Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with National War Memorial amid row, Netaji Statue to come at India Gate | Top Points

After India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) in New Delhi on Friday. People can now pay their respects at the eternal flame at the NWM, military officials said. However, opposition parties, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, criticised the government's move.

Meanwhile, ahead of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that a grand statue of the iconic freedom fighter will be installed at India Gate as a symbol of India's 'indebtedness' to him.

1. In a ceremony on Friday afternoon, a part of the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame was taken and merged with the flame at the NWM at India Gate. Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal B R Krishna presided over the ceremony, the military officials said.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on February 25, 2019, inaugurated the NWM, where names of 25,942 soldiers have been inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets.

3. After India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice. It was inaugurated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.

4. Former Army Chief General Ved Malik supported the government's decision, stating that it is "a natural thing" to merge flames now as the NWM has been established and all ceremonials related to remembrance and honouring soldiers killed in action are being held there.