AGARTALA (Tripura, India): The Tipra Indigenous Students’ Federation (TISF) and the Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF) will hold torchlight rallies across Tripura on December 18 to press for the adoption of the Roman script for the Kokborok language. The rallies will be held simultaneously in all districts and subdivisions of the state during the evening hours.
According to the student bodies, the main rally will take place in Agartala, beginning from Swami Vivekananda Maidan and moving towards the State Museum. The protest has been called following recent remarks by Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, in which he suggested that indigenous communities should choose an Indian script instead of a foreign one for Kokborok.
TISF leaders said the torch rallies are intended to convey the collective sentiment of the indigenous population to both the state and central governments. They alleged that despite repeated discussions over the years, the state government has failed to take any concrete step to resolve the long-standing demand regarding the Kokborok script.
The leaders said the TSF has extended full support to the programme and members of both organisations will participate in the rallies in a united manner. He also criticised the Chief Minister’s statement, adding that the government has the authority to appoint linguistic experts and should take a clear and decisive stand on the issue instead of allowing the matter to remain unresolved for years.
Kokborok, the indigenous language of Tripura’s Borok community, was declared an official state language in 1979. However, the debate over its script remains unresolved. While the Bengali script is currently used in education and administration, many in the indigenous community prefer the Roman script, arguing that it better represents Kokborok’s phonetics and makes learning easier.
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