Port Blair renamed Sri Vijaya Puram ‘to free nation from colonial imprints’

Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was renamed Sri Vijaya Puram.

With Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying on Friday that it was done to realise “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to free the nation from colonial imprints”.

Port Blair was named after Captain Archibald Blair, a British colonial navy official of the East India Company.

In a tweet, Amit Shah said Sri Vijaya Puram had an “unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history”. He also said the name symbolised the victory achieved in the freedom struggle.

“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.

“Andaman and Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history. The island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for our strategic and development aspirations,” Amit Shah further said.

In 2018, PM Modi announced the renaming of three islands of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago as a tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The three islands — Ross Island, Neil Island and Havelock Island — were renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep, respectively.

Since assuming office in 2014, the Narendra Modi-led government has renamed places with those having historical significance to shed the colonial legacy.