Row over Tripura Bill on script

AGARTALA, August 9: The Bill passed by the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council to introduce the Roman script for the "Kokborak" - the state's tribal dialect - has given rise to a political controversy. The Roman script seeks to replace the Bengali script in which the "Kokborak" is taught in primary schools in the hill autonomous areas of the state. The Indigenous Peoples' Front of Tripura, the ruling group in the council, has decided to introduce the Roman script in primary schools in the hill autonomous areas immediately "as the Governor will take a long time to give assent to the Bill". "The IPFT wants to implement its decision without waiting for the Governor's assent. This shows its hatred towards the majority community in Tripura," the state CPI-M unit alleged in a statement here today. It felt IPFT's stand may undermine ethnic harmony. After coming to power in 1978, the Left Front declared "Kokborak" as the second language after Bengali and introduced the dialect in Bengali script at the primary level in the hill areas. Hill regional parties including the Tripura Upajati Juba Samity, Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal's TNV and the IPFT have long been wanting the Roman script.