Archive · 11 Aug 2026
Student activist Neha Bora on Naxalism, Umar Khalid and polls
A woman named Neha Bora is a leader of a big student group called AISA.
She is also a student studying at a famous university in India called JNU.
She talked to a newspaper called The Indian Express about protests happening in India.
She joined a protest in Delhi where she did not eat for 23 days to show how serious the students were.
The students were upset about problems like unemployment and exam paper leaks.
Neha said the protests are political, even though people say they have no leader.
She said she might run for election someday, but only if her party thinks it will help people.
She talked about an old movement called Naxalbari that fought for poor farmers' rights to their land.
She also said that everyone deserves a fair trial, and that prisoners like Umar Khalid should be treated fairly under the law.
She thinks people should not be called bad names just for asking for freedom.
Neha Bora, national president of the All India Students Association (AISA) and a PhD scholar at JNU, discussed Naxalism, Umar Khalid and election politics in an interview with The Indian Express.
Bora said the Jantar Mantar protests were 'far from apolitical', with people united on common agendas rather than divided by religion, caste or region.
She said she would contest elections only if her associated party, CPI(ML) Liberation, sees it as a way to expand struggles on the ground.
She defended the Naxalbari movement, saying it asserted that a vast majority lacks the basic right to the land they till and demanded dignity for the poorest.
She called for the release of all political prisoners, including Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, saying guilt must be decided by legal procedure, not by the media or political groups.
- Who
- Neha Bora, national president of the All India Students Association (AISA), a PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and associated with CPI(ML) Liberation
- What
- A wide-ranging interview covering AISA's role in the Jantar Mantar protests, the Jharkhand student agitation, the 'Azadi' slogan, Naxalism, Umar Khalid and her openness to contesting elections
- When
- Not explicitly stated in the article
- Where
- Delhi (including Jantar Mantar), Ranchi in Jharkhand, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
- Why
- To discuss student grievances over unemployment, paper leaks and education decay, and Bora's political positions on Naxalism, political prisoners and electoral politics
Student protesters and AISA
Critics and the right-wing ecosystem
Nature of the student protests
Student protesters and AISA
The Jantar Mantar protests are a legitimate, united struggle by students over unemployment, paper leaks and the decay in education; labelling protesters 'terrorists' or 'viruses' is state repression.
Critics and the right-wing ecosystem
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan called sitting students 'terrorists' and Nitin Nabin called them 'viruses'; the BJP-RSS ecosystem has sought to brand parts of the agitation as anti-national.
Umar Khalid and political prisoners
Student protesters and AISA
All political prisoners, including Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, should be released; no citizen should be tried by the media or declared convicted by a political group or the state.
Critics and the right-wing ecosystem
Some people believe Umar Khalid should be in jail and brand those who raise his name during protests as 'anti-national'.
Student politics and electoral ambition
Student protesters and AISA
AISA has worked on student issues since the 1990s, and electoral politics is a way to broaden mass movements and bring unrepresented people into Parliament.
Critics and the right-wing ecosystem
Critics say student politics is a training ground for political careers, and the Left has lost electoral ground and resorted to student politics for sustenance.
- Interviewee
- Neha Bora
- Organisation
- All India Students Association (AISA)
- Political Affiliation
- CPI(ML) Liberation
- Academic Background
- PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
- Protest Action
- 23-day hunger strike in Delhi alongside Sonam Wangchuk
- Key Demand
- Release of all political prisoners, including Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam
- Publication
- The Indian Express
- Interviewer
- Syed Ilham Jafri