Agartala, December 16:
Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha’s recent statement rejecting the Roman script for Kokborok is rapidly snowballing into a major political and social flashpoint, with tribal student organisations announcing a massive protest rally in Agartala on December 18.
The issue has also exposed serious cracks within the BJP-led NDA in the state, as its key tribal allies — TIPRA Motha and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) — have strongly condemned the Chief Minister’s stand.
In a strong show of unity, the Twipra Students Federation (TSF) and the Tipra Indigenous Students’ Federation (TISF) have jointly formed the United Movement Committee on Roman Script and announced a “muscle rally” from Astabal Ground to Ujjayanta Palace on December 18 evening.
The protest is aimed against the state government’s refusal to allow Roman script for Kokborok and its use in question papers of the Tripura Board of Secondary Education and CBSE examinations for Class X and XII.
Addressing a press conference in Agartala on Tuesday, TSF vice-president and NESO finance secretary John Debbarma in presence of other student leaders said the Chief Minister’s remarks have acted as a trigger, intensifying a five-decade-old movement backed by the majority of Kokborok-speaking people.
“Despite repeated memorandums and agitations, the Chief Minister has publicly stated that his government is not in favour of Roman script for Kokborok. This is a direct rejection of the will of the people,” Debbarma said.
He claimed that over 99 per cent of Kokborok speakers support the Roman script and strongly criticised the government’s suggestion of developing a new script as “condemnable and unacceptable.”
Drawing a sharp comparison, Debbarma pointed out what he called a contradiction within BJP-ruled states. “In Tripura, the BJP government is opposing Roman script, but in Assam, the same BJP government under Chief Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma allows Roman script for tribal languages like Karbi and Dima Hasao, and again in Meghalaya for the Garo language. This proves it is not the BJP, but the mindset of the Chief Minister that is blocking it,” he alleged.
Questioning the democratic credentials of the government, Debbarma said governance should be participatory, not imposed.
“In a democracy, power should rest with the people, not control them. Ignoring the collective voice of indigenous people is a sign of autocracy,” he said, adding that several language commissions in the past had already recommended Roman script for Kokborok.
The controversy has also taken a clear political turn, as Roman script is a long-standing core demand of TIPRA Motha and IPFT — both NDA partners of the BJP.
Leaders of the tribal student bodies said the condemnation by these ruling allies underlines the seriousness of the issue and warned that the Chief Minister’s statement could severely damage the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections.
TISF president Sajra Debbarma said if the BJP is serious about winning all 28 TTAADC seats, it should pass legislation on Roman script and “win the hearts of indigenous people” instead of alienating them.
He questioned whether the Chief Minister was acting for all communities of Tripura, reminding that Saha is not the Chief Minister of only Bengalis or BJP supporters but of the entire state.
Both TSF and TISF maintained that the movement is non-political and rooted in the preservation of indigenous language, culture and identity. However, they cautioned that the Chief Minister’s stand is likely to have serious electoral consequences and appealed for a social rejection of his statement.
The student leaders also called upon all political parties — including the CPI(M), TIPRA Motha, IPFT and tribal leaders within the BJP — to clearly state their position on the Roman script issue, which they described as crucial for safeguarding the identity of the Kokborok-speaking population.
With the December 18 rally expected to draw massive participation, the Roman script issue has emerged as one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive political challenges for the BJP government in Tripura ahead of crucial tribal elections.
