The recent Gen Z mobilisation in Delhi has emboldened young people to question those in power and compelled the BJP and RSS to pay greater attention to a constituency increasingly willing to challenge them, All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora said on Thursday.
Speaking at an event titled “Resistance - Sab Yaad Rakha Jaaega” at Vasantrao Deshpande Hall in Nagpur, Bora argued that a culture of fear had discouraged criticism of the government over the past decade. She alleged that dissenters were routinely branded “anti-national”, “traitors” or, in the case of some tribal activists, “Urban Naxals”.
AISA is the student organisation affiliated with the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation. Bora, a PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, cited the case of 17-year-old Vedant Shrivastava, who had highlighted alleged mismanagement by the Central Board of Secondary Education on social media. She claimed he was subsequently branded a “Pakistani” by people associated with the BJP-RSS.
Jantar Mantar protests
Bora linked the changing mood among young people to the Gen Z protests at Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak controversy. The agitation culminated in the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in July.
She maintained that the protests demonstrated that sustained public mobilisation could hold governments accountable and reduce apprehension among citizens about openly challenging political authority.
Bora herself participated in the Jantar Mantar agitation and undertook a 23-day hunger strike alongside climate activist Sonam Wangchuk.
“The BJP never imagined how unpopular they had become among young people in the last few months,” she said.
In a democracy, Bora argued, citizens should not be afraid of their government. Instead, those exercising power should remain conscious that public anger can carry political consequences.
She claimed that such apprehension had now entered the BJP and RSS following the youth-led mobilisation.
Targets BJP, RSS
Bora sought to link recent outreach by the BJP and RSS to the pressure generated by young protesters.
She claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been compelled to communicate in formats popular with younger audiences, including short Instagram videos, while RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had participated in programmes focused on dialogue with Gen Z.
The AISA president presented these developments as evidence that political organisations were recognising the need to engage more directly with younger citizens.
She also referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s absence from Parliament following Pradhan’s resignation, describing it as another indication of the political impact of the agitation.
Bora alleged that rising unemployment and widening economic inequality had contributed to dissatisfaction among young Indians despite the BJP having governed at the Centre for more than a decade.
She further claimed that students and young people increasingly did not want the BJP to remain in power.
The student leader concluded that political opposition would not remain confined to electoral institutions, arguing that those in power could also lose their standing among ordinary citizens if concerns over jobs, inequality and accountability remained unaddressed.