Across the capital metropolis of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a hanging new banner occupied each distinguished area. Next to roads lined with potholes, it learn: “Port Blair is more than a name. Port Blair is a feeling. And that feeling is home.” Beneath this, one other message stood out: “Do not change names without the consent of the islanders.” The phrases “home” and “without the consent of the islanders” are highlighted in crimson.
Although no particular person or group has come ahead to assert duty for the banner, it has rapidly develop into an emblem of resistance among the many islanders.
The banner is a response to the Indian authorities’s swift determination to alter the identify of the island capital, lengthy often called Port Blair, to Sri Vijaya Puram. On September 13, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah rechristened the capital through an post on X, which was subsequently reposted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The information shocked the islanders, as they have been by no means notified.
Since the Bharatiya Janata Party rose to energy in 2014, the union authorities has turned its gaze towards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, lengthy considered as a safety outpost. Development initiatives, aimed toward countering China’s presence within the Indian Ocean, at the moment are mushrooming throughout the island chain. However, the historic context invoked by Shah’s announcement of the brand new identify is distorted.
Flawed Historical Understanding
The renaming of Port Blair to Sri Vijaya Puram is meant to represent India’s victory over British colonial rule, whereas emphasizing the historic affect of the traditional Chola Empire within the area.
Yet Srivijaya (or Sriwijaya) was a maritime empire based mostly in Sumatra which flourished between the seventh and eleventh centuries in Southeast Asia. It had no direct hyperlinks to the Andaman Islands, which have been exterior the empire’s sphere of affect.
In the eleventh century, the Chola king Rajendra I launched an expedition in opposition to Srivijaya – an uncommon transfer, given India’s sometimes cordial relations with Southeast Asia. Due to scant historic sources, the explanations behind the transfer can solely be speculated upon.
Nilakanta Sastri’s book “The Colas” outlines two explanations for the assault. One suggests Rajendra I sought to increase his international conquest, or Digvijaya, whereas the opposite posits a response to Srivijaya’s interference in commerce between China and the Cholas. Citing Chinese texts and Tamil inscriptions from Southern India, Myanmar, Malaya, and South China, historians like Tansen Sen and Himanshu Prabha Ray affirm the latter as the principle driver of battle.
Yet these historic data reveal that the Chola expeditions have been confined to the Nicobar group of islands, not the Andamans. The Nicobars, known as Nakkavaram or Ma Nakkavaram, have been used for rest, replenishment, and repair – not as a naval base.
Aparna Vaidik, a professor of historical past at Ashoka University, India, argues that the renaming displays a skewed interpretation of historical past. She factors to the work of Purushottam Nagesh Oak, whose writings popularized the concept of a grand Hindu empire, an concept now getting used to propagate the federal government’s nationalist agenda within the guise of decolonization.
“History is often written to fulfill the needs of the present. And currently, they need this narrative to fulfill the larger part of their aspirations,” mentioned Vaidik. “The nationalist concept they're propagating is creating a well-liked false impression. It was the British colonization that built-in the islands into India, not the Cholas.
“The move is not just erasing the colonial name but also the identity of the islanders.”
Why the Locals Defend a Colonial Name
Though the federal government touts the brand new identify because the totem of India’s freedom wrestle, the descendants of the colonial convicts suppose in any other case. Port Blair was named after Archibald Blair, a British naval surveyor and lieutenant who surveyed these islands and assessed their feasibility for settlement. The Local-Born Association, a neighborhood of convict descendants, opined that the honour conferred to him ought to’ve been retained.
“We are still using the route map that was prepared by Blair, so why should we take away his credit? Besides, the name Port Blair was unique to us. Even in its literal meaning, Blair – meaning battlefield – is apt, said Rakesh Pal Gobind, president of the Local-Born Association. “The Home Minister says the city played a major role in the independence struggle, so the name is relevant in its literal sense.”
Gobind additionally mentioned that locals have been neither consulted nor knowledgeable in regards to the renaming. He acknowledged that the locals usually are not in opposition to altering names however as a substitute in opposition to the imposition.
“The government could’ve renamed the islands to any freedom fighter who had served their sentence in the islands. We didn’t oppose the previous names that were given to the other islands because of their historical significance for us. But we don’t feel any connection with the new name; we don’t identify with it,” he mentioned.
“Our forefathers had shed their blood to make these islands what they are now, and if today we have to search for our identity in our own hometown, isn’t it injustice?”
Misplaced Priorities
This isn’t the primary renaming within the islands’ latest reminiscence; in 2018, three islands have been renamed to erase colonial legacy: Ross, Neil, and Havelock grew to become Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Shaheed Dweep, and Swaraj Dweep, respectively. Despite utilizing the identical alibi, the union authorities’s determination is ringing hole for islanders at the moment. For many, the identify change appears like a distraction from extra urgent points.
“What use is the new name if we have to deal with the same old problems? The electricity is gone for more than 8-10 hours every day; water comes once every 10 days. What do we do with the new name?,” complained Phoolwati, a grocer in South Andaman.
The islanders have lengthy been tormented by irregular energy, water shortages, poor transport, and unemployment, amongst many different points. In December 2023, lodge staffers, locals, and tour operators in Swaraj Dweep staged protests demanding a dependable energy provide throughout peak vacationer season.
“The islands’ tourism sector has been facing a loss for the past 10 years. Even now we are not provided constant power supply during peak tourist season, roads are damaged and lined with potholes, and unemployment is on the rise among the youth due to this,” mentioned a neighborhood tour operator based mostly within the island capital. “Why aren’t they focusing on these? These are things that they should be changing. Instead, the government is busy changing an already-established name.”
Tourism, the spine of the islands’ financial system, has additionally taken successful. For many years, Port Blair was a reputation synonymous with the islands’ wealthy historical past and pure magnificence. Many within the tourism sector now worry that the brand new identify will sever this important hyperlink.
“Port Blair was not just a name; it was a brand,” mentioned the tour operator. “The tourism sector has relied on this name to promote the islands’ tourism and history to the world. This has been our identity for a very long time. Now, how do we form a connection to the new name?”
The capital’s “I Heart Port Blair” signal, as seen on the day town’s identify was modified to Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept. 13, 2024. Photo by Leesha Ok Nair.
The Islands Amid China’s Malacca Dilemma
After years of inertia, India has been strengthening its army presence on the islands. The islands are residence to India’s solely tri-service command – the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) – which gives India with a strategic counterbalance to Chinese actions within the area. Plans to upgrade the military infrastructure of the islands are already underway, together with modernizing airfields, bettering logistics and personnel lodging, and enhancing monitoring methods. The authorities can also be constructing associated infrastructure, equivalent to a container transshipment terminal on the Great Nicobar Islands, to facilitate operations.
The Islands sit at a strategic chokepoint. Nearly 90 percent of Chinese trade passes by the ocean, and over 80 percent of China’s oil imports cross by the slender passage of the Malacca Strait. The vulnerability of this route has given rise to what's generally known as China’s “Malacca Dilemma.” In the occasion of battle, this maritime artery may simply be blocked by rival nations. Lacking viable alternate options, China has been steadily increasing its army presence within the Indian Ocean Region.
Chinese naval and survey vessels have repeatedly entered India’s Exclusive Economic Zone close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with out permission. Moreover, the People’s Liberation Army Navy has ramped up anti-piracy operations within the Gulf of Aden, whereas China allegedly maintains an intelligence base on Myanmar’s Coco Islands, which lie simply 55 kilometers north of the Indian islands. In a 2016 diplomatic alternate in New Delhi, a Chinese ambassador additionally hinted on the potential future contestation of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which has additional heightened India’s safety considerations.
Kanti Prasad Bajpai, Wilmar professor of Asian Studies on the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, urged that the renaming of Port Blair can also be a sign of India’s rising strategic resolve within the Bay of Bengal. But he cautioned in opposition to overestimating the islands’ army significance resulting from their remoteness and provide constraints.
“The islands are vulnerable to Chinese attack, for instance, from an aircraft carrier battle group. But it is also important not to exaggerate how useful or important the islands would be for the country. In the foreseeable future, it is likely not going to be of great military significance,” mentioned Bajpai.
He drew parallels to Chinese bases in East Africa and the Indian Ocean, noting that their distance from China makes them equally prone to assault by India.
Growing Calls for Autonomy
The latest renaming proposal was drafted by a 16-member committee, of which 10 have been non-islander bureaucrats deployed within the islands. Calls for higher native autonomy have resurfaced within the wake of the renaming, together with the restoration of the abolished committee of elected representatives, known as the Pradesh Council. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are one of India’s eight union territories (UTs), ruled by an appointed lieutenant governor. It comes beneath the Home Ministry’s direct management. Unlike UTs with partial statehood, equivalent to Delhi and Puducherry, the islands lack an elected authorities.
“I would take the decisions of my own home. Why would I ask someone staying in Delhi? Why should the bureaucrats be given this right to change the name? They don’t have to stay here forever,” mentioned Gobind.
While islanders proceed to voice their considerations, India stays targeted on its geopolitical and army ambitions. The approval of initiatives just like the transshipment port in Great Nicobar and offshore drilling for oil, regardless of the deep socio-ecological prices, underscores the federal government’s willpower to say itself as a dominant drive within the Indian Ocean.
As of this writing, the banners of resistance – the various indicators declaring “Port Blair is more than a name” – are being torn down, making approach for tourism advertisements that includes the brand new identify. Islanders are left questioning about their place on this bigger technique.
