Home News National Who Is Neha Bora? Feminist, Revolutionary, & A Miraculously Glowing Hunger-Striker

Who Is Neha Bora? Feminist, Revolutionary, & A Miraculously Glowing Hunger-Striker

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The Commune
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Who Is Neha Bora? The AISA Leader Behind the Viral Hunger Strike

One video of a young lady on a wheelchair went viral on 20 July 2026. It was a video of Neha Bora, a student activist and National President of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), for participating in the Cockroach party-led hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi alongside anarchist Sonam Wangchuk. In the video, she looks very fresh and healthy while saying she really enjoyed drinking ORS.

She officially concluded the strike on 20 July 2026, after drinking the electrolyte solution (ORS) from actor Shabana Azmi’s hands. Allegedly fasting for 3 weeks without food, doctors reportedly warned that her blood sugar had dropped to dangerous levels, putting her at risk of organ failure or a coma, though her appearance and health from the outside did not visibly reflect this, as you can see from the video.

Who Is Neha Bora?

Bora is currently a PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the School of Arts and Aesthetics, went on the hunger strike alongside two other student leaders.

Bora is affiliated with the Communist Party of India (ML) Liberation, AISA’s parent political formation, and previously served as the organisation’s Delhi state secretary.

AISA traces its ideological roots to the Naxalbari movement that gave rise to CPI(ML) Liberation – a lineage the Union Home Ministry has repeatedly flagged as part of Left-Wing Extremism, which it has called one of the country’s gravest internal security threats.

Her activism centres on anti-caste, anti-RSS and anti-BJP positions, conducted through campus mobilisation and public narrative-building.

The Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid case

Bora has publicly described Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid as “ordinary students” facing “political prosecution,” dismissing coverage critical of them as “Godi Media propaganda.” This is at odds with a 133-page Delhi High Court order that termed the prosecution’s case against them “prima facie grave,” and with prosecutors’ characterisation of the two as the “intellectual architects” of a criminal conspiracy.

The Ruchi Tiwari incident

On 13 February 2026, journalist and YouTuber Ruchi Tiwari was assaulted while covering a UGC protest at Delhi University; videos that circulated online showed a male protester slapping her after she questioned demonstrators, including Bora, on the subject of reservations.

Following the incident, Bora posted on X describing Tiwari as a “casteist rioter” that justified the assault on a woman journalist, notable given Bora’s self-description as a feminist.

Caste and RSS commentary

Bora has used the term “Brahmanvad” to describe what she frames as the root cause of discrimination in Indian society, including forms of discrimination unrelated to caste that traces nearly every social problem back to Brahmins under the banner of Ambedkarism.

She has said, “Little by little the vision of the Manusmriti is being brought to life,” implying the current government reflects those ideals, but these are contested given government welfare policies aimed at uplifting lower castes.

She has also stated that “caste supremacy is at the heart of the RSS,” but it is noteworthy that the RSS’s roughly 1.75 lakh service projects spanning tribal schools, medical camps, and disaster and Covid-relief work.

Comments on Hindu unity and Love Jihad

On a podcast, Bora said that Hindu unity makes Muslims feel unsafe which overlooks patterns of Love Jihad, forced conversions, and hate speech directed at Hindus by some Muslim leaders.

March 2026 Arrest

Bora was arrested in March 2026 following a protest during which police locks were cut, officers were obstructed, and clashes broke out. She was later granted bail and has described the case against her as political suppression.

Palestine Advocacy

Bora has publicly backed the Palestinian cause, calling on India to “end complicity in genocide.”

The CJP protest and Arundhati Roy

Although the Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar was led by Abhijeet Dipke, Bora has been present alongside CJP leaders since the demonstration’s first day, and has led chants of “Mera ling, meri marzi” at what was billed as an education-reform protest.

She has also appeared at the CJP protest alongside writer Arundhati Roy and shared posts featuring her.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Neha (@neowsibora)

Roy said in 2010 that “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India,” a remark for which the Delhi Lieutenant Governor sanctioned her prosecution under the UAPA in 2023.

Roy has also previously shared a public stage with Yasin Malik, convicted by a special NIA court in 2022 and sentenced to life for funding terrorism, and with S.A.R. Geelani, a prime accused in the Parliament attack case.

In a 2011 interview with The Guardian, Roy described herself as a “Maoist sympathiser,” a remark later cited by Pakistan’s UN representative to criticise India at the United Nations. Bora has publicly called Roy an inspiration and shared a video of the two of them together, describing Roy as a revolutionary.

JNU Wall Graffiti Incident

In November 2022, anti-Brahmin and anti-Baniya slogans appeared overnight on the walls of JNU’s School of International Studies. The ABVP alleged AISA’s involvement in the incident – the same organisation she is the national president of.

The end of Neha Bora’s hunger strike has not ended the controversy around her; it has amplified it. The viral ORS video has triggered fresh questions about the protest while bringing renewed attention to her past statements, political affiliations, and activism.

This article is based on an X thread by Brown Sepoys.

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