Tripura: Indigeneous bodies opposes plan to make Hindi compulsory in Northeast

The Roman Script for Kokborok-Choba (RSKC), a conglomeration of 56 indigenous socio-cultural organisations in Tripura, spoke out against the northeastern states' decision to make Hindi a compulsory subject upto Class 10.

 On Friday, The Roman Script for Kokborok-Choba (RSKC) president Bikash Roy Debbarma told before the media reporters that "RSKC is neither against Hindi nor Devanagari but it strongly opposes the forcible imposition of Hindi language and Devanagari script in NE states in general and Tripura in particular."

He stated that "language is a state subject, and RSKC believes that making Hindi compulsory in the Northeast is nothing more than a blatant violation of constitutional provision."

In terms of script, the RSKC opposes the Central Government's attempt to impose Devanagari on languages that do not have their own scripts.

In terms of script, the RSKC opposes the Central Government's proposal to impose Devanagari on languages that do not have their own scripts.

"The Union government has no authority to impose Devanagari on any language minority against their desire or choice." "The right to choose is a constitutional protection that cannot be taken away," he stated.

As per Debbarma, the people of the Northeast are peace-loving, but making Hindi compulsory for NE people is an "ill-move," which RSKC believes will be counter-productive.

He then urged the Central Government not to make Hindi compulsory in the NE states, but rather to leave it up to the people.

"Indigenous people, including Kokborok speakers, should have the right to choose their own script for their mother tongue," he stated.

In response to a question on the script for Kokborok, Debbarma stated that "almost 90% of indigenous people prefer the Roman script for Kokborok." Even after the formation of two language commissions earlier, the script for Kokborok, the mother dialect of about 80% of 19 indigenous groups in Tripura, could not be finalised.