who lost their lives between 1914-1921.
However, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was included in the memorial structure in the 1970s after the massive victory of India over Pakistan in which 93,000 troops of the rival country surrendered.
The National War Memorial was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. It honours Indian military soldiers who fought in armed conflicts of independent India. This includes soldiers who fought during the armed conflicts with Pakistan and China as well as the 1961 war in Goa, Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka and other operations including Rakshak in UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
The names of troops who lost lives in the counter-terrorist operations are also included on the walls of the memorial.
Meanwhile, as several leaders raised their voices against the move, people aware of the development said that a lot of misinformation is being spread with regards to the same. They said that 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 will be the “true homage to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there”, they added.
