Rijiju says PM Modi’s ‘dimagi naxal’ remark not aimed at opposition

Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day reference to "dimagi naxals" was not meant for opposition leaders. Rijiju, posting on X, listed three groups he said the term covered: those who support Maoists and reject the Constitution, those who back separatists and Article 370, and those who advocate cutting the Chicken's Neck corridor to separate the North-East from India.

In his 15 August speech from the Red Fort, PM Modi said India had curbed armed Naxalism but warned that people with "Naxal thinking" still sought opportunities to promote violence and needed to be "identified and isolated". Congress leaders rejected the remark. Jairam Ramesh called it hollow rhetoric, noting the home minister had previously said no definition existed for the similar term "urban naxal". P Chidambaram said he was "proud to be a dimagi naxal".