Agartala: The Tipra Indigenous Students’ Federation (TISF) and the Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF) on Tuesday announced a state-wide protest on December 18, calling for the adoption of the Roman script for Kokborok.
Leaders of the two organisations said torchlight rallies would be held across all districts and subdivisions of Tripura in the evening.
The main rally will take place in Agartala, beginning at Swami Vivekananda Maidan and marching towards the State Museum.
The protest has been called in response to recent remarks by Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, who urged indigenous communities to adopt an Indian script rather than a foreign one.
TISF leader Sajra Debbarma said the organisations decided to launch the state-wide protest to press their long-pending demand.
He alleged that the Kokborok script issue has been debated repeatedly over the years without reaching any concrete outcome, and accused the state government of not taking the long-standing demand seriously.
“Through these rallies, we want to convey the collective sentiment of indigenous people to both the state and central governments,” he added.
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He further said that TSF leaders have extended full support to the movement and activists of both organisations will participate in the protests in unity.
He also criticised the Chief Minister’s remarks, saying the government has the authority to appoint linguistic experts and should resolve the issue through decisive action instead of continuing prolonged discussions.
