Opposition leaders have reacted strongly to the government’s decision to put out the Amar Jawan Jyoti, a landmark at India Gate, and merge it with the National War Memorial flame.

The ceremony will take place in Delhi on Friday afternoon, days before the country’s Republic Day on January 26. The flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, which is just 400 metres away on the other side of India Gate, military sources said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the decision in a Twitter post, “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.”

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The Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who were martyred in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It was inaugurated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972, who paid respects to the soldiers on the country’s 23rd Republic Day.

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Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that it was ‘sad’ that the ‘eternal’ flame will be extinguished and asked why there couldn’t be two flames. She wrote, “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’?

Sad & Anguished. PS : Spare me gyaan on merging it with another flame at War Memorial. Why can’t we keep both?”

Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha also expressed his displeasure at the decision, saying, “It is understandable that the present regime may not have a sense of attachment/belonging with the ‘glories of the past’ but it is beyond comprehension when you resort to such ‘memory erasure’ tactics..It is neither good politics nor good optics. Jai Hind.”

Responding to the criticism, Amit Malviya, the national convener of the IT cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said, “The flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished. It is being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial. 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.”

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“The names inscribed on the India Gate are of only some martyrs who fought for the British in the World War 1 & the Anglo Afghan War & thus is a symbol of our colonial past. 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 is a true shraddhanjali (homage) to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there,” he added.

Hitting back at opposition leaders who have criticised the move, Malviya said, “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.”

Congress MP Manish Tewari told ANI, “Whatever is being done is a national tragedy and an attempt to rewrite history. Merging Amar Jawan Jyoti with War Memorial Torch means erasing history. BJP has built the National War Memorial, that does not mean they can extinguish the Amar Jawan Jyoti.”

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Tewari also took to Twitter to slam the move, saying that ‘extinguishing Amar Jawan Jyoti tantamounts to extinguishing history’.

The War Memorial, built over 40 acres at a cost of 176 crore rupees, had been inaugurated on February 25, 2019, with names of nearly 26,000 soldiers inscribed on granite tablets. The memorial honors soldiers of the Indian military who fought wars for independent India.