On a visit to the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago off India’s east coast in the Bay of Bengal last Sunday, Modi announced the renaming of Ross, Neil and Havelock Islands after freedom fighter Subhash Chander Bose.
Sending clients to the Andaman and Nicobar islands? Better to tell them that they will be heading to Subhash Chander Bose Dweep, or Matry Dweep, or Swaraj, after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi rechristened three of the country’s island territories named after colonial officials.
On a visit to the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago off India’s east coast in the Bay of Bengal last Sunday, Modi announced the renaming of Ross, Neil and Havelock Islands after freedom fighter Subhash Chander Bose.
The UK’s Daily Telegraph said the move is seen as part of a campaign by Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to disassociate itself from two centuries of British rule.
Bose famously raised a rebel army of Indian soldiers during WWII with the help of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, to fight the British.
His Free India Army was defeated alongside the Japanese army advancing from Burma (Myanmar) into northeastern India.
Ross Island will now be known as Subhash Chander Bose Dweep, while nearby Neil Island becomes Shaeed or Martyr Dweep.
Adjoining Havelock Island has been renamed Swaraj or Independent Island.
“When it comes to heroes of the freedom struggle, we take the name of Bose with pride and that is why the government has issued a notification changing the islands names,” PM Modi declared.