Akhilesh Yadav politicises Amar Jyoti 'merger'; urges people to 'light a flame' on Jan 26

Politicising the Amar jawan Jyoti 'merger' with the  National War memorial flame, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday, urged people to light a flame to 'light' the Amar Jyoti on January 26. Vowing to light the eternal flame again, Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP saying 'Those who did not create history, want to change it'. The two flames were 'merged' on Friday in a grand military ceremony, presided by Integrated Defence Staff chief Air Marshal BR Krishna.

Akhilesh Yadav politicizes Amar Jawan Jyoti 'merger'

Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with National War memorial flame

At 3:30 PM on Friday, the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) in a short military ceremony. A part of the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame was taken and merged with the flame at the NWM, which is 400 metres away on the other side of India Gate. Military sources had stated that the reason for the merger was increasing difficulty in maintaining two flames.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who were killed in action in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, which India won, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.  It was inaugurated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972. While India Gate has names of only pre-independence Indian and British soldiers inscribed, the War memorial inaugurated by PM Modi on February 2019, has the names of 25,942 martyred soldiers inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets - including bravehearts from the 1947-48 war with Pakistan to the clash with Chinese troops at Galwan valley.

Opposition laments 'merger'

Slamming the  'extinguishing' of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that the eternal flame had been burning for fifty years, adding that the country won't forgive the PM for the act. Similarly, RJD MP Manoj Jha termed the move as ' 'memory erasure' tactics. He tweeted that the 'present regime may not have a sense of attachment with the glories of the past', but the move was neither good politics nor good optics. Ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi slammed BJP saying, "Some people cannot understand patriotism and sacrifice. We will once again light the Amar Jawan Jyoti for our soldiers!".

In contrast, many Army veterans called it a long-due fitting tribute to all martyrs, while some lamented the loss of the iconic flame. Government sources defended the move stating that the names of the jawans who were martyred in all wars prior to 1971 and after it are housed in the National War memorial. In contrast, names of only martyrs of World War-1 and the Indo-Afghan War were inscribed in India Gate pointed out GOI sources.