After a brief ceremony, late afternoon on Friday, the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate was merged with the flame at the National War Memorial.
Amidst criticism of the move, official sources claim that the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished, only merged.
"It was an odd thing to see that the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti paid homage to the martyrs of the 1971 and other wars but none of their names are present there," an official said.
In a January 9, 2019 report, THE WEEK noted the possible move of the government, after the National War Memorial was created at the same venue.
Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed after India's victory over Pakistan in 1971 to honour the 3,843 soldiers who died in the war. Though the memorial was constructed in December 1971, it was formally inaugurated by former prime minister Indira Gandhi on January 26, 1972.
Since then, every year on Republic Day it has been customary for the president, prime minister, chiefs of three services (Army, Navy and IAF) and other dignitaries to place a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti and pay homage to the fallen soldiers before the parade. Moreover, visiting foreign dignitaries, especially defence ministers or chiefs of armed forces, begin their official engagements after a visit to the memorial as a mark of respect to martyrs.
With the announcement of merging the flame, several opposition parties have reacted sharply over the massive change in a decades-old tradition.
While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said "some people cannot understand patriotism and sacrifice", Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said she is "sad and anguished" and asked why both flames cannot remain. "Eternal Flame will be Extinguished Flame for some time. How many more ideas & monuments we hold dear need to be reworked to make way for a ‘New India’?," Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted.
Official sources said the names inscribed on the India Gate are of only some martyrs who fought for the British in World War 1 and the Anglo-Afghan War, calling it a "symbol of our colonial past". Sources added 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, and that this would be a "true Shraddhanjali" to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there.
"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," an official said.
Construction of the war memorial to honour nearly 26,000 soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in wars and military operations since Independence was one of the first promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the armed forces during the 2014 general election campaign. A year after forming the government at the Centre, the cabinet, in October 2015, approved the construction of the memorial at a cost of Rs 176 crore.
