New Delhi: Adding to the list of places that will be renamed by the central government are three islands in Andaman and Nicobar- Ross Island, Neil Island and Havelock Island.
The three will be renamed as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island, Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep respectively. The new names will be formally announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Port Blair on December 30.
PM Modi will hoist a 150-metre-high national flag at Port Blair to mark the 75th anniversary of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose’s declaration of the formation of the Azad Hind government in 1943. Modi will be accompanied by Home Minister Rajanth Singh,
The request for renaming a few islands in Andaman and Nicobar has been heard over the last several decade. History says that Netaji had hoisted the Indian flag after the Japanese captured the area during the Second World War. He had reportedly suggested back then that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands be renamed as Shahid and Swaraj Dweep.
In 2017, a BJP leader had made a demand to change name of Havelock Island, citing that naming a place after a person (Havelock Island is named after British general Sir Henry Havelock) who had fought Indian patriots in 1857 was a matter of shame.
