![\"\u2018Proud](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133269746,imgsize-1104880,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/dimagi-naxal-row.jpg\" "\\"File")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: Former Union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram<\/a> on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a> over his \u201cdimagi naxal\u201d remarks, saying he was \u201cproud\u201d to be described by the term.\u201cI am proud to be a dimagi naxal!\u201d Chidambaram said in a post on X, a day after PM Modi, in his 80th Independence Day address from the Red Fort, warned that although armed Naxalism was nearing its end, people with an ideological Naxal mindset continued to pose a threat.PM Modi had urged people to \u201cidentify and isolate\u201d such individuals, saying they were looking for opportunities to promote violence and unrest and \u201cdrag the country on the wrong path\u201d.The Prime Minister said his government had made ending Naxalism a priority after coming to power in 2014. He said decades of Maoist violence had destroyed the lives and aspirations of young people and claimed that more than 3,500 security personnel had been killed in the conflict.\u201cNaxalism, Maoism destroyed the dreams of lakhs of youth. It stole the sons of numerous mothers, crushed the dreams of numerous mothers,\u201d PM Modi said in his Independence Day address.He also alleged that people with a Maoist mindset had earlier occupied positions of influence in government committees and policymaking.\u201cFor years, people with Maoist thinking were there in public life, even in government committees this thinking had affected various institutions and initiatives,\u201d PM Modi said, before calling for the \u201cdimagi naxal\u201d to be identified and isolated.<\/p>\n Chidambaram’s response came a day after Congress had already attacked PM Modi over the remarks.Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the Prime Minister of reviving the \u201curban naxal\u201d label to target political opponents. He argued that the government had previously used the term despite Union home minister Amit Shah clarifying in Parliament that there was no official definition of \u201curban Naxal\u201d.Ramesh also alleged that the government eventually adopted some of the issues raised by people it had labelled \u201curban Naxals\u201d. He cited the caste census as an example, saying the idea had earlier been dismissed as reflecting \u201curban Naxal\u201d thinking before the government announced a caste-based census.\u201cFirst, you make derogatory remarks–calling them ‘Urban Naxals’ or ‘Mental Naxals’–but later, you accept the very demands your political opponents were making,\u201d Ramesh said, according to news agency ANI.The Congress leader had also earlier called PM Modi a \u201cmaster abuser\u201d in \u201cEntire Political Science\u201d while reacting to his use of the \u201curban naxal\u201d and \u201cdimagi naxal\u201d labels.The broader Opposition has also criticised PM Modi’s remarks. CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby said his party opposed Naxalism but accused the government of using the \u201cNaxal mentality\u201d label to target political opponents.CPI general secretary D Raja described \u201cdimagi naxal\u201d as an attempt to stigmatise dissent.TMC leader Saket Gokhale similarly accused PM Modi of using the Independence Day platform to take \u201ccheap shots\u201d at his critics.<\/p>\n PM Modi’s remarks came as he declared that the government had made substantial progress in tackling armed Naxalism.He said Naxalism had kept large parts of the country and its population \u201chostage\u201d for decades and had resulted in the deaths of thousands of security personnel.<\/p>\n Share your thoughts in the comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\nCongress attacks PM Modi\u2019s \u2018dimagi naxal\u2019 remark<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
PM Modi says armed Naxalism \u2018breathing its last\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n