# Mehbooba Mufti says she supports Article 370, is ‘mentally Naxal’ 2026-08-16T20:03:23+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti hit back at Union minister Kiren Rijiju after he defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'mentally Naxal' remark. Sharing a photo of Modi with her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on X, Mehbooba wrote: 'I support Article 370. I am a mental Naxal.' Rijiju had earlier listed three criteria for who qualifies as a 'mentally Naxal': those who back Maoists and reject the Constitution, those who support separatists and Article 370, and those who talk of cutting the 'chicken neck' to separate the Northeast from India. Several opposition leaders criticised Modi's Independence Day speech, where he warned against people deep inside the system who manipulate policies. Congress's P. Chidambaram called 'mentally Naxal' the latest in a series of BJP labels like 'urban Naxal' and 'tukde-tukde gang', all aimed at targeting opponents. MP Manoj Jha joked that if 'urban Naxal' was a postgraduate degree, 'mentally Naxal' was a PhD, and the PM might need to start a university at this rate. ## Coverage - aajtak.in This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Article 370, BJP, Kiren Rijiju, Mehbooba Mufti, Narendra Modi, PDP Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/mehbooba-mufti-says-she-supports-article-370-is-mentally-naxal/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/mehbooba-mufti-says-she-supports-article-370-is-mentally-naxal/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/