Replace ‘Palli' with ‘Halli' in village names, Kalyana K'taka demands

Time of India

16 hours ago

Kalaburagi: Following the renaming of Bagepalli to Bhagyanagar, social activists, local bodies, and residents of Kalyana Karnataka are now demanding the removal of the Telugu suffix 'Palli' from more than 50 village names in the region, replacing it with 'Halli' — the Kannada equivalent.
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The villages span Kalaburagi, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir, and Bidar districts.
Though similar demands were made earlier, those were not met.
Laxman Dasti, the founder president of Kalyana Karnataka Horata Samiti, Kalaburagi, said states were reorganised based on the Justice Fazl Ali Commission report in 1956, giving priority to the issue of convenience of residents.
"As soon as the states were reorganised, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and some of the other states renamed their villages and towns in keeping with their history and language.
However, 'Mysuru' state remained unchanged, and so did its cities and villages," said Dasti.
"Now, Kannada language has acquired a crucial role, and village names should be renamed. Not only 'Palli', but even Urdu words such as 'Khurd' and 'Bujurg' have remained in Kalyana Karnataka region as the Nizams of Hyderabad followed a single-language formula with Urdu," he further explained.
"There is no need for any special drive, it's just a matter of commitment, like we did with Gulbarga as Kalaburagi and Bangalore as Bengaluru," he added.
Chidanand Sali, a writer in Raichur, noted that there are villages like Golapalli, Devanpalli, and Govindpalli in Raichur district.
"As we share a border with Telangana, there is an influence of the Telugu language. Whether it's 'Palli' or 'Halli', people are living in harmony here. Moreover, there is need for development of the villages rather than renaming them," he observed.
Mahesh Angadi, a Koppal-based social worker, said Koppal was part of the Raichur district until 1997.
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"Since it was also ruled by the Hyderabad Nizams, in some villages such as Kukanapalli, Telugu language is quite common," he noted.
H S Patil, the Koppal district president of Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samiti, claimed it is the current generation that's demanding these name changes.
"Today's youngsters are much more alert about land and language. It [name changes] should be done to cater to their wishes," he said.