Thousands of Kokborok-speaking students formed human chains across Tripura demanding adoption of the Roman script for the language.
Protesters accused the state government of ignoring public sentiment, while the chief minister alleged the agitation was politically motivated.
The government maintained that Kokborok should not use the Roman script and urged the community to develop its own script instead.
Thousands of Kokborok-speaking students formed human chains across Tripura on Saturday to press their demand for the adoption of the Roman script for the language.
The Kokborok, the second official language of the northeastern state, is the mother tongue of most of the 19 tribes.
In support of the United Movement Committee for Roman Script (UMCRC), the students formed human chains at eleven different locations in Tripura and performed slogans calling for the Kokborok language to be written in Roman script.
“The government must respect the sentiment of Kokborok-speaking people and introduce the Roman script," John Debbarma, the convener of UMCRC, a joint platform of Kokborok-speaking students, told reporters.
He expressed disappointment over Chief Minister Manik Saha's recent statements on the demand for the Roman script for the Kokborok language.
“A democratically elected chief minister can’t ignore the aspirations of the people. We hope that he will allow Roman script for the Kokborok language," he said.
The chief minister responded to the demonstration by accusing "some people with vested interests" of being responsible for setting up the human chains.
"I am not against Kokborok or English, but the script for Kokborok shall not be Roman script. Under the 8th Schedule of the Constitution, a foreign language is not allowed. There is no bar in writing examinations for the Kokborok language in Bengali or Roman script," he said.
The chief minister responded to the demonstration by accusing "some people with vested interests" of being responsible for setting up the human chains.
“Some people are trying to politicise the issue. There must be some persons behind the scenes who are instigating the students to launch a movement," he claimed.
