By Firstdespatch Desk May 18, 2023
Agartala, May 18 (FD) The opposition TIPRA Motha party has called upon Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha to intervene and address the ongoing debate surrounding the script to be used for the Kokborok language in educational institutions.
The party has urged the authorities to direct the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) to provide sample question papers in both Roman and Bengali scripts, allowing students to choose their preferred script until a resolution is reached regarding the Kokborok script.
TIPRA Motha Chief Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma took to Twitter, stating that the Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) administration had been advised to petition the High Court regarding the use of the Roman script in CBSE. He emphasised the need for unity in opposing the imposition of a language against the community's choice.
In a letter to Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha, Tripura opposition leader Animesh Debbarma requested immediate government intervention. Debbarma highlighted that Kokborok has been taught as an elective in government degree colleges since 2012, and students studying in colleges affiliated with Tripura University and MBB University are given the option to write in either Roman or Bengali script.
The letter further mentioned the results of a survey conducted by the Directorate of Higher Education, Government of Tripura, which revealed an overwhelming preference for the Roman script among students opting for the Kokborok language. In both the 2019–2020 and 2021–2022 academic years, the vast majority of students, close to 99.9% and 99.95%, respectively, chose the Roman script.
Debbarma also said that various examinations, including those conducted by the Tripura Public Service Commission and the National Testing Agency, have used the Roman script for Kokborok language assessments. He argued that the directive from the Directorate of Kokborok and Other Minority Languages to prepare question papers exclusively in Bengali script goes against the New Education Policy (NEP) of India-2020, which aims to facilitate education in mother tongues.
Kokborok, the lingua franca of 19 tribal communities in Tripura, lacks its own script and has been traditionally written in Bengali or Roman scripts. However, recent efforts to introduce Devanagari or Hindi script have faced resistance from political parties, students, language activists, and cultural workers who argue that it would disrupt the region's language dynamics.
In March of this year, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha expressed readiness to develop a new script for Kokborok using "any Indian language," reigniting the long-standing script debate. FD SB JK