Kokborok script row: Student body calls for roads, railway blockade from Feb 12

Agartala: The Tipra Indigenous Students Federation (TISF), the student wing of Tripura’s main opposition TIPRA Motha, on Friday said they would hold an indefinite protest and declared the blocking of roads and railway movement across the state from February 12 to increase pressure on the state government on its demand for allowing students to write their Kokborok language papers in Roman script in board examinations.
This comes hours after Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) president Dr Dhananjoy Ganchoudhury made a U-turn over allowing Roman script for Kokborok subject.
“The TBSE president first said that both scripts would be allowed but later he changed his version saying that only Bengali script will be allowed. For several years, Kokborok was written in both scripts. So, opposing his statement, we, TISF are going to hold an indefinite road and railway blockade throughout the state from February 12,” TISF central president Sajra Debbarma said.
He also said that the strike would continue till they were assured of a solution to the issue and sought a written assurance of allowing Roman script for Kokborok in the examinations. He added that they have formed a committee to decide the places where they would hold indefinite blockade.
“ We are not against Bengali script. Our demand is to allow both the scripts so that the students could write in the script of their choice,” he said.
The TBSE chief earlier this January asked all the examination centre in-charges to allow only Bengali script for writing Kokborok papers for the Class 12 and 10 board examinations scheduled to begin from March 1 and 2 due to insufficiently qualified evaluators to check answer copies written in Roman script.
This invited protests from the TIPRA Motha and other different social organisations after which the TBSE chief said that the students would be allowed to write in the script of their preference.
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However, he was later instructed by his higher authority to continue the board exam only allowing Bengali script till the Central Board of Secondary Education gives a reply on it.
“The state government already wrote to the CBSE on the issue. I have been instructed that till the CBSE gives any guideline, the students will be allowed to write in Bengali script,” said the TBSE chief.
The state education board had also said earlier that the state government is in communication with New Delhi for clearance and guidelines on the use of Roman script for Kokborok papers.
However, without any guidelines yet, the TBSE president said Roman script would be allowed.