Place names change: Kannada leaders across parties object, Kerala denies move

Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram: Karnataka CM (Chief Minister) BS Yediyurappa and senior JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy have written to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, requesting him to halt the renaming of particular places in Kasaragod from Kannada to Malayalam, reports NDTV.

Yediyurappa wrote that the names of villages are very close to people's emotions, and changing them would affect their feelings and sentiments adversely, ultimately destroying Kannada and Tulu culture. The alleged renaming of places along the Karnataka border and Manjeswaram is now a hot topic among leaders, irrespective of parties in the state.

Yediyurappa has further written that the existing names of villages are predominantly from Kannada and Tulu and have a long history of several centuries. Days ago, the Karnataka government had said in a statement that changing names will have repercussions.

In his tweets, HD Kumaraswamy reiterated statements of the Karnataka government. He said that in Kasaragod, Kannadigas and Malayalis live in harmony, complementing and inspiring each other. There has never been any discord over language between them, and this must be preserved as linguistic togetherness is imperative in this era, he added.

But Kerala government denied the allegations. Local Self Government Minister MV Govindan was quoted by NDTV as saying that Kerala has no such plans of renaming villages, and the Kasaragod collector repeated the same. He said he has "no idea" about what is going on.

The new protests against the alleged name changing is suspected to have started after Mysuru BJP MP, Pratap Simha tweeted that local bodies in Kasaragod decided to change the names of places such as Madhuru to Madhuram, Malla to Mallam, Karadka to Kadagam, Bedadka to Bedagam, Kumble to Kumbla, Pilikunje to Pilikunnu, Anebagilu to Anavadukkal, Hosadurga to Pudiyakota, Sasihitlu to Thaivalappu and Mahasatigundi to Mastikundu.

Meanwhile, in Kerala, BJP state president K Surendran came to the fore with a statement whose content agrees with Karnataka's allegations. The statement said that Madhur, where the Madanandeshwara Siddhivinayaka temple is located, is among the places to be renamed. Surendran alleges that there is a move to destroy the cultural identity of those places to gain certain people's favour.