Port Blair renamed Sri Vijaya Puram, Amit Shah says decision taken ’to free nation from colonial imprints’

Port Blair renamed: The central government on Friday announced the decision to rename Port Blair as ‘Sri Vijaya Puram’. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in the country's freedom struggle and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' unique role in it.

"To free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as Sri Vijaya Puram," the Union home minister said.

Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Home Minister Shah said Andaman and Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in India's freedom struggle. It is the place that hosted the first unfurling of Tiranga by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Remembering Veer Savarkar, the home minister said the place also houses the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent India.

Shah further said the island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for the nation's strategic and development aspirations.

It is important to note that Port Blair, the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands—a union territory—was named after Captain Archibald Blair, a British colonial navy official of the East India Company.

The city is home to several museums and the major naval base INS Jarawa of the Indian Navy, along with sea and air bases of the Indian Coast Guard, Andaman and Nicobar Police, Andaman and Nicobar Command, the first integrated tri-command between the Indian Armed Forces, Indian Air Force and the navy.

Earlier in July, the government renamed the Rashtrapati Bhavan's iconic 'Durbar Hall' and 'Ashok Hall' as '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.