Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ capital city of Port Blair has a new name, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday. Port Blair has been renamed as Sri Vijaya Puram.
The renaming of the city has been done to “free India from colonial imprints.” Shah said, “Inspired by the vision of PM Narendra Modi Ji, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as “Sri Vijaya Puram.”
‘New name symbolises freedom struggle’
Explaining the motivation behind changing Port Blair’s name, Shah 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.”
The minister also highlighted the islands’ place in India’s struggle for freedom and said that the place that once served as the naval base of the Chola Kingdom is strategic to India today “for our strategic and development aspirations.”
Hailing the move to rename Port Blair, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Today is a historic day, when we are renaming Port Blair as ‘Shri Vijaya Puram’. This is a big step towards connecting with our cultural heritage under the leadership of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji.”
Times when govt did away with colonial names
This is not the first time the central government has renamed a place to shed its colonial identity.
Earlier this year in July, the government renamed Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar Hall to Ashoka Hall.
Another significant renaming process was when the Modi government changed India Gate’s Rajpath’s name to Kartavya Path.
Link to article –
