eNewsroom: The issue has become centred on the CBI inquiry. Do you think a CBI probe was necessary, and is that why the protest has continued for so long? The government says 98% of the demands have already been met. So, what is keeping the protest going?
Neha Bora: There are two things here. First, there has been no demand to cancel the JPSC-CGL examination. There is a technical aspect to it because the appointments have already been made. But that does not mean that the demand for justice for students who suffered because of the mismanagement of the paper is wrong.
The second issue is the CBI inquiry. Even that is not a demand shared by everyone. I went to the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium. Students are sitting there in different groups, and not all of them are demanding a CBI probe.
There is another question around the CBI. If we look at JPSC, the major corruption that came to light in JPSC-1 and JPSC-2 was also investigated by the CBI. There has been no outcome so far. Even after all these years, that investigation is, in a way, still going on. If there has been no outcome from the earlier probe, what is the point of handing another JPSC investigation to the same agency?
There is another thing we need to look at—the way the CBI has changed over the past few years. In 2024, the investigation into the NEET paper leak was also handed over to the CBI. The people who should have faced action were not chargesheeted within 90 days, and the court released them on technical grounds.
You see, we expect institutions like these to complete investigations at the earliest and submit their reports or chargesheets. If they function like this, how can we continue to have faith in them?
And there is another very important aspect to what you asked. The way students were repeatedly lathi-charged yesterday, water cannons were used, and dozens of our comrades had to be admitted to Sadar Hospital—the injuries they suffered were so severe. This kind of state repression is absolutely unacceptable.
If you are part of the INDIA alliance and want to present yourself as a better alternative to the BJP, then you have to act accordingly in politics as well. You cannot keep saying, “Don’t vote for the BJP, we are different from the BJP, we stand with the students,” and at the same time treat students in exactly the same way the BJP does. You cannot have both things together.
That is why this kind of brutal repression of students by the JMM government in Jharkhand is absolutely unacceptable. It is shameful. The Jharkhand government should move towards resolving these issues at the earliest and accepting the students’ demands, rather than lathi-charging them.
Hemant Soren Under Fire: Why JMM’s Crackdown Mirrors BJP-Style Governance
eNewsroom: Hemant Soren has still not met the students. Rahul Gandhi has also spoken out on the issue. Do you think Hemant Soren should have met the students and spoken to them by now?
Neha Bora: It has taken too long. He should have met them by now. And the way Rahul Gandhi condemned what happened yesterday is also important.
I have been following the work of the CPI(ML) in Jharkhand. CPI(ML) is also standing with the students. Arup ji also raised the issue in the Assembly yesterday, and the minister had to respond.
So both these positions—the stand you have taken and Rahul Gandhi’s stand—appear to be in support of the students. The Congress, too, has taken a position in support of the students. So why is Hemant Soren being left out of this?
Now, for those who are in government and are being questioned, it has become a difficult position. That’s the point.
Otherwise, if you are genuinely part of the struggle to save India’s democracy and Constitution, then your role in this struggle cannot simply be to oppose the BJP during elections.
‘Non-BJP Governments Can Be Removed Too’: AISA Leader’s Warning to Jharkhand Alliance
eNewsroom: So, non-BJP governments also have to set a better example than the BJP?
Neha Bora: Absolutely. Non-BJP governments in different states have to show what the BJP government is not doing and why the BJP needs to be removed from power.
At present, the JMM government is failing on this front. The simplest example is that instead of leading, it is repeating the very things it should be challenging.
In Jharkhand, there have been irregularities around the JPSC—from its very formation right up to the fourteenth commission. The BJP is equally responsible for unemployment among young people and the collapsing education system in Jharkhand because it was in power for such a long time.
But even then, if the Jharkhand government repeats the same things, if the same things continue under its rule, it too can be removed from power—just as the BJP was.
‘He Will Become Irrelevant’: Why Rahul Gandhi Isn’t Immune to Student Scrutiny
eNewsroom: You have met Rahul Gandhi. How do you see Rahul Gandhi as a leader? Do you see the same change in him that was visible during the farmers’ movement? Do you see a political future for him?
Neha Bora: Look, as long as he is with our issues and speaks alongside us, we will see.
And the moment he feels that we don’t need to do all this, that we are detached from people and people’s movements, then he will become irrelevant—not just to all of us, but to this country as well.
Watch | The full interview
‘Our Loyalty Is to People, Not Power’: Why Student Activists Question Every Regime
eNewsroom: So, if Rahul Gandhi changes in that way, will you question him too?
Neha Bora: Why wouldn’t we? When the Congress was in power, did we not question it? We raised many questions then too, and faced a lot of repression as well.
If that happens now, we will certainly question it. We are not spokespersons for any political party.
Our job is to remain committed and honest towards the voices coming from the ground, the issues being raised and those that are being ignored.
Parties can change, and those in power can change. I am myself a member of a political party, but we have questioned those in power in every phase and faced repression from every government in power.
Because our loyalty is not to power. It is to the people.
30 Years of AISA: Building Women and Marginalized Voices in Political Leadership
eNewsroom: AISA has completed 30 years. How do you see AISA’s role in promoting women’s leadership?
Neha Bora: As a student organisation, one of the core principles of our political understanding is to prepare people from the marginalised sections of society for leadership. They should receive political training so that they can take on leadership roles.
The people who came before me did this work sincerely. That is why AISA has consistently produced women leaders and leaders from marginalised gender identities. People from marginalised religious communities have also held leadership positions.
And that is why I am part of this organisation and not another one.
From Siliguri to Left Activism: Neha Bora on Unlearning Right-Wing Ideology
eNewsroom: You have said at several places that you grew up in a right-wing family environment. How important was AISA and left politics in helping you move away from that thinking and reach where you are today?
Neha Bora: I think the struggle I had with my family’s political understanding is the same struggle that millions of students and young people in this country have had with their own families.
Every generation goes through a coming-of-age process. When you are trying to understand what the world means to you as an individual, and how you see yourself, you begin questioning the ideas you have grown up with.
It is not a rebellion against your family. It is a process of questioning your own old understanding.
When you look at the things you have always believed to be true through a critical lens, when you question them, sometimes you realise that you no longer see things the way you once did.
That is why this struggle continues. And it happens in every generation.
And since I am from Bengal, I will speak from that experience. My struggle did not begin at university. It began at school.
I studied in Siliguri. That’s where I completed my schooling—Classes 10, 11 and 12. I had teachers there. My English teacher, Srimanti Ma’am, Srimanti Gupta, my Economics teacher Khurram Sir—all these teachers pushed me in that direction.
Not towards the Left, but away from the Right.
And perhaps because I was in Bengal, I heard the name Charu Majumdar, I heard about Naxalbari, I heard the names of martyrs, Tagore, Khudiram Bose. If I had been somewhere else, perhaps I would not have heard all of this.
I heard these things, and I also heard them from my friends. Even though I did not take a step towards the Left while I was in school, I certainly took a step away from the Right.
I think that is something I learnt here.
When your struggle intensifies during Classes 10, 11 and 12, the people you are surrounded by, in some way, shape what you go on to do and what you begin to see.
So I think Siliguri and Bengal played a role in helping me take a step towards the Left and away from the Right.
Gen Z’s Political Awakening: How Student Agitations Build Confidence to Fight Systemic Power
eNewsroom: You just spoke about coming of age. We have all closely watched this protest. Fighting the system is a long and difficult battle. Do you think this movement has given young people the patience and fighting spirit to carry it forward?
Neha Bora: I don’t think I want to rush into saying that, yes, everything has fallen into place.
But I do think a dream is necessary if you want to fight. And it is equally important to have the confidence that you can fight for that dream, that you can struggle for it.
We all carry the dream of a better world. That dream may be broader for some, its language may be richer, but the desire to live in a better world—that is everyone’s dream, isn’t it?
But this movement has given young people the confidence that they can contribute to the struggle needed to build that better world.
Now, keeping that confidence alive is our responsibility. It is the responsibility of student organisations. It is the responsibility of politically conscious people, of those who know, read and write, and of those studying and living in universities, to keep alive the confidence that young people have gained today.
Today, they feel that if they remain engaged in the struggle, they can perhaps touch that dream. Keeping alive their commitment and political dedication to that dream, and keeping alive the confidence that we can participate in the struggle, that we can change the world that has made our lives difficult—that is our responsibility.
Young people also have a responsibility to keep nurturing this. Figuring out how much nourishment is needed with changing circumstances—that is a political process.
We have to remain part of this political process for the long term. We have to keep nurturing this movement.
And why shouldn’t it happen? Throughout history, young people across the world have changed the power structures, governments and politics of their countries. It will happen in India too, undoubtedly.
Ink Attack & Umar Khalid: How Right-Wing Ecosystems Weaponize Dissent
eNewsroom: You faced an ink attack, because you support Umar Khalid. Will you continue to stand by him in the future? Today is also Umar Khalid’s birthday. Is there anything you would like to say about him?
Neha Bora: Look, first of all, the ink was not thrown at me because I support Umar Khalid. It was thrown at me because those people were deeply upset that their Education Minister had to resign and was forced out of power in disgrace. There is still anger among those who support the BJP and RSS over that.
The second point is about Umar. This is both important and deeply unfortunate. When you invoke Umar’s name, those who use his name as an abuse do so specifically so that people stop listening to whatever comes next.
Umar’s name is used as a trigger, so that whatever is said after that is automatically viewed negatively.
And that is deeply unfortunate because the politics Umar came from was a politics that respected disagreement.
He was able to connect with people he loved and struggled alongside. And he was also able to criticise those he fundamentally disagreed with—the BJP and RSS—without turning that disagreement into violence.
Umar represented all of these things. And it is deeply unfortunate that the Right Wing is now using his name to erase all of these ideas from the country’s consciousness.
The other thing is, if we are talking about Umar’s struggle, I would say to young people today: if you are going to talk about Umar, read about him. Why is Umar in jail? What is the status of his trial?
Read about it. Umar’s struggle is not a battle between nationalism and anti-nationalism.
His struggle is about what is happening to the judicial process in a country where a strong system of justice and rule of law was established, but where laws such as UAPA are now being used to undermine that very judicial process.
The Constitution gave every ordinary citizen the right to a fair trial, a right established at the foundation of our Republic—that every person deserves a fair hearing and that the judiciary should decide, through due process, who is guilty and who is not. That constitutional ideal is being dismantled.
And mainstream media bypasses this judicial process, using doctored videos and lies to put Umar on trial and pronounce his sentence. It declares him guilty before the entire world.
Those who shut their ears the moment Umar’s name is mentioned—do they even know what the charges against him are?
There are no charges of anti-nationalism against him. He has certainly not been charged with shouting, “Bharat tere tukde honge.” None of these are the charges against him.
Find out what the charges actually are. Do you know that his trial has not even begun?
Do you know that when he writes his PhD thesis, he researches communities that have been deprived of their rights for generations, including tribal communities?
Do you know all this?
If you don’t, then find out. You are the young people of this country. You will decide which direction this country takes.
You have to switch off the alarms that go off in your head when you hear certain names, simply because of all the noise surrounding them. The Right-wing ecosystem wants you to lose your ability to think and understand.
If you want to fight it, you have to reclaim that ability to think and understand.
You have to read about all those things that have been labelled anti-national and declared as such.
Umar was a brilliant scholar. He was from my university. The fact that his trial has not begun even after six years is not just about him.
It is about the changing definition of our country, the changing meaning of justice, and the question of how the state will treat its citizens.
And I would urge all young people in this country to find out what is happening to ordinary people today. What is happening to Umar today can happen to any one of us.
‘Copy-Pasting Propaganda vs True Art’: Why Artists Must Stand Against State Power
eNewsroom: You have met people like Shabana Azmi, Arundhati Roy and Prakash Raj. What have you learnt from meeting them? Have these interactions influenced the way you think in any way?
Neha Bora: Actually, I haven’t just met these people recently. People think they are only getting to know me now, and perhaps that I have only recently started student activism. That isn’t the case.
Arundhati Roy and her writing have been part of my political life for a long time—more than a decade.
I have also followed Prakash Raj’s political understanding and his ability to stand with different people’s movements for a long time.
Exactly, since the time of Gauri Lankesh. I have also been watching Shabana Azmi’s ability to stand with people’s movements for a long time.
Since I have been associated with theatre, I have always been very aware of the world of art.
To a large extent, the role of art is to shape the consciousness of society. Rather than lecture society, it should give it memories and stories through which people understand themselves, define who they are and communicate with one another.
So if you abandon the historical responsibility of art and instead start doing this—someone sends out a tweet from the headquarters in Nagpur and everyone simply copy-pastes it on X—I don’t understand that.
If all those who call themselves artists are merely doing copy-paste work, how many times will you recycle the same script with different heroes and actresses?
So when artists refuse to bow to power and instead stand with the people, the courage of such artists inspires everyone in theatre and literature. These people have always been part of this struggle.
