Amar Jyothi Jawan not being extinguished Centre tells Opposition parties
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Delhi: The controversy over the merging of the Soldier's 'Eternal Flame' with the permanent torch at the National War Memorial in Delhi has been rubbished by the Center which has asserted that the flame is not being out out but only merged with the War Memorial torch where it was most appropriate to remember India's martyrs.
Amid sharp criticism of the move, the government said a "lot of misinformation" was circulating. A part of the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate will be carried to the National War Memorial by a Guard Contingent where the two flames will be merged at a ceremony this afternoon.
The ceremony will be attended by Air Marshal Balabadra Radha Krishna, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, in the absence of serving Chief of Defence Staff, and he will merge the flames.
The India Gate was built by the British in the memory of soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in World War-I. The Amar Jawan Jyoti was placed under the India Gate in 1971, when the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government was in power.
The names inscribed on the India Gate are those who fought for for the British in the World War-I and Anglo Afghan War, said the government, describing it as "a symbol of our colonial past". The decision to merge the flames was taken as there were two war memorials in close proximity and the National War Memorial was considered as the best place to remember the fallen soldiers.
Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi have condemned the move with some alleging that it is a BJP attempt to rewrite parts of history.
"Eternal Flame will be Extinguished Flame for sometime. How many more ideas & monuments we hold dear need to be reworked to make way for a 'New India'?…Spare me gyaan on merging it with another flame at War Memorial. Why can't we keep both?" Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, stating she was 'sad and anguished' over the matter.
The National War Memorial, unveiled on February 25, 2019, honors and represents soldiers of Indian military who fought conflicts for independent India. The name of armed forces personnel killed during the armed conflicts with Pakistan and China as well as 1961 war in Goa, Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka and other operations including Rakshak in UT of Jammu and Kashmir are inscribed in the memorial in golden letters.