Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S)leader H.D. Kumaraswamy (HDK) on Sunday appealed to the Kerala Government not to change the name of Manjeshwara and other villages. In a tweet, he said that the Kerala Government should preserve their original Kannada names.

He said, it has come to his notice that the Kerala Government has begun the process of changing the Kannada names of some of the villages there including Manjeshwara in Kasaragodu district.

“Before beginning the process of changing the name, I would like bring to the notice of the Kerala Government that Kasaragodu is also an area of Karnataka. Kasaragodu is a symbol of linguistic harmony. Though there are an equal number of Kannada and Malayalam speakers in Kasaragodu, they are living on a mutually supportive and inspirational basis. Also, they have never been confused about language. We need to maintain this in the future. In today’s age of politics with feelings, it is imperative to maintain language cohesion. Thus, I feel that it is the duty of both the States to preserve the legacy of Kannadigas. I request the Government of Kerala to preserve the original name of the village as well,” he added.

It may be mentioned here that JD(S) has won two Assembly seats in Kerala polls held in May.