After burning for 50 years, the ‘eternal’ flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial on Friday, ahead of the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi, ANI reported.
An Indian Army official was quoted as saying, “The Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate will be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial on Friday in a ceremony.”
The ceremony will be presided over by the Integrated Defence Staff chief Air Marshal Balabhadra Radha Krishna, as per reports.
The India Gate memorial, established by the British government on 10 February 1921, was built in memory of the British Indian Army soldiers who lost their lives between 1914 and 1921. More than 90,000 soldiers had died in the World War I and in the Third Anglo-Afghan War.
However, the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame was included in the memorial after the 1971 India-Pakistan war, in which 93,000 Pakistani troops had surrendered. The memorial has names of all the Indian soldiers who lost their lives during the war.
Established in January 2019, the flame will now be merged with Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the National War Memorial.
Since 1972, it is customary for the President, prime minister, including the three service chiefs, and others to place a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame and pay homage to the martyred.
