False: Amar Jawan Jyothi at India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years.

By: Ranjini K
January 25 2022

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Several reports claimed that the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame, lit to commemorate troops who died in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, would be extinguished after 50 years. Government sources denied the misinformation of extinguishment and clarified that the Amar Jyothi flame would be combined with the National War Memorial flame. On January 21, 2022, Amar Jawan Jyoti will be united with the National War Memorial (NWM), unveiled on February 25, 2019, in honor of Indian troops who devoted their lives to combating terrorist actions in Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, and other countries. The flames are merged to avoid two military memorials being too close to each other. After the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was lit up under the India Gate, a tribute to 90,000 British Indian Army soldiers who died in World War I and the Third Afghan War between 1914 and 1921. The immortal soldier is represented by the Amar Jawan fires, while the India Gate represents colonial India, Hindustan Times reports. It further reports that the ceremonial function would begin around 3:30 pm on January 21, and Air Marshal Balabadra Radha Krishna, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, will merge the flames of Amar Jawan Jyoti with NWM. The flames will be combined at the NWM using a torch. "The names of 26,466 fallen soldiers, who laid down their lives in wars and counter-insurgency operations since Independence, are etched on the NWM walls. All our heroes are honored there every day in a ceremony," said defense ministry officials reported Times of India. The India Today reported that the government sources said, "There is a lot of misinformation circulating regarding the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti." The NWM includes the names of all Indian martyrs from all wars, including the wars preceding and following 1971. The sources said having the flame paying tribute to martyrs at NWM is a true homage. We mark the claim as false since Amar Jawan Jyothi will not be extinguished but rather be combined with the flames at the NWM.