By Firstdespatch Desk Jun 24, 2023
Agartala, Jun 24 (FD) Tipra Women Federation (TWF), a wing of the opposition TIPRA Motha submitted a memorandum to Tripura Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya demanding introduction of Roman script for Kokborok, the linguafranca of the state’s tribal population, who forms one third of the state’s estimated 40 lakh population.
Before submission of the memorandum a rally, called as the 'Raj Bhavan Abhiyaan,' traversed through different routes of the city.
According to the members of the delegation, the governor gave a patient hearing and has assured them to discuss the matter with the Chief Minister, Dr Manik Saha.
However, Opposition leader Animesh Debbarma warned that if the ruling party does not address the demand for the Roman script, the government in Tripura could collapse. He emphasized that Kokborok is their language and the Roman script is their preference.
Debbarma criticized the government's suggestion of using Bengali or Devanagari scripts and questioned the exclusion of the Roman script.
He asserted that if the demand continues to be ignored, massive protests will be organized across the state, posing a significant challenge to any government.
The TWF leader challenged the Chief Minister to address the technical issues related to the Roman script demand, offering examples of Kokborok pronunciations that can only be accurately written in Roman script. He urged the government to take the demand seriously to avoid further escalation of the situation.
The opposition's demand for the Roman script for Kokborok reflects a growing sentiment among TIPRA Motha party members and activists, who believe that their mother tongue should be represented in a script of their choice. FD PD JK