Special Correspondent: The national president of All India Students’ Association (AISA) and student leader Neha Bora has accused the BJP of attempting to give the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led movement over the NEET-UG paper leak a communal colour by selectively highlighting Muslim protesters on its official social media platforms.

Her remarks come days after the CJP called off its protest following the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. However, the promised amnesty for protesters remains disputed. According to the CJP, Delhi Police has not withdrawn any cases, West Bengal continues to make arrests under a recently enacted anti-goonda law, and the Supreme Court’s July 28 order—allowing existing FIRs to proceed while granting relief to detained minors—has left the organization alleging a “breach of trust.”

Speaking to Alt News, Bora said the movement united people from different religions and communities, and that this unity had unsettled the ruling party.

“That is precisely what the government fears because it thrives on divisive politics. They will stay in power only if Indians are divided. This protest was a big blow to them, not just because a cabinet minister resigned, but because it challenged the kind of politics they promote. In the students’ movement, we are all united,” she said.

Bora, a PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University and one of the prominent faces of the protest, said the BJP’s attempt to communalize the movement followed a familiar pattern.

“This is nothing new. BJP has been doing this for a long time by creating videos that portray Muslims as the reason for the country’s problems. They want to erase everyone else’s participation and reduce this movement to a communal narrative,” she said.

She added that the protest reflected the communal harmony on which modern India was built.

“People from different faiths stood together throughout the movement. There were repeated attempts to break that unity and push the movement into the comfort zone of communal politics, but those attempts failed,” Bora said.

Referring to the post-protest developments, Bora alleged that the government’s assurance of no punitive action against demonstrators had not been honored, pointing to continued arrests, surveillance, and pending FIRs in several states.

She also referred to the arrests following violence after a CJP solidarity march in Kolkata, claiming that 15 of the 16 people arrested were Muslims.

“The student movement remains united, whether it is in solidarity with Junaid or with the 16 people arrested in Bengal, 15 of who are Muslims. BJP is trying to project that only Muslims participated in the protests while everyone else stayed away. This kind of narrative-building is not new. Earlier too, Muslims were blamed for unemployment before elections. This protest video is another example,” she said.