The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is in the name changing spree these days, if the Uttar Pradesh government has changed name of Allahabad to Prayagraj without delving deep into the fact that the name Allahabad did not have Islamic connotation rather it was named as Illvas which became Allahabad with the passage of time. Ill was father/mother of King Pururva who is mentioned in Rig Veda. There are many names that have been changed.

Renaming Ross Island to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep and Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep is another similar move disrespecting local sentiment. These islands were previously named after officers of the British Indian forces -- Brigadier James Neill, General Sir Henry Havelock and a marine surveyor, Daniel Ross and this attempt has been made to do away with colonial past. However, some of the colonial names are still abound like Hodsons Horse, Skinners Horse, Outram and Napier, etc and yet, it in no way diminishes their 'Indianness'.

There is no harm in recognising and celebrating freedom fighters like Subhas Chandra Bose that to in an attempt to popularise the unsung saga of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the freedom struggle. There are many freedom fighters who were sent to Kala Pani (Andaman and Nicobar) but selectively picking them will be termed as partisan and populism. Andaman and Nicobar Islands are shining outpost of India with immeasurable strategic possibilities that remains untapped. There are many islands that are uninhibited but security of them needs to be beefed up.

The government has renamed Ross island after Bose who took the help of Japanese to fight against British. But perception about Japanese in Andaman and Nichobar is very horrific for their atrocities unleashed on local people. They are considered even worse than British. It is not easy to establish their ferocity of atrocity during their three-year rule as they destroyed all records before leaving. However, principal sources of information are unpublished report by local resident Rama Krishna: The Andaman Islands under Japanese Occupation 1942–45, another unpublished account by a British Officer, D. McCarthy: The Andaman Interlude [he was sent on a secret mission to the islands in 1944)], together with the memories of the older inhabitants interviewed by several historians. All published and unpublished works are in agreement that untold atrocities were committed by the Japanese against the local people.

On December 29, 1943, control of islands was passed on to the Azad Hind government of Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose visited Port Blair to raise tricolour flag of the Indian National Army. But during his maiden visit to the Andamans, he was deliberately kept away from the local population by Japanese. Several attempts had been made to inform him about sufferings of people of Andamans as many local Indian Nationalists were being tortured in the Cellular Jail. It seems Bose remained aware of this making judgment of some that he failed his people.

After Bose had left, Japanese effectively controlled of Andamans and so-called sovereignty of Arzi Hukumat-e Hind was largely fictional. General A D Loganathan was appointed as the governor of the islands by Bose but had limited involvement with the administration of the territory. He was powerless to prevent the worst Japanese atrocity of the occupation. Homfreyganj massacre on January 30, 1944 got 44 Indian civilians killed by the Japanese on suspicion of spying. Many of them were members of the Indian Independence League. Notionally this government continued to administer the islands, which were almost the only territory it ever acquired, until the British took it over again in 1945, but in practice little had changed.

Fate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands had been like frequently changing-hands of colonial powers from the Danes, Austrians, Japanese, and twice the British. Every reign was driven by its own historic impulses, complexities and considerations that both enriched as well as violated the Islands. Horrors within the 'Kaala Pani', incarcerating and torturing the Indian freedom fighters resonates in the emotions of India against the British Raj – the ferocity and sheer brutality of the Japanese rule in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands between March 1942 to October 1945 is unmatched in terrorising locals.

Period between Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II is said to have claimed 8-14 million lives that is directly attributed to Japanese war crimes. Colonial Japan's holocaust at Nanking, Chahar, Manchukuo and Hopeh still haunts the Chinese conscience and regularly evokes calls for retribution, as the world gradually wakes to the unprecedented scale of terror unleashed by Imperial Japan. The Japanese reign of terror in Andaman and Nicobar was no different in severity and tenor with lesser-known massacres like the one in Homfreyganj or the aerial bombing of the hapless Jarawa tribes.

But Japanese excesses in Andaman and Nicobar have been overlooked due to the tactical support provided by Japan to Netaji in establishing a notional Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (Provincial Government of Free India) at these Islands during the brief interlude of the Japanese occupation in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Japanese act was in consonance with the realpolitik of the time, and Netaji would have rightfully partaken the opportunity to oust the principal occupier of India, the British forces. Even Governor of Azad Hind for Andaman and Burma, Arcot Doraiswamy Loganadan, later confirmed Japanese atrocities in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The conduct of the Japanese forces who had taken Indian Prisoners-of-War (POWs), from the British Indian Army was despicable, with reports of forced starvation, bayoneting and worse cannibalism.

Netaji has a role in the India’s freedom struggle and he must be given his due but locals have their own view on the issue. Actually a slew of investments are required to overcome geographical constraints in Andaman and Nicobar islands and any such game-changing investments could perhaps have been more appropriate for naming after illustrious freedom fighters, including those whom history has forgotten. There is always the possibility that name-changing is politicized and is susceptible to questionable intent, especially if it is done when elections are close. These islands have already had an identity which are very important tourist destinations. There are lot to be done besides changing names there.

(The writer is a senior journalist)