Roman Script row intensifies in Tripura as Tipra leaders warn of generational cost

A fresh push for the adoption of the Roman script for Kokborok/Kau Bru has intensified in Tripura, with Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBarma and elected tribal representatives formally urging the state government to take an immediate and unambiguous decision on the issue.

According to documents accessed, a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Manik Saha by elected members of the Tripura Legislative Assembly (TLA) and the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) calls for the recognition of the Roman script as the official script for Kokborok/Kau Bru. The memorandum has been signed by several tribal representatives, including ministers and MLAs, under the leadership of Pradyot Kishore Manikya, Chairman of the Administrative Reform Committee, TTAADC.

The memorandum argues that the continued imposition of alternative scripts has hindered the development and wider acceptance of Kokborok, affecting education, administration and empowerment of its speakers. It asserts that recognition of the Roman script is constitutionally permissible and that denial or non-recognition may violate Articles 14, 29(1) and 350A of the Constitution, along with provisions under the Sixth Schedule. It further states that the Tripura government has full legal competence to recognise and facilitate the Roman script through executive or policy decisions.

The elected representatives have demanded that the Roman script be adopted as the state’s official script for Kokborok, that question papers for Kokborok subjects in CBSE, ICSE and TBSE examinations be printed in Roman script, and that all textbooks be published accordingly. They have also sought that government recruitment examinations, including those conducted by the Tripura Public Service Commission, allow Kokborok in Roman script.

The memorandum recalls that Kokborok was recognised as a state language in 1979 through an amendment to the Tripura Official Language Act, 1964, and notes that the demand for the Roman script has existed since 1967. It cites past reports of language commissions, including the Shyama Charan Tripura, Kumud Kunda Chowdhury and Pabitra Sarkar commissions, which recorded widespread support among Kokborok speakers for the Roman script.

Reacting to the development, Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBarma said that Tipra’s elected representatives, including himself, have formally communicated their “unambiguous support” for Kokborok/Kau Bru in Roman script to the authorities. He stressed that it is essential for other elected Tiprasa representatives to clearly state their position on the issue. Any ambiguity or silence, he warned, could have far-reaching consequences for children and future generations, transcending political differences.

The issue of script for Kokborok has remained a long-standing and sensitive cultural and political question in Tripura. With formal memoranda now placed before the state government and public pressure mounting from tribal leaders, the matter is once again at the centre of Tripura’s linguistic and identity discourse.