Amar Jawan Jyoti To Be Put Out After 50 Years: All You Need To Know

Amar Jawan Jyoti will be put out and merged with the torch at the National War Memorial today. This is after 50 years that the 'eternal flame' will be extinguished.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti was put at the India Gate by Indira Gandhi government in 1971 as homage to the martyrs of the 1971 and other wars.

While there has been sharp criticism over the move to 'extinguish' the eternal flame, the government has maintained that the flame is being 'merged' with the flame at National War Memorial.

"The flame is being merged with National War Memorial. It was an odd thing to see that the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti payed homage to martyrs of 1971 and other wars but none of their names are there," news agency ANI quoted government sources

India Gate was built by the British in honour of British India soldiers killed in World War-I. The government described it as "a symbol of India's colonial past".

The flame will be merged at the National War Memorial that was built in 2019 at a cost of ₹ 176 crore. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.