BJP's ally in Tripura Pradyot Deb Barma hits the streets seeking inclusion of Kokborok language in education

Guwahati: The deamand for inclusion of Roman script for Kokborok language in Tripura's education system is getting louder with Pradyot Deb Barma, the founder of Tipra Motha, an ally of the ruling BJP hitting the streets on Friday.

"The issue is that our students must be allowed to read and write in our language (Kokborok), which is their mother tongue and which they are comfortable in. No other language can be forced on us--be it Bengali, Devnagri or any other language. Our MLAs will talk inside the Assembly and our people will speak out on the streets. No alliance is more important than the community," Deb Barma told reporters as he sat on a street in Agartala. The Tripura's royal scion joined the protest organised by Tripura Students' Federation (TSF).

With 13 MLAs in the House of 60, Tipra Motha is an ally of the BJP-led government in Tripura. But the party has repeately taken up agitation on issues related to interests of the indigenous communities. "Our alliance first has to be with the people and the community first then with any party," Deb Barma said. The party had contested the Assembly elections in 2023 without any alliance but later joined the BJP-led government.

Own script

The students' federation have been demanding inclusion of Roman script in the Kokborok language paper, which is now printed in Bengali, the language spoken by the Bengalis, who are now majority in the state. "You can't neglect the community, which is more than 30 per cent of the population," he said.

The Tipra Motha and the TSF says the indigenous Tripuris, who once were dominant, were reduced to a minority due large scale influx of the Bengalis from neighbouring Bangladesh. They say Bengali has been imposed on the indigenous Tripuris resulting frequent protests.

The students even threatened to boycott examinations if their mother tongue their script is not included. "What if our students don't understand the papers and fail in their examinations? If they fail and take a wrong path, then you call them insurgents," Deb Barma said.