Andaman MP demands 2 ships of union territory be renamed after great tribal leaders

PortBlair, Aug 27 (PTI):
Member of Parliament of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kuldeep Rai Sharma has requested Lt Governor Admiral D K Joshi (Retd) to rename two ships of the union territory administration as ‘MV Aberdeen Blair’ and ‘MV Rani Lakshmi’ after two great tribal leaders of the Nicobar district.
In a letter to the Lt Governor on Thursday the MP mentioned that there is a feeling among islanders that the present name of the ships ‘MV Sindhu’ and ‘MV Nalanda’ neither reflect the essence of these islands nor respect the sentiments of people of this union territory. He demanded ‘MV Sindhu’ be named as ‘MV Aberdeen Blair’ and ‘MV Nalanda’ which is under construction be renamed as ‘MV Rani Lakshmi’.
Rai said that these two ships will certainly become the life line for Nicobar district, including people of Nancowry Group of Islands and hence there is a growing feeling among the tribal population of Nicobar district that these ships should be re-named on dynamic tribal leaders Late Aberdeen Blair of Car Nicobar Island and Late Rani Lakshmi of Nancowry Group of Islands, who played crucial role in maintaining a balance between the tribal population of Nicobar district and administration. He said Aberdeen Blair of Car Nicobar Island and Rani Lakshmi of Nancowry Group of Islands have huge contributions in Nicobar district and they have earned goodwill, which has been widely acknowledged by civil society.
To pay respect to the sentiments of tribal population of Nicobar district and acknowledge the contributions of two great tribal leaders of these islands, the MP requested the Lt Governor to rename the ships as MV Aberdeen Blair’ and MV Rani Lakshmi.