Tribal literary body seeks inclusion of Kokborok in Eighth Schedule, writes to Tripura CM Manik Saha

In a letter to Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, the Kokborok Sahitya Parishad Saturday sought the inclusion of the Kokborok language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The tribal literary body stated that the script for the Kokborok language can either be Bengali or Devanagari.

“Kokborok is one of the oldest and most widely spoken languages among the indigenous communities of Tripura. It serves as a vital medium of cultural expression, history, and identity for the tribal population. Despite its rich heritage and widespread usage, the language is yet to receive constitutional recognition, which is crucial for its preservation, development, and promotion at a national level. It is pertinent to mention here that Kokborok can be written with either Devanagari or Bengali script correctly and appropriately, and it has a golden history of being written in the Bengali script. Most of the Kokborok scholars have been writing Kokborok with Bengali script,” the letter reads.

Advertisement

However, TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma termed the recommendation as “sad, shocking and unacceptable”.

Taking to his social media handle, he wrote, “The Kokborok script will be decided by people’s will and not by the so-called intellectuals who are not courageous (enough) to speak for indigenous students.”

“I can understand Devanagari script (for Kokborok language). But when the Bengali community is shifting toward Hindi and English for better prospects, why push is (being) given for (the) Bengali script?” asked Pradyot Kishore while clarifying that he has no animosity toward the Bengali language.

Advertisement

He asserted the need for writing Kokborok in the Roman script, owing to its widespread use among languages in the Northeast.

Kokborok is the lingua franca of the tribal communities in Tripura.