New Delhi: After eternal flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti was extinguished and symbolically merged with the flame at National War Memorial, the other part of the monument — the iconic inverted Rifle and Helmet– was on Friday also shifted from India Gate to the new war memorial.
In a ceremony “Inverted Rifle and the Helmet”, the symbol of Fallen Soldiers of 1971 India-Pakistan war, was shifted from India Gate, to Param Yodha Sthal at National War Memorial and installed in the midst of Busts of Param Vir Chakra Awardees.
“With this ceremony, the integration of the Memorial of Fallen Soldiers of 1971 war with National War Memorial has been completed,” said defence ministry in a statement.
The ceremony was led by Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) Air Marshal BR Krishna and attended by Adjutant General equivalents from the three Services. As part of the ceremony, a final salute was given and CISC offered a wreath at India Gate. “Thereafter the Inverted Rifle and Helmet was removed and carried in a ceremonial vehicle to the Param Yodha Sthal and installed at a newly created monument. CISC accompanied by the AGs equivalents from three Services presented a salute to the new monument,” it said.
In January the eternal flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate was extinguished and symbolically “merged” forever with the eternal flame at National War Memorial in a solemn ceremony.
The monument Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate was formally inaugurated in January 1972 to honour the 3,843 Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was symbolised by an inverted L1A1 self-loading rifle with a bayonet and soldier’s helmet on its top with the eternal flames burning beside it.
A generation of Indians from all over the country from last 50 years have visited Amar Jawan Jyoti to pay their respect to fallen Indian soldiers and it has etched strongly in the emotional psyche of Indians.
National War Memorial built to honour Indian soldiers who fell while defending the country after Independence was dedicated to the nation in February 2019 by Prime minister Narendra Modi. After the inauguration of the National War memorial, all military ceremonial events were shifted to it from the India Gate memorial.
It was in 2020 that for the first time, Prime Minister Modi had paid respects to the fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial on a Republic Day and not at the Amar Jawan Jyoti which was the tradition till then.
Names of all armed forces men from three services who died in the service of the nation after 15th August 1947 is inscribed on the walls of the Memorial in golden letters.
India Gate was constructed by the British to honour the 83,000 British Indian Army soldiers who died during World War 1 and the third Anglo-Afghan War.
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