Meet India's feisty Gen Z protester who is taking on Modi
Neha Bora has emerged as one of the most recognisable faces from India's recent Gen Z-led protests.
Meet India’s fiery Gen Z protester taking on Modi
Neha Bora is a PhD student at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University
When India’s Gen Z-led protesters return to Delhi this weekend for demonstrations demanding the resignation of the country’s top election official, one of the most visible faces at the front will be a 29-year-old PhD student.
Neha Bora is a theatre artist and activist who has spent the past decade with the All India Students’ Association (Aisa), a Left-wing group known for campus politics, and has served as its president for the last two years.
But Neha — who uses “they” and “them” as personal pronouns — is no longer known only on campuses.
Viral videos in recent days have shown them being dragged along the street by a group of female police officials, climbing atop police barricades, raising a fist and shouting slogans, and being detained.
Photos of them smiling while being carried away by policewomen have also spread widely online.
In a recent BBC Bangla interview, Neha downplayed the attention they have been getting.
“I know it happened in front of the camera so it seems like it’s something different,” they said. “But I have seen all student activists with the Left doing the same things that I have been doing. It’s just that there is a camera on me, so people think something different is happening.”
The focus on Neha comes as several high-profile protests are unfolding on India’s streets in what is being seen as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 12 years in power.
There is the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — a Gen Z-led online satirical movement — which staged weeks of protests in Delhi in the summer over education reforms. It ended in July only after education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned.
Separately, some of India’s opposition parties, especially the Congress, have also taken to the streets over electoral reforms. Over the past few days, videos of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being shoved, jostled and detained have gone viral and made headlines in India.
Saturday’s protest in Delhi has been called by the CJP, which is demanding the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations that electoral rolls were manipulated to favour Modi’s BJP. Both the Election Commission and the BJP have denied the accusation.
Although not a CJP member, Neha has said their group will also take part.
Born in the northern state of Uttarakhand, Neha spent childhood years in different cities as their army officer father moved for postings.
After graduating from Delhi University, they completed a master’s degree at Ambedkar University in the capital and are now a PhD student at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Neha first drew attention in the summer during the CJP’s protest over education reforms.
Neha and Aisa were present from the beginning, but few knew them then. That changed after 28 June, when educationist and scientist Sonam Wangchuk began a hunger strike in support of CJP and Neha, along with a few others from Aisa, joined him.
“It was an obvious choice for us. We’ve been protesting against paper leaks and education reforms for a long time,” Neha later said in an interview.
While most attention was on Wangchuk, whose reputation and presence energised the movement, Neha’s outspoken and combative speeches began to draw notice.
After Wangchuk and others were taken to hospital, Neha continued fasting despite having lost 8kg.
Even after being moved to hospital, they said in a video: “The fight continues. Once I’ve recovered, we’ll meet you again on the streets to continue our fight for our right.”
After the protests ended in July, Neha emerged as a Gen Z leader courted by the CJP and the media, and also appeared alongside Rahul Gandhi at press conferences.
Several photos of Neha smiling as she is carried away by policewomen have gone viral.
But Neha’s involvement with Aisa and leftist politics, along with remarks criticising PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders, have also led to “lots of disagreements with my family as my parents are staunch supporters of BJP”.
And last month, at least three police complaints were filed.
Neha, who has been travelling to many Indian cities to join protests in support of students, also made headlines when a man allegedly threw ink at them during a protest march in Jharkhand state. A photo Neha posted on Instagram showed their face streaked with ink stains. Police said they had detained the man.
The loud protests and repeated detentions have given Neha a reputation as a street fighter.
“The streets have always dictated the course of politics in this country and they will continue to do so, more so in the coming few years,” they told BBC Bangla.
“If we look at the social changes of the recent past, those social changes did not come from people sitting in parliament; they came from the streets,” they said.
Now, as the authorities prepare for the 10 October protest at Jantar Mantar against CEC Kumar, Neha and Aisa have said they will be back on the streets with the CJP to “protect democracy”.