Why Kokborok Language Is In News ?

 

There has been growing demand to include Kokborok in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. At present, Kokborok is an official language in the state of Tripura but not in other state of India or any other country.

 

Kokborok is a Sino-Tibetan / Tibetan-Burmese language whose speakers are concentrated in the state of Tripura and in the region of Mizoram, Assam and neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.

 

There are around 1.5 million Kokborok speakers world widely. Most Kokborok speakers live in Tripura State, India. Kokborok language is one of oldest language in Northeast India and its has to be own script, namely “ Koloma” but unfortunately the script has lost during 19^th century due to unused of Koloma script and used of Bengali and Sanskrit script in Maharajas Period. Now more than 90 percent both Kokborok speakers and non-speakers used Roman script in writing Kokborok.

 

 

Case for Inclusion in the Eighth Schedule

·         Global Efforts: The Yuelu Proclamation made by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at Changsha, China, in 2018 plays a central role in guiding the efforts of countries and regions around the world to protect linguistic resources and diversity.

 

·         The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL). The IYIL 2019 strives to preserve, support and promote indigenous languages at the national, regional and international levels.

 

·         Constitutional Safeguard: Article 29 of the Indian Constitution deals with the "Protection of interests of minorities". It states that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.

 

·         Number of Speakers: According to Census-2011, there are more than 10 lakhs native speakers of Kokborok in India. The Kokborok-speaking people are larger in number than speakers of Sanskrit, which have the Eighth Schedule status.

 

 

Advantages of Recognition in Eighth Schedule

If included in the Eighth Schedule, Kokborok would get the following benefits:

Recognition from the Sahitya Akademi.

 

Ø  Translation of Kokborok literary works into other languages.

Ø   Members of Parliament (MP) and Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) could  speak Kokborok  in Parliament and State Assemblies, respectively.

 

Ø  Option to take competitive exams in Kokborok including all-India competitive

 examinations like the Civil Services exam.

 

Ø  Special funds from the Central government.

 

 

Ø  Teaching of Kokborok in primary and high school.