Quoting Tagore, Neha Teaches BJP-RSS a Lesson in Democracy

AISA Convention, Rammohan Library, Kolkata; 11 August 2026

Report by Nazrul Ahmed Zamader

Quoting Rabindranath Tagore, Neha Bora, national president of the CPI(ML) Liberation student organization All India Students’ Association (AISA), launched a sharp critique of the BJP and RSS and outlined her vision of what the future of Bengal and India should look like.

Bora, who has emerged as one of the prominent faces of the recent Gen-Z student movement in India, was in Kolkata on Tuesday, August 11, as part of AISA’s nationwide ‘Gen-Z Rising Tour’. The programme has been organized to take the student movement beyond Delhi and connect with young people and students across the country. The recent agitation demanding the resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET controversy, particularly the protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, drew considerable attention across the country. Bora was one of the prominent faces of the movement. Following Pradhan’s resignation, the student movement has gained a new political momentum. Bora’s growing national profile has also made her an important young face of Left politics. After Kanhaiya Kumar—who has since joined the Congress—she is among the few Left student leaders to have gained such visibility in national politics.

As part of the ‘Gen-Z Rising Tour’, Bora is travelling to different parts of India to meet students and address public meetings. In Kolkata, she first addressed a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club and later spoke before students and young people at the auditorium of the Rammohan Library in north Kolkata.

Neha Bora addresses a packed auditorium at Rammohan Library, Kolkata on 11 August

Speaking about the recent political developments in Bengal, Bora said the last few months had been disappointing for the state. According to her, Bengal has now embraced a form of politics that could take the country towards “dark times”. She stressed that the disappointment was not simply about an electoral result but about the kind of politics that had gained ground in a state that had historically played an important role in advancing social and gender justice.

Bora argued that Bengal had once shown the rest of the country a path towards social and gender justice. She acknowledged that people may have voted for change because of years of political frustration and disappointment but warned that rebuilding Bengal and India could not be achieved by following the BJP’s political path.

She used Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry to explain her vision of democracy and a future India. During the programme, Bora received a portrait of Tagore from the West Bengal state committee of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). The portrait carried lines from Tagore’s famous poem “Where the Mind Is without Fear” (Chitto Jetha Bhoy Shunno). Referring to the poem, Bora said Tagore had imagined a country where people could live without fear and women could feel safe. She connected this vision with several recent incidents in Bengal.

Bora said Tagore’s dream was of a country where a theatre group could stage a play called ‘Adab’ without facing an attack from organizations such as the Bajrang Dal. She also referred to the R.G. Kar rape and murder case, saying that Tagore’s vision implied a society where such incidents would not occur and women could feel safe even at night. Her reference to ‘Adab’ was significant in the context of a recent incident in Kolkata. A few days ago, a performance of ‘Adab’, a play based on a story by writer Samaresh Basu, was being staged at the Shikha Guha Bhavan’s Bakul Dutta auditorium in Baghajatin. During the performance, the sound of the azaan was heard as part of the play. Following objections from some local residents, the performance was reportedly halted for a while. Those opposing the performance were alleged to be supporters of the BJP.

Bora referring to Tagore's writings

Bora also referred to another line from Tagore’s poem—“Where knowledge is free.” Using the line, she criticized what she described as the growing privatization of education. She claimed that around 8,000 schools had been closed and that ITIs were being handed over to private organizations. “Our struggle is against the privatization of education,” she said.

Another line from Tagore’s poem—“Where words come out from the depth of truth”—was used by Bora to question the role of mainstream media. She argued that India needs a media that reports the truth rather than becoming a vehicle for what she described as “Nagpur’s propaganda”, referring to the ideological influence of the RSS. Bora further called for an alternative political vision to the politics of hatred that she said the BJP and RSS had promoted over the past decade. India, she argued, needed to move beyond that politics and build a new social and political order.

Speaking about the wider student movement and its significance, Bora described Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as an important development that had opened up a new political possibility. She said the success of the movement marked ‘the beginning of the end of fascist forces’ in the country. She also said that peaceful protesters had often been dismissed as “anti-national” or labelled as “Pakistani”, but the recent movement had challenged that narrative and encouraged young people to participate in democratic politics.

According to Bora, accountability is at the heart of democracy. When elected representatives begin to believe that they have no responsibility towards the people and that ministers do not have to resign even after serious failures, it becomes necessary for citizens to remind them that they are accountable to the people. In that sense, she said, Pradhan’s resignation was politically significant.

Bora also strongly criticized West Bengal Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari over his comments regarding the student movement in Kolkata. The Chief Minister had alleged that people from a particular community were behind the movement. A number of people associated with the protests were subsequently arrested, many of them reportedly Muslims. Bora termed the remarks ‘deliberatee and politically motivated’.

The visit was particularly significant for another reason. August 11 was the death anniversary of revolutionary freedom fighter Khudiram Bose. Bora said she felt proud to be in Kolkata and address a public meeting on such a day. She also recalled her three years of school education in Siliguri. “If I had not studied in Siliguri during Classes 10, 11, and 12, I would probably never have known the name of Charu Mazumdar,” she said. The remark carries particular significance because Bora is now the national president of AISA, the student organization of the CPI(ML) Liberation, a party that regards itself as carrying forward the political legacy of Charu Mazumdar.

Apart from Bora, the programme was addressed by Jadavpur University teacher Manas Ghosh and several other left student leaders.