The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial here on Friday, military officials said.
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.
The main India Gate structure was built in 1921 by the British India govt, in memory of Indian soldiers who perished in World War I.
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The ceremony to merge the two flames will be presided over by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal Balabadhra Radha Krishna.
The merger will end the fact that there are two memorial flames, one at the India Gate and the other at the national war memorial.
According to reports, PM Narendra Modi will be visiting the National War Memorial before the Republic Day parade 2022. January 26, 2022, will thus be the first Republic Day since 1972 when the eternal flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti will not be burning at India Gate.
(With inputs from ANI)
