In a proud moment, the Government of India has named 21 uninhabited islands in the union territory of Andaman & Nicobar after recipients of Param Vir Chakra , the country’s highest wartime gallantry award.
Out of the 21 islands, 16 are located in North and Middle Andaman district, while five islands are in South Andaman.
The first uninhabited island numbered ‘INAN370’ in North and Middle Andaman was named after Major Somnath Sharma. Now ‘INAN370’ will be known as ‘Somnath Dweep’. He was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra. Sharma lost his life in the line of duty on 3 November 1947 while handling Pakistani infiltrators near Srinagar Airport. He was posthumously awarded the highest military award for his gallantry and sacrifice during the Battle of Badgam.
Subedar and Honorary Captain Karam Singh who fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, and was awarded the Param Vir Chakra for saving a forward post at Richmar Gali, south of Tithwal (a small border-village in Jammu and Kashmir) was also honoured after the Andaman administration and the Defence Ministry named another uninhabited island numbered ‘INAN308’ after him as ‘Karam Singh Dweep’.
Similarly, Major Rama Raghoba Rane, Naik Jadunath Singh, Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat, Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria, Lieutenant Colonel Dhan Singh Thapa Magar, Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan, Major Shaitan Singh Bhati, Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid, Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore, Lance Naik Albert Ekka, Colonel Hoshiar Singh Dahiya, Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, Major Ramaswamy Parameswaran, Captain Bana Singh, Captain Vikram Batra, Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey and Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar – all recipients of the Param Vir Chakra- were honoured after the islands were named after them.
The Andamans in general and the Cellular Jail in particular played a prominent part in the history of our freedom struggle.
