Twipra Students Federation-led strike cripples life in Tripura

Agartala, March 21: Traffic movement through national highways and some parts of the railways arrived at a grinding halt after volunteers of Twipra Students Federation staged blockades at different locations across Tripura.

The NESO affiliated students’ body called the state-wide strike demanding an official approval on use of “Roman Script” as medium of writing for Kokborok language, the second most widely spoken language of Tripura, which also happens to be the mother tongue of the majority of the tribal communities.

TSF raised four key demands: Implementation of Roman Script in all educational institutions for writing, teaching and learning Kokborok. The government should recognize “Roman Script” as an official script for the language. The exams of board scheduled on March 21 should be postponed and exams should be conducted with question papers framed in Roman Script. All policies that advocated for use of Bengali script should be scrapped.

TSF has expressed concern over the recent Madhyamik exams conducted by the Tripura Board, stating that the Kokborok question papers were framed in Bengali script. This, they argue, is unfair to students from English-medium schools who have learned Kokborok in Roman script since primary school.

Addressing the ongoing blockades and strikes, TSF General Secretary Hamalu Jamatia stated that all national highways have been blocked. Additionally, in Jolaibari, South Tripura district, activists have also staged a blockade on the railway tracks. He further emphasized that the protests would continue until the government initiates discussions with them.

According to police sources, within West Tripura district, blockades have been reported at seven locations: Brajendra Colony, Gabordi, Champaknagar Sadhu Para, NIT First Gate, Khowai Chowmuhani, and Circuit House in Agartala.

Senior Kokborok author and a founding member of Roman Script for Kokborok Choba Bikashrai Debbarma extended his support to the TSF sponsored blockade and urged Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha to pass a one liner resolution in favour of Roman script.

“Now the ball is in the court of the Honourable CM and Bubagra. We want a one liner amendment in the official language act passed on the floor of the Legislative Assembly that the Roman script is the official script of Kokborok. This is the time to prove trustworthiness and fulfill the commitment to the aspirations of the people of Tripura,” he wrote on his social media handle.