Agartala, March 29: The TIPRA Motha (Tipraha Indigenous Peoples Regional Alliance) on Tuesday staged a protest inside the Tripura Assembly demanding Roman script for the Kokborok dialect spoken by most of the indigenous people of the state.
The Speaker had to briefly adjourn the House to restore order.
TIPRA Motha demanded a replacement of Bangla script with Roman for the Kokborok dialect, which is the second official language in Tripura. It wants the change to take place in all levels of examinations.
The TIPRA Motha legislators also demanded the government to withdraw their letter to CBSE that Kokborok examination should be conducted in Bengali script. They demanded provision for including Roman script.
The language has been recently included in the CBSE curriculum even as the debate over its written form still lingers.
TIPRA, which is now recognised as the main Opposition party in the State, has been pushing several contentious demands, including a “Greater Tipraland” — a separate State for Tripura’s 33% tribal population.
Leader of the Opposition Animesh Debbarma moved the issue as a Calling Attention Notice and sought an answer from the Chief Minister who also happens to be the Education Minister.
Chief Minister Manik Saha suggested a discussion at a later date, but TIPRA MLAs insisted on an instant assurance on the script issue.
