Neha Bora, national president of the Left-wing All India Students' Association (Aisa), sits at the centre of the surge in attention. The 29-year-old, who has been with Aisa for a decade and uses "they" and "them" pronouns, has seen their visibility extend well beyond campus politics. Viral videos over the past few days show Bora being dragged through the street by a group of female police officials, climbing on top of police barricades, raising a fist and shouting slogans, and being detained. Photos of them smiling while being carried away by policewomen have also spread widely.
In a recent interview with BBC Bangla, Bora played down the attention. "I know it happened in front of the camera so it seems like it's something different," they said. "But I have seen all student activists with the Left doing the same things that I have been doing. It's just that there is a camera on me, so people think something different is happening."
Bora's prominence comes during a wave of street protests. The Cockroach Janta Party, a Gen Z-led online satirical movement, held weeks-long demonstrations in Delhi in the summer over education reforms, which ended in July only after education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. Several opposition parties, especially Congress, have also taken to the streets over electoral reform, with videos of leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra circulating in recent days.