26-07-2025
Tripura students' body fights for Kokborok
Tripura: The Twipra Students' Federation (TSF), an indigenous Student body of Tripura, launched an indefinite strike demanding for the adoption of the Roman scripture for Kokborok. Kokborok, the primary language of Tripura's indigenous communities, was first recognized as an official state language in 1979 for the first time under the two commissions set up by Legislator Shyama Charan Tripura and Linguist Pabitra Sarkar. But disputes over its script remain unresolved.
Hundreds of TSF and Youth Tipra Federation (YTF) activists gathered at several parts of Agartala, calling for the immediate recognition of the Roman script as Kokborok's official writing system and postponement of the Class 10 and 12 Kokborok exams until the issue is resolved.
The controversy over script reignited last year, when TBSE (State board) chief Dr Dhananjoy Gonchoudhury instructed all the examination center to permit only the Bengali script for writing Kokborok.
TSF in-charge and YTF General Secretary James Debbarmacritisisedthe State Government for consistently ignoring the demands of the indigenous people for over five decades and failing to respect the linguistic preferences of the community.
Kokborok serves as the lingua franca amongst the tribes of Tripura. To maintain this linguistic balance, the language must be accessible in the script that is most widely used. A survey conducted in 2019-2020 by the Directorate of Higher Education, Government of Tripura, found that only 6 out of 6649 students chose the Bengali script. Similarly, a 2021-2022 survey found that just 4 out of 9147 students used the same, showing that 98% preferred the Roman script. These findings highlight the need to implement the Roman scripture for Kokborok to protect students' rights, promote literacy, and preserve Tripura's linguistic and cultural heritage.
