21 Andaman and Nicobar Islands named after Param Vir Chakra awardees

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 23

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday named 21 largest unnamed islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands after 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees to mark Parakaram Diwas, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

During a programme in Port Blair, the Prime Minister through video-conferencing also unveiled the model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji, which will be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep.

The Ross Islands, part of the Andaman Islands, was renamed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep by Modi in 2018, while the Neil Island and Havelock Island were renamed Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep, respectively.

The proposed memorial will have a museum, a cable car ropeway, a laser-and-sound show, a guided heritage trail through historical buildings and a theme-based children’s amusement park, besides a restro lounge, officials said.

“These 21 islands will now be known by the names of Param Vir Chakra awardees and the Netaji memorial will be a site for inspiration for the future generations,” Modi said in his address at the naming ceremony.

“This land of Andaman is the land where the Tricolour was hoisted for the first time, where the government of independent India was formed for the first time,” he added.

“Unfortunately, the sites of the Independence struggle, Andaman’s identity, they were tied to the reminders of colonisation. Even the names of our islands were imprinted with the past of colonisation,” Modi said recalling his visit to the group of islands in 2018 when he renamed the Ross Island.

The PM also spoke about the newly inaugurated statue of Netaji here and said the statue of Netaji on Kartavya Path reminds us of our duties. “I believe these initiatives should have been taken before in the interest of the nation,” the PM said, adding that those nations that have tied their leaders to the public conscience progressed fast.

Modi said many messages are contained in naming of the 21 islands. “The message is the message of ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’; this message is the message of the bravery of our Armed Forces.”

Just like an ocean connects different islands, similarly, the feeling of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ ignites the spirit of ‘Bharat Mata and India First’, he noted.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was physically present at the event, said, “PM Narendra Modi’s initiative to name islands after Param Vir Chakra awardees will ensure they are remembered forever.”

Shah is likely to hoist the national flag during the day and address a public meeting at Netaji Stadium—the same place where the freedom fighter had unfurled the Tricolour on December 30, 1943.

These islands have been named after the 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees, viz, Major Somnath Sharma; Subedar and Hony Captain (then Lance Naik) Karam Singh, MM; 2nd Lt Rama Raghoba Rane; Nayak Jadunath Singh; Company Havildar Major Piru Singh; Capt GS Salaria; Lieutenant Colonel (then Major) Dhan Singh Thapa; Subedar Joginder Singh; Major Shaitan Singh; CQMH Abdul Hamid; Lt Col Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore; Lance Naik Albert Ekka; Major Hoshiar Singh; 2nd Lt Arun Khetrapal; Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon; Major Ramaswamy Parameswaran; Naib Subedar Bana Singh; Captain Vikram Batra; Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey; Subedar Major (then RifleMan) Sanjay Kumar; and Subedar Major retd (Hony Captain) Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav.

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