Agartala, June 21: Hundreds of indigenous students from the Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF) took to the streets in Agartala on Wednesday, advocating for the use of the Roman script for the Kokborak language.
They began their rally at the Radhanagar motor stand area and marched towards the Raj Bhavan with the intention of submitting a memorandum to Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya. However, their progress was halted by security forces in the Circuit House area.
The participants highlighted that the demand for adopting the Roman or English script for Kokborok has been an unresolved issue for over five decades. Despite the majority of the indigenous population favoring the Roman script, previous governments have failed to address the matter. Organized by the TSF, this movement aimed to draw attention to the issue.
As a four-member representative group from the TSF approached the governor’s house to submit their memorandum, other members of the student organization blocked the airport road, expressing their demand.
Recent incidents were brought to light where students in English-medium schools affiliated with the CBSE were compelled to write their Kokborok answers in the Bengali script during board examinations. These students expressed their preference for writing in English but faced difficulties due to this requirement. Consequently, the issue gained renewed attention.
It may be added here that the state government had earlier observed that unlike the Tripura Board of Secondary Education, the CBSE does not provide provisions for setting question papers or answering in two languages for any subject, including Kokborak.
The tribal students expressed hope that the Governor is well-informed about the long-standing issue surrounding the adoption of the Roman script for the Kokborak language. They anticipate a resolution and, if necessary, plan to approach the Prime Minister if their demands remain unaddressed. Kokborak, the most widely spoken language among Tripura’s indigenous population, accounts for 31 percent of the approximately 4 million residents.
