Roman script for Kokborok language: Indigenous Tripura students body on indefinite strike
Kokborok got its recognition as an official state language in 1979 for the first time. Two commissions were constituted but the debate over the script of the language is yet to be solved.
The Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF) on Friday sat on an indefinite strike demanding the Roman script be allowed for the Kokborok language, spoken by a majority of the indigenous community in the state.
The strike was held in several parts of the state, including the capital city of Agartala, with incidents of road blockades and burning tyres also being reported. Their demands include a resolution on the issue of the Kokborok language script and rescheduling of CBSE class 10 and 12 board examinations for Kokborok subject.
“The students got Kokborok question paper written in Bengali language. They wanted it in Roman script. We see that the Tripura government, TBSE (Tripura Board of Secondary Education) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) are playing with the academic career of the students. That’s why we called the indefinite strike from today (Friday). But we want to give a message to the people that we are not against anyone and any language,” one TSF leader told reporters.
The TSF, in a letter written to TIPRA Motha party founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, appealed to extend his support to their movement and ask his party legislators and ministers to raise the issue during the assembly session.
“As the foremost leader of the indigenous community, we appeal to you to publicly support our movement and direct all MLAs and Ministers from your party to raise this critical issue in the upcoming Assembly session. “Their collective voice in the Assembly is crucial in securing justice for Kokborok-speaking students and ensuring the rightful place of our language,” their letter read.
Pradyot, on this March 8, sought the intervention of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to take action on the long-lasting row over the introduction of Roman script for Kokborok language during the TBSE and CBSE board examinations.
He said he would also meet chief minister Manik Saha for a probe into the issue to find out which teachers didn’t follow the instruction and why.
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.
The row over Kokborok script started last year January after TBSE chief Dr. Dhananjoy Gonchoudhury asked all the examination center in-charges to allow only Bengali script for writing Kokborok paper in the Class 12 and 10 board examinations scheduled to begin from March 1 and 2 due to insufficient qualified evaluators to check answer copies written in Roman script.
This invited protests from TIPRA Motha and other different social organizations after which the TBSE chief said that the students would be allowed to write in the script of their preference.
Later, he was instructed by his higher authority to continue the board exam only allowing Bengali script till the Central Board of Secondary Education give any reply on it.
Finally, the state government intervened and said that the examinations would be conducted in both Bengali and Roman scripts.