Bengaluru: Taking a serious note over media reports about Kerala renaming some of its villages bordering its northern neighbour, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has written to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan appealing him to refrain from taking any such action.
Karnataka Border Area Development Authority (KBADA) chairperson C. Somashekhara had earlier met Yediyurappa and petitioned him to take steps to prevent Kerala from renaming villages. A section of the media had reported that the Pinarayi-government was contemplating renaming villages in Kasaragod, a disrict of Kerala bordering Dakshina Kannada district in coastal Karnataka.
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Certain media houses published reports that Madhuru will henceforth be known as Madhuram, Sasihitlu as Thaivalappu, Malla as Mallam, Kumble as Kumbla, Karadka as Kadagam, Pilikunje as Pilikunnu, Anebagilu as Anavadukkal, Bedadka as Bedagam, Hosadurga as Pudiyakota and Mahasatigundi as Mastikundu. These villages are part of Kerala's Kasaragod district.
Earlier, a statement released by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) here said that he would write to Vijayan that it was not right to rename villages whose Kannada names bear cultural and historic significance. Yediyurappa also stated that Kannadigas and Malayalis live in harmony in the border districts. Kannada and Culture minister Aravinda Limbavali said Kannada speaking people live in large numbers in Kasaragod and Manjeshwara talukas of Kerala and that Kannada names of these villages reflect this cultural ethos of the locals. JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, too, wrote to Kerala to reconsider its decision.
