The Tripura Assembly on Tuesday witnessed an uproar as members of the TIPRA Motha (Tipraha Indigenous Peoples Regional Alliance) staged a protest to demand 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, 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.
TIPRA demands 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.
In the Assembly, the Leader of the Opposition Animesh Debbarma raised the issue through a ‘calling attention notice’ and claimed that several tribal students opted out from the recently held school leaving examinations because the Roman script was not allowed.
Chief Minister Manik Saha suggested a discussion at a later date, but TIPRA MLAs insisted on an instant assurance on the script issue.
Unsatisfied with the CM’s reply, they rushed to the well of the House and raised slogans. After sometime, Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen announced a 10-minute adjournment as the House was unable to transact scheduled business.
