Who Is Neha Bora? Tracing AISA’s Communist Roots And Student Politics

Student movements rarely bring down ministers. This one has already managed it once, and now it has a bigger target. Neha Bora and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), both part of the campaign that forced out the education minister, have become the focal point of protests against Gyanesh Kumar, the chief election commissioner, over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Bora is national president of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), one of several groups, the CJP among them, whose agitation ended with the resignation of the then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The July agitation was a significant moment in this trajectory. Members of AISA, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) joined Sonam Wangchuk in a hunger strike amid demands for the resignation of then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Pradhan resigned soon after, though the extent to which the agitation contributed to his departure remains a separate question. However, for her, the journey to the protest stage began well before she became the face of a student organisation.

An army family meant a childhood spent moving from city to city, though her roots lie in Khatima, a small town in Uttarakhand. Away from political rallies, she is also a theatre artist, a pursuit that sits alongside her life in student politics.

Her academic journey has largely unfolded in Delhi, from a BA at Delhi University to an MA at Ambedkar University, and now a PhD. It was through student agitations that Bora began attracting wider public attention this year.

At Jantar Mantar, she joined protests demanding Pradhan’s resignation over alleged paper leaks and irregularities in the NEET examination. The current confrontation over electoral rolls has brought her back to the same protest grounds, this time with the focus on the Election Commission.

Bora’s journey is inseparable from the organisation she leads. To understand the politics she brings to the streets, it is worth looking beyond the current protests to AISA’s own evolution, from the fractures of India’s communist movement to a student organisation that has made campuses and public demonstrations arenas of political contest.

The Making Of AISA

It is not the first time that her organisation is on the streets against the decisions of the state. To understand the history of AISA, one has to understand the history of communist parties in India.

AISA was founded on 9 August 1990 and claims that it is a revolutionary student movement. It is the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, also known as CPI(ML)L. The CPI(ML)L was born from a faction of the CPI(ML) that led the Naxalite movement in West Bengal in 70s and 80s.

The Communist Party of India was formed in 1925 through the Kanpur Conference under the chairmanship of M. Singaravelu Chettiar. AISF, the student wing of CPI, was formed in 1936. However, in the year 1964, the CPI saw a split, and the CPI (Marxist), or CPI(M), became an independent party.

The CPI(M) formed government in Bengal, leading short-lived United Front coalition governments in 1967 and 1969. However, on the issue of an attack on a tribal youth in Naxalbari village by the local landlord’s men, rebel cadres of the party - Charu Mazumdar and Kanu Sanyal launched an armed uprising.

In 1972, Mazumdar was arrested by the police, and he eventually died in jail. The revolutionary movement further split into the Dakshin Desh, that become the MCC in 1975; the People’s War Group (PWG); the Party Unity; and the CPI(ML)L, the parent party of AISA.

CPI(ML)L left the path of armed struggle, and Subrata Dutta (Jauhar) became its first General Secretary in 1974. The three factions of the revolutionary movement continued with the armed struggle.

Lal Bahadur Singh, the founding president of AISA, who later became president of Allahabad University Students Union, told Outlook that AISA was formed on the premises of Allahabad University one day after the Mandal Commission was implemented in the country. He said that Gopal Pradhan, Pranay Krishan, and Dhirendra Jha were among the founding members of AISA.

Singh further added that before the formation of AISA, several organisations such as Progressive Students Organisation (PSO) in Uttar Pradesh, All Bengal Student Association in Bengal, All Bihar Student Union in Bihar, All Bengal Students Association in Bengal, Democratic Student Front (DSF) in Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand Chhatra Sangathan in Uttarakhand were working independently and later merged to form AISA in a conference that was called on August 8-9, 1990.

What Does AISA Believe In?

AISA is a revolutionary student movement that stands firmly on campuses throughout the country with a vision of “A New India and A New World,’ according to the website of AISA.

The website adds, “AISA is committed to carrying forward the revolutionary legacy of Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar, and our journey will not stop at any cost, not without achieving our destination — the Revolutionary transformation of society. We give voice to students’ creative energy through processions, demonstrations, seminars, street plays, film shows, and revolutionary songs on various issues of our times. We appeal to you all to come with us and participate in all these activities and play a significant role in transforming society.”

The ideology comes from its parent. AISA is the student wing of the CPI(ML) Liberation, whose own programme begins with the "minimum programme of accomplishing new democratic revolution in India".

Aditi Mishra, who is the current President of Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union and a member of AISA, says that AISA works on every movement, be it a student issue or a social. She said members of AISA and DSU showed black flags to Manmohan Singh in protest against its several decisions.

Singh said AISA worked against caste hierarchy, demanding the creation of employment opportunities for the youth and supported the supported the Mandal Commission and reservation.

He said how AISA has always worked against communal fascism from its founding. He told AISA opposed Ashok Singhal, leader of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), on his visit to Allahabad University after the demolition of Babri Masjid on 26 January 1991.

Its critics say the revolutionary language matters more than the campus demands. One critical commentary in Swarajya argues that most students who share AISA's clips online know little about its history or its parent party's programme. AISA's supporters see a student body that fights for fees, safety and campus democracy and sits in the tradition of Indian left politics.

For now, the question for AISA is whether the energy of the past few months can last. It helped to force out an education minister in July, and under Bora it is now part of a larger confrontation with the Election Commission.

Where does AISA work?

Nitish Kumar, former JNUSU president and a member of AISA, says that currently AISA is in the part of the union that has won elections in JNU, Hyderabad Central University, and Garhwal University. He further added that AISA is working in almost all colleges of Bihar and Bengal. In UP, AISA has units in around 30 districts, and it also works in BHU, Allahabad University, and Lucknow University.

Kumar says how AISA also has a presence in Panjab University and the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand. It has units in Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru, and in Assam.