Delhi: India Gate
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Amar Jawan Jyoti
1972-2022
Jan 21, 2022: The Times of India
From: Jan 21, 2022: The Times of India
There has been much talk about this move, with some saying that history is being erased and others insisting that history is being reclaimed. There is, of course, much to be said on both sides. It is a fact that India Gate was commissioned and built by the British and can therefore be seen as a colonial relic. But is that reason enough to jettison it? To understand the angst on both sides, here's a little history.
India Gate, the memorial
The All-India War Memorial, what we know today as India Gate, was built as a memorial to the thousands of soldiers of British India who died in wars fought between 1914 and 1919 – notably the First World War and the third Afghan War. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens and inaugurated in 1931.
On the archway is inscribed this dedication:
“To the dead of the Indian armies who fell and are honoured in France and Flanders, Mesopotamia and Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the Near and the Far East and in sacred memory also of those whose names are here recorded and who fell in India on the north west frontier and during the Third Afghan War.” The names of more than 13,000 Indian soldiers who died in these and other wars are inscribed on the monument.
What is the Amar Jawan Jyoti?
This is a flame and memorial to commemorate the thousands of Indian soldiers who died in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Constructed under the arch of India Gate and commissioned by the Indira Gandhi government, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was inaugurated on January 26, 1972.
India Gate originally included a shallow bowl on the rooftop above the archway meant to be lit during ceremonial occasions. “No fires have been set on the rooftop in recent years, but four eternal flames are now sheltered at the base of the structure. The flames demarcate the Amar Jawan Jyoti, a small monument that has served as India’s tomb of the unknown soldier since 1971,” says Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Ever since it was installed, it has been the custom for the President and other leaders to begin the Republic Day celebrations at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate by paying homage to India’s fallen soldiers. Since its inauguration in 2019, the National War Memorial has become the site of this ceremony. Why is it being extinguished?
The official line is that the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished; it is being “merged” with the flame at the National War Memorial. The National War Memorial is the result of a long-standing election promise made by the BJP in the run-up to the 2014 elections. The memorial was inaugurated in 2019, and an Amar Jawan Jyoti has been burning there since then to commemorate the thousands of Indian soldiers who died in battle post Independence.
Some reports have quoted unnamed sources as saying that the upkeep of two flames – one at India Gate and the other at the National War Memorial – was becoming increasingly difficult. However, there is no data to show how expensive it is to maintain these flames. It has also been pointed out that the flame at the National War Memorial has been burning since 2019, the “too expensive” reason doesn’t really hold.
