Agartala, August 28, 2023: The Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF), an affiliate of the North East Students’ Organization (NESO), called for a 12-hour strike in Tripura on Monday, demanding the introduction of Roman script as an official script for the Kokborok language.

The strike affected the traffic movement in several parts of the state, especially in the areas under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).

The TSF activists blocked four major locations on the national highway, which connects Tripura with Assam and other states. The blockade hampered the movement of goods and passengers since the morning. However, the train services remained unaffected by the strike. The North East Frontier Railways officials said that all the trains were running as per their schedule and no blockades were reported on the railway tracks.

The TSF students also staged protests in Agartala, where they blocked a bridge and a bus stand in the city. The police intervened and removed the blockade after a scuffle with the protesters. Some of the protesters were arrested by the police, but no major incidents of violence were reported. A senior police official said that the protests were peaceful so far and that adequate security arrangements were made to maintain law and order.

The TSF strike also received support from other student and tribal organizations, such as the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and the TIPRA Motha. They also demanded that the Kokborok language, which is spoken by most of the tribes in Tripura, should be written in Roman script instead of Bengali script. They claimed that Roman script would help preserve and promote the language and culture of the indigenous people.