# Rijiju defends PM’s ‘dimagi naxal’ remark, cites Manmohan Singh 2026-08-17T11:38:03+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'dimagi naxal' remark by invoking former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 2004 statement that naxalism was the biggest internal security challenge. Rijiju said the Congress must apologise to Manmohan Singh's family. PM Modi, in his Independence Day speech, said that while armed naxals had been eliminated, 'dimagi naxals' (ideological naxals) remain in various parts of the country and need to be identified and isolated. The opposition criticised the remark. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh compared it to the earlier 'urban naxal' label, which the home minister had said had no definition. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said he was proud to be a 'dimagi naxal' as a patriot. BJP MP Brij Lal said 'dimagi naxals' pose as professors, poets, and NGO operators to spread violent ideology through seminars targeting youth. Rijiju clarified that the term was not meant for opposition leaders but only for those who support Maoists, reject the Constitution, back separatists on Article 370, or seek to separate India's northeast. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com - timesnownews.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-17T11:53:40+00:00. Tags: Arvind Kejriwal, Jairam Ramesh, Kiren Rijiju, Manmohan Singh, Narendra Modi Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rijiju-invokes-manmohan-singh-to-defend-pms-dimagi-naxal-remark/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rijiju-invokes-manmohan-singh-to-defend-pms-dimagi-naxal-remark/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports 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. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/