‘Free Palestine’ embodies resistance to subjugation, says Neha Bora
text_fields
All India Students Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora has defended the “Free Palestine” slogan, saying it endures in student protests because it embodies resistance to subjugation, empathy and human freedom, values she says are at odds with the ideological stance of the BJP and RSS.
Bora, who has been at the forefront of protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, argued that the Palestine cause highlights a basic moral question: whether the powerful should be allowed to keep oppressing the powerless. “Palestine is a stark example of that pushing the boundaries of what a human being is allowed to do to another human being. The fundamental struggle… is this: that the powerful cannot continue to subjugate those without power,” she told The Telegraph Online.
She said empathy is central to any humane society and that anyone who truly understands its importance will stand in solidarity with Palestine. “This absolute freedom to kill, maim, rape, destroy entire civilisations just because you have power, cannot be allowed to continue. As a human society, if there is anything sacred about us, it is the fact that we have empathy… will stand with Palestine,” Bora said.
Bora also drew a parallel between Israel’s politics and the RSS–BJP’s vision in India, alleging that both promote a majoritarian idea of society and justify violence against those cast as “the other”. “They [Israel] stand for the extermination of one section of society based on their idea of a promised land and glorified past, and a similar kind of politics we see here (India) with the RSS, which holds another section of society as ‘the other’ and justifies violence against them, justifies the massacre of these citizens,” she said.
“The BJP is not just holding power in the Parliament, but the BJP is holding power in the very life of the common citizens of this country. And that is why the RSS or the BJP will always stand with Israel,” Bora added.