Hindi, Roman or Bengali in Northeast: A Kokborok row plays to a familiar script

Other political parties, students, language activists and cultural workers have opposed this, warning that it might disturb the tense language dynamics of the region.

However, re-elected Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha might have ensured that the controversy lingers, saying his government is ready to prepare a new script for Kokborok in “any Indian language”.

Tripura isn’t the only state where this script is playing out either.

The Kokborok row

Kokborok was first recognised as the official state language of Tripura in 1979, when the first Left Front government was in power.

The government set up two commissions under former legislator Shyama Charan Tripura and linguist Pabitra Sarkar to decide the script for it. Their reports were made public and while both Commissions gave a mandate in favour of the Roman script, including the Sarkar Commission which was instituted by the Left Front government, the latter didn’t implement the Roman script and chose the Bengali script, while keeping options open for Roman as well.

While the Left Front government voiced its preference for the Bengali script, an organisation called ‘Roman Script for Kokborok Choba (RSKC)’ opposed saying most tribal groups favoured the Roman one.

At the same time, RKSC chief Bikash Rai Debbarma told The Indian Express last year, when Shah’s remarks on the Devanagari script stirred a road, that the organisation believed that both Bangla and Roman scripts could be used to write Kokborok, but the problem might arise if Hindi was imposed.

The RSKC — a conglomerate of 56 tribal organisations – had led protests against Shah’s statement.

The late tribal litterateur, Chandrakanta Murasingh, said at the time that tribal cultural activists were not against the Hindi language but that, judging by local realities, imposing it might disturb the hard-obtained balance of Bengali and Kokborok languages and “brotherhood” in the state. “If something is imposed by force, it affects everyone,” he said.

In the latest row, the TIPRA Motha flagged media reports, in the Assembly, that candidates giving a Kokborok language paper in the recent Tripura Board of Secondary Education exams, in a school in Gomati district, were compelled by invigilators to write answers in the Bengali script. And that many who had studied Kokborok only in Roman so far submitted blank answersheets.

During a discussion in the House, the Motha’s Animesh Debbarma said their party wasn’t against writing Kokborok in any script, “even French”, but that students were well within their rights to give the paper in Roman apart from Bengali under the three-language formula. Debbarma sought a re-examination saying students would lose an academic year otherwise.

In his reply, CM Saha, who holds the Education portfolio, told the Assembly on Thursday that they had enquired with the Board and been told that there was no notification regarding compulsorily writing Kokborok exam in the Bengali script.

However, for those wary of the BJP’s “pro-Hindi” bias, Saha’s additional statement that they were ready to prepare a script for Kokborok in “any Indian language” did not help matters.

Mizoram

The Mizo language or Mizo Tawng belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family. During British rule, Christian missionaries who visited the Lushai hills introduced a Mizo alphabet based on the Roman script. The first alphabet was devised in 1894, by Reverend J H Lorrain and Reverend F W Savidge, and the script came to be called ‘A Aw B’.

During the controversy sparked by Amit Shah’s remarks last year, Ricky Lalbiakmawia, a spokesperson and senior leader of the MizoZirlai Pawl (the largest student body of Mizoram), had referred to the ‘A Aw B’ script and said: “Mizoram has many communities like the Lushai, Rhalte, Hmar etc. Long ago, when the British missionaries came to Mizoram, they gave us our script called the A Aw B… It has been our script for so long. We will not accept imposition of Hindi script over it”.

Manipur

Manipur has the Meitei Mayek or Manipuri script, which is around 2,000 years old and is recognised by the state government. As per Mutua Bahadur of Mutua Museum, the language can be seen in coins dating back to the 6th century.

While a stone inscription found in Khoibu village is said to be the earliest epigraphic record of the Meitei script, it has evolved over the years, with different groups even squabbling over the same. The original script that was 18 letters is now a 36-letter script, having remained so since the 17th century regime of Meidingu Pamheiba, it is believed.

However, by the time of The Manipur Official Language Act, 1979, Bengali script had taken over, with the Act defining Manipuri language as “Meiteilon written in Bengali script and spoken by the majority of Manipuri population”.

Since 2005, the Manipur government has been trying to revive the Manipuri script, re-introducing it in schools and making it part of the course at university level.

When Shah spoke about Hindi script being considered for languages in the Northeast which were struggling without a formal script, Manipur was the first to observe a major protest, with its powerful student organisations joining hands.

Later, a public convention was held on the topic ‘Hindi subject compulsory up to Class X: A boon or curse for our indigenous minorities’. The convention’s resolutions included a mandate against accepting Hindi as a compulsory subject up to Class 10 in Manipur, launching a movement for preservation and development of the mother language of different communities, and exerting pressure on the government to take steps to educate students in their mother language.

Arunachal Pradesh

The case of this Northeast state is different. The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) admits that the numerous tribes that make up the state do not have a script of their own, but remains against any imposition of Hindi.

AAPSU leaders say while Hindi is already a bridge language of sorts between the many tribal communities of the state, enforcing it “through an official Act” would also stir language tensions there. He cites the official language movement in the 1960s in Assam as a lesson.

During a recent UNESCO survey, around 33 languages of Arunachal were identified as endangered and four as critically endangered.

Assam

Given that Assamese script is used widely and commonly in the state, there are no apprehensions about introduction of Devanagari here. However, there are many other linguistic groups in the state like the Bodos, Rabhas, Misings, Tiwas, Karbis, whose languages are taught either till Class 6 or, in case of some, till Class 10.

While reiterating that Hindi or Devanagari script debate isn’t an issue in Assam, All Assam Students’ Union chief Samujjwal Bhattacharyya had said during the Hindi language row last year: “Literary bodies of languages should decide the script issue. From our side, we want that all tribal and ethnic languages be developed. We are in touch with all the literary bodies of Assam.”