A reported move by the Kerala government to change the name of some villages in the border district of Kasaragod has stirred up a controversy, with linguistic minority groups on both sides of the border with Karnataka putting up stiff resistance.
The issue became a topic of discussion following reports that Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy had appealed to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to retain the original name of the villages.
On Tuesday evening, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan clarified that the Kerala government had not changed any place name in localities bordering Karnataka.
“It is concocted news. Some conspiracy is afoot to sow division in the minds of people. The Kerala government has received no letter from the Karnataka administration on the subject,” Mr. Vijayan said.
The Kannada Samavaya Samiti in Kasaragod maintains that about 20 place names had been changed by officials.
C. Somasekhara, chairman of the Karnataka Border Development Authority, said he had written to Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohammed Riyaz and also taken up the issue with Mr. Yediyurappa.
‘Fake narrative’
Mr. Riyas, however, told reporters on Tuesday that the move to rename villages was a fake narrative with the aim of creating communal polarisation in the border areas.
Mr. Somasekhara told The Hindu that the local bodies had changed the names of places on signboards, documents and other records for their convenience. Prominently existing names were in Kannada and Tulu languages, while in some places it was a mixture of both, Mr. Somasekhara said.
“The names of places like Madhuru have been changed to Madhuram and Malla to Mallam. Similarly names like Karadka, Bedadka, Pilikunje, Anebagilu, Manjeshwara, Hosadurga and Kumble are now Kadagam, Bedagam, Pulikkunnu, Anevagil, Manjeswaram, Paudiyakota and Kumbla respectively,” he said
In 2013 too
Apparently, the issue had received much attention back in 2013 when the Kannada Samavaya Samiti strongly objected to changing of place names. In 2016, the government passed an order to use the original name of places in all the records and orders by the local bodies and government offices. Similar orders were again issued by District Collector D. Sajith Babu as late as January 2021.
Historical importance
“A place name indicates a unique culture and historical importance. Many names are either related to tribal lords, relevant events, people, animals or even birds. With changes, the uniqueness of the area too will be lost. People will never be able to relate to the area, culture, tradition and history,” observes Rathanakar Mallamoole, professor in Kannada, Kasaragod Government College.
Kanhangad MLA E. Chandrasekharan and Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan of the Congress said there had been no move to rename villages.
