Agartala, January 19:
Amid the 48th Kokborok Day celebrations in Agartala on Monday, indigenous students staged a protest demanding official recognition of the Roman script for the Kokborok language, bringing the long-pending script issue back into sharp political focus ahead of the upcoming Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections.
A colourful rally was organised from the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan area to mark the day, with the participation of hundreds of students from both tribal and non-tribal communities. However, as the rally moved forward, activists of indigenous students organisations – Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF) and the Tipra Indigenous Students’ Federation (TISF) joined the procession, raising slogans and carrying placards demanding recognition of the Roman script.
Police and security personnel attempted to stop the protesters, but they continued marching. Later, near the Congress Bhavan, additional forces from West Agartala Police Station cordoned off the demonstrators as they intensified their protest.
Despite the restrictions, parts of the rally merged with the protesters, turning the celebration into a strong show of dissent over the script issue.
Addressing the media, the protesters clarified that they were not opposing the Bengali script, which currently enjoys official recognition for Kokborok. They said their demand was limited to granting parallel recognition to the Roman script, a demand they described as more than five decades old and rooted in widespread usage among indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, former Minister and BJP MLA Rampada Jamatia, who is the vice chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Development of Kokborok Language, and who participated in the rally, termed the Roman script demand a “foreign conspiracy.”
Jamatia claimed that the long-standing script dispute would soon be resolved, stating that a new indigenous script for Kokborok would be introduced in the near future.
Earlier, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha had categorically ruled out acceptance of any foreign script for Kokborok and had urged Kokborok-speaking intellectuals to develop a new indigenous script.
The Chief Minister’s remarks, however, triggered strong protests from the ruling NDA ally TIPRA Motha party, further widening differences within the coalition.
Kokborok Day is observed every year to commemorate the recognition of Kokborok as an official language of Tripura 48 years ago.
The language is spoken by a majority of the state’s indigenous population and holds deep cultural and political significance.
With growing friction between BJP and TIPRA Motha over language and identity issues, and with the crucial TTAADC elections scheduled within the next two months, it seems that the Kokborok script controversy—particularly the demand for the Roman script—is set to emerge as one of the most dominant and emotionally charged issues in the forthcoming polls.
