Agartala, April 29: The Tipra Motha Party, a key ally in Tripura’s BJP-led coalition government, has once again strongly reiterated its demand for the adoption of the Roman script for the Kokborok language. In a statement released on Tuesday, party founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman emphasized that the party firmly opposes any proposal to recognize Kokborok using either Bengali or Devanagari scripts.
“We, the TIPRA Motha Party, have been vocal advocates for the adoption of the Roman script for Kokborok and continue to stand firmly by this demand,” the statement declared. It criticized recent moves by some organizations proposing the inclusion of Kokborok in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution with Bengali or Devanagari as the official script.
Citing linguistic practices in Northeast Indian states such as Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, the party argued that Roman script adoption is possible at the state level regardless of central recognition. “These states officially use Roman script for indigenous languages like Mizo, Khasi, and Garo despite not being included in the 8th Schedule,” the statement noted, asserting that script selection falls under state jurisdiction.
Tipra Motha also raised concerns over the lack of script flexibility in education. It pointed out that while CBSE provides bilingual papers (English and Bengali) for Vidyajyoti schools in Tripura, Kokborok-speaking students have long been denied similar accommodations. The party further criticized a recent decision by the syllabus restructuring committee to exclude Roman script literary works from the new Kokborok curriculum for Classes IX to XII.
Calling the move discriminatory and culturally insensitive, the party urged the state government to formally recognize Roman script for Kokborok, aligning with the linguistic realities of Tripura’s indigenous communities.
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