HD Kumaraswamy urges Pinarayi Vijayan to halt process of renaming villages in Kerala

Janata Dal leader HD Kumaraswamy on Monday wrote to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting him to halt the process of renaming some villages in Manjeshwar town of Kasaragod district in Kerala, which have Kannada names, to Malayalam "in the name of linguistic harmony and cultural co-existence".

Kumaraswamy wrote, "I learn from the media that there is a move by the Kerala Government to rename some villages in Manjeshwar of Kasaragod district, which bear a Kannada flavour, into Malayalam."

"If this is indeed correct, may I sincerely request you to halt the process in the name of linguistic harmony and cultural co-existence." he wrote further.

He further explained, "Kasaragod, although part of Kerala, has had a seamless affinity with Karnataka for decades, and people in the area have always been accommodative of each other's linguistic heritage. It would be wonderful to continue this tradition."

Following the letter, Kumaraswamy took to Twitter and wrote, "I have written to Pinarayi Vijayan to stop the process of naming Malayalam by removing the names of Kannada villages in Kasaragod district of Kerala. I am confident that Pinarayi Vijayan will respond positively to Kannadiga's appeal. I hope that the language harmony between Karnataka and Kerala will continue to grow."

Earlier too on Sunday, appealed to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led government not to change the name of Kasaragod and other villages in Kerala having Kannada names.

( With inputs from ANI )