CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: The Kerala Assembly has unanimously passed a proposal to change the state’s name from ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’.
The Kerala government has once again appealed to the Centre to change the state’s name. This time, the state assembly has unanimously passed a proposal demanding recognition of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presented the proposal and emphasized that this name change has been a long-standing demand of the Malayalam-speaking community. A similar proposal was sent last year, but the Union Home Ministry suggested some technical modifications.
Chief Minister Vijayan emphasized: The state’s name should be ‘Keralam,’ not ‘Kerala’
While presenting the proposal in the assembly, Chief Minister Vijayan said that in Malayalam, the state’s name is ‘Keralam,’ and this name represents the cultural identity of the people here. He demanded that the central government take steps to change the state’s name to ‘Keralam’ in all languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
An example of unity: Support from both ruling and opposition parties
Both the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), led by Congress, supported this proposal. However, UDF MLA N. Shamsuddin suggested some amendments to the proposal, which the government rejected. Ultimately, Assembly Speaker A.N. Shamseer passed the proposal unanimously.
A historic initiative to recognize ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam
The initiative to name Kerala as ‘Keralam’ is not new. This demand has been raised since the time of the freedom struggle. The assembly has once again raised this issue, appealing to the Centre to take immediate steps to amend it to ‘Keralam’ under Article 3 of the Constitution.
This proposal is a significant step towards restoring Kerala’s cultural identity and honoring the state’s history and language. It remains to be seen how the central government will respond to this proposal.