Tripura: Indigenous Tribes Protest Over Adoption Of Roman Script For Kokborok

Tripura Students’ Federation (TSF) activists on Friday, March 22 blocked the VIP road leading to the airport, Assembly, and High Court in Agartala amid their indefinite statewide strike. TSF has demanded the adoption of the Roman script for Kokborok – one of the official languages of the state. The protest coincided with the first day of Tripura’s Budget Session, as the tribal students’ organisation intensified its decades-old demand. Further, the TSF has demanded a reschedule for the students who faced difficulties in writing their Kok Borok paper after the question paper was provided in only Bengali script.

Speaking to NewsX, TSF Vice President Jhon Debbarma expressed his displeasure over the matter. “We are not against Bengali language, and we are not disrespecting anyone. All we want is the inclusion of the Roman script option so that our students can appear for the exams without any problem,” said Debbarma.

The Tripura CM Manik Saha has commented on the matter. “Many discussions took place, but no concrete decision was made. Several protests were held, and the leadership met with me. As per the tripartite agreement, this script issue is also included, and talks are ongoing. We must consider the pros and cons of the matter. We will resolve the issue,” said Dr. Saha. The TSF has criticised the response of the CM and have stated that they are not satisfied with the response. “We are trying to meet the CM over the issue and we are not satisfied with the reaction so far,” added Debbarma.

Meanwhile, taking stock of the matter, the opposition has accused the BJP government in the state of neglect. Speaking to the media, veteran MLA Sudip Roy Barman stated that “the present government doesn’t have the will to give recognition of the legitimate demand of the indigenous people of Tripura.”

A critical stand on the matter will be the role of TIPRA Motha, an indigenous political party born out of the Tipraland movement led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma, the Royal Scion of the state. Manikya has compared the situation on social media to that of other Northeast states where students can write in the Roman language. “Looks like we will have to look at Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland Model where despite the local languages not being included in the 8th schedule, the boys and girls can write and read their language and sit in examinations in Roman script. Why? because it’s a ‘State’ Subject and those states have made a clear decision.” He has further talked about the position of the National parties on the matter.

Kokborok is the lingua franca of the majority of 19 tribal communities in Tripura. While the language has a rich history and is one of the official languages in the Northeastern state, it does not have an officially recognised indigenous script. Kokborok is written in both Roman and Bengali scripts. Kokborok got its recognition as an official state language in 1979 for the first time. Two commissions led by former legislator Shyama Charan Tripura in 1900 and linguist Pabitra Sarkar in 2004 were constituted but the debate over the script of the language is yet to be solved.

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