New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS) The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders on Saturday came in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘dimagi Naxals’ remark even as the Opposition launched criticism, asking PM Modi to clarify whom was he referring to.
During his address on the 80th Independence Day, PM Modi declared that India has succeeded in significantly weakening armed Naxalism, but cautioned that a more subtle challenge — what he termed “dimagi Naxalism” — continues to seek opportunities to foment violence and disorder, which needs to be identified and isolated.
Reacting to PM Modi’s ‘dimagi Naxalism’ remark, Union Minister Chirag Paswan said: “While India has eliminated Naxalism on one hand, Prime Minister Modi mentioned about ‘dimagi Naxalites’ today. These are people who, in some way, seek to create anarchy in society. These are people who possibly cannot envision the creation of a developed India… Prime Minister Modi urged people today to remain cautious of such individuals.”
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis echoed, saying: “I believe that he (PM Modi) has made a very accurate observation. Naxalism with guns in hand has been brought to an end, but we are now witnessing something even more dangerous, what can be described as ‘Naxalism of the mind’, where people have anarchy embedded in their thinking.”
Defending the Prime Minister’s remark, BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma said: “There are still some ‘mental Naxals’ who want to harm India and the country. They should, at the very least, refrain from doing so because the nation is moving forward to become a (Vishwaguru) global power by 2047.”
However, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate questioned who is the Prime Minister referring to as ‘Dimagi Naxals’?
“Is he calling the youth of the country as ‘dimagi Naxals’? When he (PM Modi) is using such kind of words then he should clarify who is he exactly referring to,” she told IANS.
Speaking to reporters, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said: “Earlier, they called their political opponents ‘urban Naxals.’ At that time, the question was raised in Parliament: what is the definition of an ‘urban Naxal’? The Home Minister (Amit Shah) had replied that there was no such thing as an ‘urban Naxal’ and that there was no definition for it. Today, the Prime Minister is using the term ‘dimagi Naxals’ from the Red Fort to refer to his political opponents. The reality is, the issues raised by the so-called ‘Urban Naxals’ are actually accepted by the Prime Minister, like the caste census.”
While emphasising that it is very important to harness ideas, NCP-SP National Spokesperson Naseem Siddiqui said: “If PM Modi considers the intellectuals of the country as “terrorists”, what can we say? In the name of Urban Naxalism, the government is imprisoning senior professors and researchers in the country.”
“If the government is unable to differentiate between intellectuals and terrorists, then it is their fault,” he told IANS.
CPI-M General Secretary M. A. Baby referred to PM Modi’s remarks as “mischievous and wrong allegation”.
“I don’t know whom he (PM Modi) was exactly targeting,” he told IANS while pointing that several intellectuals like DU professor Sai Baba were imprisoned “after being labelled as Urban Naxals”.
The CPI-M leader also said: “Extremism is being used by PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as a license for attacking those who criticise the Union government. They want to stall democratic discussion and debates in the country. If somebody questions (the government) they are labelled as ‘Urban Naxals’.”
–IANS
cg/khz
