Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was renamed as Sri Vijaya Puram, as per Union Home Minister Amit Shah in line with “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim to free the country of colonial influences”.
Port Blair was named after Captain Archibald Blair
Port Blair was given its name in honor of Captain Archibald Blair, who was a British naval officer for the East India Company.
Amit Shah tweeted that Sri Vijaya Puram holds a unique position in our fight for freedom and historical significance. He further mentioned that the name represented the success attained during the fight for freedom.
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“While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ unique role in the same,” he tweeted.
“It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our tiranga (tricolour) by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Ji and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar Ji and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation,” he added.
PM Modi declared the renaming of three islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2018
In 2018, Prime Minister Modi declared the renaming of three islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a honor to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Ross Island, Neil Island and Havelock Island were given new names: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep, in that order.
Since taking office in 2014, the government led by Narendra Modi has changed the names of locations with historical importance in order to move away from the colonial past.
