Mahiyar Rohinton Patel, Pune
The Home Minister Amit Shah in a post on the social platform ‘X’ said that the center has decided to rename the city of Port Blair to Sri Vijaya Puram, he went on further to say that the decision was taken to rid the country of its colonial imprints. The Home Minister went on further to say that the Union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands holds a special place in the history of our fight for Independence and the new name of the territory commemorates Its unique place in the country’s history.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been host to many important landmarks in the cultural and historical heritage of the country. The Islands were the headquarters of the Chola Empire’s navy, it was the first place the tricolor was unveiled after a Japanese army invaded the islands with Subhash Chandra Bose. It was also home to the Cellular Jail which became infamous for housing people imprisoned for freedom fighting, a famous inmate was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
In a similar move in 2018 the Union government renamed three islands within the Union territory. Havelock Island was renamed Swaraj Dweep, Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep and Ross Island was renamed Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep.
In the last 10 years, the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government led by Narendra Modi has led various initiatives to remove remnants of the British colonial legacy of the country, with large indianisation drives in the armed forces, renaming of towns and cities, etc.
Lieutenant Archibald Blair is the namesake of Port Blair. He was a young officer deputed with the East India Company where he played an important role in exploring, surveying and charting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He laid down the initial administrative apparatus of the colonial state in the islands. To commemorate his efforts the British government of Bengal decided to name their new administrative headquarters of the region after him. Due to the initial efforts of Blair and the post-independence development of the Islands in the Indian Ocean the city has turned into one of the most important defense establishments in the country, with the integrated theater command of the Army, Navy, and Airforce located there.