New Delhi: Port Blair will soon be history.
The capital city of Andaman and Nicobar Islands will henceforth be known as Sri Vijaya Puram, Union Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday.
He explained that the decision was taken to shed ‘colonial imprints’.
“Inspired by the vision of PM Narendra Modi, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as Sri Vijaya Puram,” Shah stated in a post in Hindi on X.
The Home minister said while the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises victory achieved in India’s freedom struggle and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ unique role in it.
Shah further said that the islands have an unparalleled place in India’s freedom struggle and history.
“The 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. 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,” Shah asserted.
