Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday wrote a letter to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan requesting to not change the names of 12 villages in Kasaragod and Manjeshwara taluks in Kasaragod district, as the name change would "destroy Kannada and Tulu culture".
"The Kannada speaking areas of Kasargod District, in which Manjeshwara and Kasargod are situated are famous for their traditional culture and historical background...the existing manes were predominantly from Kannada and Tulu language. In some places, it is a mixture of Kannada and Tulu names. Some of the names of these villages have a long history of several centuries," the Karnataka Chief Minister said.
He pointed out that the change of names would affect the "feelings of people and their sentiments detrimentally".
"I feel that the Kerala government may not have the intention to change the names of these villages and this may have been a unilateral decision of the local bodies of these villages," said Yediyurappa.
He asked the Kerala CM to "oblige and make the Kannada-speaking people of Kasaragod and Manjeshwara happy by taking a decision to stall the process of changing the names."
Earlier on Monday, the Chairman of Karnataka Regional Border Development Authority Dr C Somashekhar met Yediyurappa and informed him that Kerala is going to change the names of some villages having Kannada names to Malayalam in the state's Kasaragod and Manjeswara districts.
The Karnataka CM responded immediately and said the matter had already been brought to his notice and will be conveyed to the government of Kerala.
Former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday also expressed his opposition to the move and wrote a letter to Kerala Chief Minister urging him to halt the move.
( With inputs from ANI )
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