TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma reiterates demand for Roman script for Kokborok, says time for temporary fixes has passed

In a letter written to Pradhan on March 1 and shared on social media on Saturday, Debbarma claimed that the Roman script was preferred due to its compatibility with the vocabulary of Kokborok.

Highlighting the Kokborok script row last year, the TIPRA Motha founder stated that the Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) chairman announced that students would be allowed to write the Kokborok paper only in the Bengali script, sparking massive protests throughout the state.

“The time for temporary fixes and empty promises has passed. This (script) matter requires your immediate intervention to ensure that question papers for Kokborok in both TBSE and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) examinations are made available in both Bengali and Roman scripts, ensuring equitable treatment for all students. This is not just an issue of fairness, but also one of cultural preservation and linguistic rights. The Kokborok-speaking community, with its rich history and heritage, deserves nothing less than equal recognition and respect…” the letter reads.

Speaking about the inconvenience caused due to lack of question papers in the Roman script, he said, “This is not a minor inconvenience. It is a systematic issue that prevents students from having a fair opportunity to showcase their academic capabilities. This issue has already caused frustration among students who appeared for the TBSE Class XII and Class X examinations on February 27th and 28th, respectively. Furthermore, as the CBSE Class X examinations approach on March 17th, it is absolutely crucial that this matter is addressed immediately.”

On Friday, Debbarma also asked if anyone else was raising the issues affecting the tribals as diligently as he was doing. He made the point after the Opposition CPI(M) and the Congress alleged that the TIPRA Motha party was used by the BJP to come back to power in 2023.

After Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s push for the adoption of the Devnagari script for Kokborok last year, the Roman Script for Kokborok Choba (RSKC) – a conglomerate of 56 tribal organisations in Tripura – had carried out agitations.

Earlier, two commissions were set up under former legislator Shyama Charan Tripura and linguist Pabitra Sarkar, respectively. While the erstwhile Left Front government publicly preferred the Bengali script, RSKC claimed both Commissions found the Roman script as the favoured script of the majority of tribal people in the state.

Kokborok is now taught in 22 degree colleges in the state and at the Centre-run Tripura University as well.

Kokborok was first recognised as an official state language in Tripura in 1979.