North Kerala’s Thuruthi Street has been renamed ‘Gaza Street’ after the contentious strip. This is a development which has alarmed the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The youngsters of the zone have been accused of swapping signboards to rename the Thuruthi Street as ‘Gaza Street’ after the contentious strip of land under Palestinian rule.
Intelligence agencies are not amused, despite claims that it has been renamed in solidarity with those “targeted” by Israeli authorities. But what is the reason? The Thuruthi Street is located near Padana village in Kerala, which allegedly witnessed more than twenty youngsters trooping off to join the Islamic ISIS’s militant army in recent times.
The street is adjacent to the Thuruthi Jama Masjid and it was inaugurated by District Panchayat president AGC Basheer. However, Mr. Basheer distanced himself from the street’s controversial name. He is saying that he was invited to the inauguration ceremony at the last minute and he did not know that the road has been renamed to Gaza Street. However Gaza Street is not the road’s official name yet, as the municipal council of Kasargod has not yet adopted a resolution directing the renaming. The opposition leader Mr. Ramesh said that when a resolution to rename the street to Gaza turns up at the council, it will be opposed tooth and nail. Meanwhile, security agency IB are keeping a close watch on the developments in that zone.
He said, “There was a deliberate attempt to change the names of a number of areas in Kasaragod. When such matters come to the Council of Municipality, there will be a debate and if the name is not of public acceptance, it will be rejected immediately. And for the same reason, many such names are not brought to the municipal council’s attention”.
Kasaragod district has been under the radar observation of central security agencies like National Investigation Agency (NIA) and IB following the case of the missing youths. “Kasaragod district is such a district where communal divisions are continuously deepening along with small roads being made organizations like the Islamic ISIS. But this particular incident has not come to the attention of the state government. It is very shocking that how can it possible where the eyes of central security agencies capture even minor developments happening in the district for the same reason”.
A senior leader of Muslim League from the Kasaragod district claimed that this is not a serious matter. According to him “One needn’t read too much into a prank committed by some youngsters of the street. Unlike UP, we don’t plan to change place names. One has to take it sportingly”. After that, he cited a beach named after Saddam Hussein in Kozhikode and another road bearing the name of Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi’s in Malappuram to drive home his point.
