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

Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in India’s freedom struggle and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ unique role in it, says Amit Shah.

Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar, will be renamed Sri Vijaya Puram, Union home minister Amit Shah announced on Friday, saying the island territory was a symbol of victory in the freedom struggle.

The island territory once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire. (Shutterstock)

The decision has been taken to free the nation from colonial imprints, Shah said in a post on X.

“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,” he said.

While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in India’s freedom struggle and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ unique role in it, the home minister said.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have an “unparalleled place” in the freedom struggle and history, and the island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is now poised to be the critical base for India’s strategic and development aspirations, he added.

“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 said.

Earlier in January 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi named 21 large uninhabited islands in Andaman and Nicobar after Param Vir Chakra awardees.