New Delhi, Sep 13, 2024, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, Sep 13: The Government has decided to rename the capital of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Port Blair as "Sri Vijaya Puram”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced this historical decision in a post on ‘X’.

He said that inspired by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to free the nation from the colonial imprints, "today we have decided to rename Port Blair as "Sri Vijaya Puram".

The Home Minister said that 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 it. 

He said that Andaman & Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in the country's freedom struggle and history. The island 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.

Shah said that it is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of the national flag by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation.