The Centre has renamed Port Blair, the capital city of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to ‘Shri Vijaya Puram’ to “free the nation from colonial imprints”. Port Blair is the entry point for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The city was named after Captain Archibald Blair, a British colonial navy official of the East India Company.
Home Minister Amit Shah announced the decision in a post on X and said, “While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&N Islands’ unique role in the same.”
Inspired by the vision of PM @narendramodi Ji, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as “Sri Vijaya Puram.”
While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 13, 2024
“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,” Mr Shah said.
“It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga 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,” the Home Minister said.
The city is popular for the infamous Cellular Jail National Memorial, which was once a prison where many freedom fighters and people of other nationals were imprisoned.
In July, Rashtrapati Bhavan’s iconic ‘Durbar Hall’ and ‘Ashok Hall’ were renamed ‘Ganatantra Mandap’ and ‘Ashok Mandap’, respectively.
“There has been a consistent endeavour to make the ambience of the Rashtrapati Bhavan reflective of the Indian cultural values and ethos,” the President’s Secretariat said.
In the defence forces, the Centre, to shed colonial legacy, ended the practice of carrying batons by all Indian Navy personnel with immediate effect. The Indian Navy also changed its insignia as well which was inspired by the seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
