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New Indian Express
30-04-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
BJP demands name change for Jinnah Nagar in Palakkad
PALAKKAD: A fresh debate over names is brewing in Palakkad. Amid the row triggered by the BJP-ruled Palakkad municipal council's decision to name an upcoming skill development centre after RSS founder K B Hedgewar, a councillor from the party has demanded immediate rechristening of 'Jinnah Nagar', a commercial area in the heart of the city named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. In an urgent notice to the municipal council on Tuesday, BJP councillor from Ayyapuram East ward Sasikumar M demanded that the area be named after Chettur Sankaran Nair, the only Keralite to have served as the All India Congress Committee president and the sole Indian member of the Viceroy's Executive Council. Jinnah Nagar, a once residential area and now a commercial region, lies adjacent to the bustling Valiyangadi area. It is claimed a resolution passed by the municipality in 1977 had named the locality Jinnah Nagar. The BJP leaders argued that honouring Jinnah by naming a place in India after him is 'deeply inappropriate' and that 'Pakistani symbols have no place in Palakkad'. They claimed Jinnah was responsible for the Partition, which led to widespread bloodshed and the enduring conflict between India and Pakistan. They also cited the Pahalgam terror attack as evidence of ongoing threats linked to the consequences of Partition. 'It is unacceptable that an area in an Indian city still bears the name of a man who advocated the two-nation theory and divided our country,' Sasikumar told TNIE. 'It was in 1977 that the Palakkad municipality took the disgraceful step of naming a major locality after Jinnah. Congress and IUML ruled the civic body at the time. We demand the decision be reversed,' he said. 'We propose the Manjakulam road-Vandikkara street that covers Jinnah Nagar be renamed after Chettur in honour of the prominent freedom fighter, jurist and the only Malayali to head the AICC,' he said. The proposal is expected to be taken up for discussion in the next council meeting.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Political storm over move to name Palakkad school after Hedgewar
The BJP-controlled Palakkad municipality's decision to name a school for disabled children after RSS founder K B Hedgewar has come under criticism from the CPI(M) and Congress. Congress and CPI(M) councillors clashed with their BJP counterparts in the council meeting, which ratified the decision to give Hedgewar's name to the upcoming special school. Palakkad is one of the few local bodies in Kerala controlled by the BJP. Opposition councilors turned up for the meeting with placards reading 'Who is Hedgewar'. BJP leader and municipal chairperson Prameela Sasidharan on Tuesday said, 'There is no change in the decision. BJP is ruling the municipality and we will decide on naming the institutions. The Congress and CPI(M) can protest against the decision.' Pointing to some institutions in Kerala having been named after Variamkunnath Kunhahammed Haji — a leader of the 1921 Mappila rebellion — Sasidharan said, 'The town hall in Malappuram is named after Haji. Was he a freedom fighter? We will decide whose name to be given for the school.' Congress legislator from Palakkad, Rahul Mamkoottathil, said, 'This is an ideological issue. We will counter this move politically and legally. Only through violence can BJP and RSS implement their communal agenda.' Congress state president K Sudhakaran and Opposition leader V D Satheesan will visit Palakkad on Tuesday evening to take forward the protest over the naming of the school after the RSS founder. The CPI(M) also held a protest outside the municipality. Party district secretary E N Suresh Babu, who inaugurated the meeting, said,'We will never allow BJP to name an institute after a traitor. Congress is helping the RSS to implement their agenda. The Congress's agitation on this issue is just drama.' Two weeks ago, Hedgewar was at the centre of another controversy in Kerala when his portrait was displayed during a temple festival. The temple, Sree Krishnaswamy temple in Kollam, is controlled by the state government-run Devaswom board. The board has ordered a probe into the matter.
