NEW DELHI: ‘Shaheedon ki chitaaon par judenge har baras mele, Watan pe marne waalo ka yehi baaqi nishaan hogaa’
The immortal lines by Jagdamba Prasad Mishra ‘Hitaishi’ are inscribed on the pedestal of the obelisk at the National War Memorial in India Gate lawns. Nearly a month after its inauguration, the memorial dedicated to the country’s fallen soldiers is now a must visit destination in Delhi.
“On an average, about 12,000 people come to the place every day. Once, the number has crossed 21,000-mark. We are expecting more tourists during school vacations after the exams are over,” said an officer in-charge at the memorial site.
Built as a tribute to the soldiers killed during the Indo-China War in 1962, the Indo-Pak Wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971, the Kargil War in 1999, and the Indian Peace Keeping Force Operations in Sri Lanka, the project was given final approval in 2015. The Military Engineering Services completed the memorial in a span of 20 months. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the memorial spread on 40 acre of land on February 25.
Thousands of tourists come to the memorial with national pride and respect for war heroes. However, several of them leave unhappy with the restricted access to the main court. Commoners are not allowed to go to the amphitheatre where the obelisk with a bronze national emblem atop the column and eternal flame are present.
“The common visitors are just allowed to move in the circular colonnade around the tower and ‘jyoti’ (flame). Security personnel take VIPs closer to the pillar. They also take selfies there. It is disheartening to see this partiality,” said Abhilasha Sihag, a student from Faridabad, who came with her college friends.
The officials reasoned that limited ‘public access’ is a part of the protocol decided by the higher authorities to maintain sanctity of the site. “The visitors are allowed to sit in the amphitheatre to witness the ceremony when the flags of three armed forces are lowered down in the evening before sunset. This is the protocol set by higher authorities,” said an official.
Tracing the history of the site
The armed forces had been pressing for a memorial to commemorate martyrdom of fallen soldiers since 1960s. The Government, finally, budged in 2006 and a Group of Ministers was constituted to examine the issue when the Defence Ministry took a decision to realise the long-pending demand.
The green lawn at eastern culmination point of Rajpath was picked for the project. But, government agencies and then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit expressed reservations given the heritage character of the site as it was in close proximity of India Gate, which was constructed in 1931. India Gate and a 73-foot copula are the centerpieces of Lutyens’ Delhi.
The Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), a design review body set up in 1973 to keep a check construction especially in New Delhi, had also raised an objection to the concept design, saying it did not conform to the architectural surroundings of the area as well as the overall urban design character of Central Vista and Lutyens Bungalow Zone.
The site, where the war memorial is built, was a golf course till 1920s. The Delhi Golf Club website says when land acquisition was initiated to set up New Delhi, the facility was shifted to its present location at Dr Zakir Hussain Marg. “Sir Edwin (Lutyens) who was possibly not a golfer, decided that the location of the New Delhi (golf) course would require shifting to further the cause of architectural beautification and intimated all concerned accordingly,” it says.
Historian and author of ‘Connaught Place and the making of New Delhi’ Swapna Liddle said the area was locally known as ‘khandarat’ (ruins) as it was scattered with ruins of old cities particularly that was set up Afghan Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri.
Shama Mitra Chenoy, a professor of history at Shivaji College in Delhi University, who is also author of several books on heritage and history of Delhi, is all praise for the memorial. “It is good that the structure was built on the ceremonial axis keeping its character in intact,” he said.
