Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Wednesday assured a delegation led by opposition leader Animesh Debbarma that a committee with all stakeholders will be formed  to address the longstanding demand for Roman script for Kokborok language.

After meeting with Chief Minister on Wednesday at his official residence in Agartala, the delegation soon after submission of their deputation addressed a press conference, where opposition leader said that the delegation consists with representatives from ‘Roman Script for Kokborok Choba’, MLAs of Tipra-Motha and leaders of TSF submitted the memorandum in support of their demand for bi-script for all CBSE question papers.

Debbarma said that in their letter to the Chief Minister demanding that the question papers of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) be prepared in Roman script or in Bengali language.

Debbarma mentioned that he had requested a meeting with the Chief Minister through a letter, emphasizing the need to discuss the demand for the Roman script for Kokborok. After a patient hearing, the Chief Minister agreed to form a committee in participation of all stakeholders to hold detailed discussions for a resolution based on their findings.

Animesh Debbarma said that the Chief Minister passionately listened to them and assured the visiting team that the government would soon form a committee to resolve the matter.

Kokborok language doesn’t signify any community and many Bengali students are studying the Kokborok language to know the roots of the state. It’s an official language of the state, said Debbarma and added that they tried to highlight the ground realities  to make the Chief Minister aware that a major section of students are writing their question papers in school and colleges of the state through Roman script.

The CBSE must prepare their question papers in bi-script with option of Bengali and Roman script for Kokborok language, said Debbarma and added that all three ‘Bhasa commissions’ of Tripura have also given their suggestions in favour of Roman script.

Animesh Debbarma also said that Kokborok does not mean Tiprasa and it is the second recognized official language of Tripura and expressed his hope that the Chief Minister will take a positive role in the matter.

It may be recalled here that the demands for Kokborok script develop again after the Directorate of Kokborok and other minority languages in Tripura has reportedly written to the CBSE to prepare Kokborok question papers for the board exams only in Bengali script. The recently concluded session of the Legislative Assembly also witnessed a ruckus over the demand for the Kokborok script.