From theatre to streets, Gen Z protester Neha Bora a new face of India's youth unrest

By Aftab Ahmed and Saurabh Sharma, NEW DELHI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A little-known doctoral student has emerged as one of the most ​visible faces of a protest movement in India that has mounted the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in years.

Neha ‌Bora, 29, is one of a number of prominent activists detained this weekend as the authorities cracked down on attempts by protesters led by the "Cockroach" youth movement to demonstrate against what they say is massive vote-rigging to help Modi's party.

But Bora, national president of the left-wing All India Students’ Association, says she did not set out to become an activist. She traces her ​path into politics to theatre and, later, the student-led protests against a citizenship law in 2019 and 2020.

BORA URGES PROTESTERS ON FROM DETENTION

On Saturday, after ​police blocked demonstrators from reaching New Delhi's designated protest site, Jantar Mantar, Bora urged them to regroup at Dilli Haat, a ⁠crafts market 10 km (6 miles) away.

"Dilli Haat becomes Jantar Mantar today," she wrote on X before setting off towards the site, chanting slogans as others followed.

Police detained ​her with several other activists. But even in detention, she called for the demonstration to continue.

"I am in detention. The movement is not," she said in a video ​posted online, urging supporters who were stopped by police to protest wherever they were. She was released later on Saturday.