Archive · 12 Aug 2026
Neha Bora invokes Tagore's 'mind without fear' in Kolkata
A student leader named Neha Bora gave two speeches in the city of Calcutta.
She studies for her doctorate at JNU and leads a student group called the All India Students' Association.
During her speeches, she read a famous poem by Rabindranath Tagore called 'Where the mind is without fear.'
She said the poem means people should never be afraid to speak, perform a play, or dress the way they want.
She gave an example of a play called Adaab that a group tried to disrupt.
She also said young people should ask questions instead of obeying leaders without thinking.
She defended a 17-year-old boy who was teased online for pointing out a problem with his exam paper.
She said thousands of schools in Bengal have closed and that the media spreads too much anger.
She wants India to become a country where truth matters most.
The audience stood up and cheered when she finished.
Neha Bora, president of the All India Students' Association and a PhD scholar at JNU, recited Rabindranath Tagore's 'Where the mind is without fear' at two Calcutta events on Tuesday.
She said the poem means a fear-free society where groups like the one that disrupted the play Adaab cannot act, and where an incident like RG Kar never happens.
She urged critical thinking, saying a 17-year-old, Vedant, who flagged an answer sheet evaluated in his name but not written by him was unfairly trolled and called a Pakistani.
Activists have alleged more than 8,000 public schools have been closed in Bengal under the Trinamool government, and Neha said the BJP forgot its promise to reopen them.
She criticised 'propaganda released from Nagpur' (the RSS headquarters) and blamed a section of the media for carrying BJP leaders' hatred into drawing rooms and mobile screens.
- Who
- Neha Bora, president of the All India Students' Association and a JNU PhD scholar who came to national attention during the Jantar Mantar protests.
- What
- Two speeches in Calcutta reciting Rabindranath Tagore's 'Where the mind is without fear' to call for a fearless society built on critical thinking and truth.
- When
- Tuesday; the exact date is not specified in the article.
- Where
- Calcutta (Kolkata), including the Rammohun Library hall in north Calcutta.
- Why
- To highlight what she sees as wrong in India — fear, blind obedience to leaders, school closures, and media-spread hatred — and to argue for change.
Student critics
Political establishment
Questioning elders
Student critics
Neha Bora says young people must question and remove leaders — even older ones like Dharmendra Pradhan — and must not accept narratives that brand a 17-year-old whistleblower a Pakistani.
Political establishment
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat noted that in his generation's youth, individuals listened to elders and rarely questioned their decisions.
School closures in Bengal
Student critics
Activists and Neha Bora say the Trinamool government closed more than 8,000 public schools and lathi-charged protesting SSC teachers.
Political establishment
The BJP opposes the closures, having promised to reopen the schools — a pledge Neha says was forgotten after the party came to power.
- Speaker
- Neha Bora
- Position
- President of the All India Students' Association; PhD scholar at JNU
- Poem cited
- 'Where the mind is without fear' by Rabindranath Tagore
- Favourite lines quoted
- 'Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit'
- Occasion
- Two events in Calcutta on Tuesday, including Rammohun Library hall
- Disrupted play
- Adaab, based on Samaresh Basu's Partition-themed short story, disrupted in Baghajatin
- School closures
- Activists allege over 8,000 public schools closed in Bengal under the Trinamool government
- Whistleblower defended
- 17-year-old Vedant, trolled as a Pakistani after flagging an answer sheet not written by him