TMC, other non-BJP parties attack dismantling of Amar Jawan Jyoti in Delhi

Non-BJP parties in West Bengal lashed out at the move by the Narendra Modi government on Friday to dismantle the Amar Jawan Jyoti at Delhi's India Gate and merge it with the memorial flame at the more recently built National War Memorial saying it amounted to disrespect to Indian soldiers who died in the 1971 war with Pakistan which helped liberate Bangladesh.

In a short ceremony, a part of the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame was taken and merged with the flame at the NWM, which is 400 metres away on the eastern side of India Gate in the national capital earlier in the day.

Criticising the decision, Trinamool spokesman Kunal Ghosh told reporters the decision was a disrespect to the history of India, the martyrdom of the country's soldiers in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war.

''Those with no contribution in India's freedom movement, those who have no respect for our freedom struggle and valour of soldiers can shift the Amar Jawan Jyoti from its original spot in India Gate, can shunt out the Netaji tableau of the state from the Republic Day parade,'' the Trinamool state General Secretary claimed.

West Bengal Pradesh Congress President Adhir Choudhury too criticised the decision stating the Modi government is taking decisions in an arbitrary manner without considering the sentiment of billions of Indians.

CPI(M) state Secretary Suryakanta Mishra said ''the Modi government is guided by the ideology of RSS who didn't have any role in India's freedom struggle. We had been repeatedly saying that the BJP has made a mockery of India's history. Their latest acts on the eve of the Republic Day points to that fact.'' Supporting the decision, BJP national Vice President Dilip Ghosh however said ''the war memorial is the right place to show respect to our soldiers in a befitting manner. It is very near to the earlier spot and the opposition parties are politicizing the initiative by Modi government to honour our heroes.'' He flayed the CPIM and the Congress for ''belittling our patriots like Netaji. It is the BJP government which is projecting the glorious history of Indian freedom movement before the people after coming to power,'' Ghosh said.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who were killed in action in the 1971 war against Pakistan, which India won, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.

It was inaugurated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on February 25, 2019, inaugurated the NWM, where names of 25,942 soldiers have been inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets.