‘Proud to be a dimagi naxal’: P Chidambaram hits back at PM Modi

File
photo:
PM
Modi
a d
se io
Co g ess
leade
P
Chidamba am

NEW
DELHI:
Fo me
U io
mi iste
a d
se io
Co g ess
leade

P
Chidamba am
o
Su day
hit
back
at
P ime
Mi iste

Na e d a
Modi
ove
his
“dimagi
axal”
ema ks,
sayi g
he
was
“p oud”
to
be
desc ibed
by
the
te m.“I
am
p oud
to
be
a
dimagi
axal!”
Chidamba am
said
i
a
post
o
X,
a
day
afte
PM
Modi,
i
his
80th
I depe de ce
Day
add ess
f om
the
Red
Fo t,
wa ed
that
although
a med
Naxalism
was
ea i g
its
e d,
people
with
a
ideological
Naxal
mi dset
co ti ued
to
pose
a
th eat.

PM
Modi
had
u ged
people
to
“ide tify
a d
isolate”
such
i dividuals,
sayi g
they
we e
looki g
fo
oppo tu ities
to
p omote
viole ce
a d
u est
a d
“d ag
the
cou t y
o
the
w o g
path”.The
P ime
Mi iste
said
his
gove me t
had
made
e di g
Naxalism
a
p io ity
afte
comi g
to
powe
i
2014.
He
said
decades
of
Maoist
viole ce
had
dest oyed
the
lives
a d
aspi atio s
of
you g
people
a d
claimed
that
mo e
tha
3,500
secu ity
pe so el
had
bee
killed
i
the
co flict.“Naxalism,
Maoism
dest oyed
the
d eams
of
lakhs
of
youth.
It
stole
the
so s
of
ume ous
mothe s,
c ushed
the
d eams
of
ume ous
mothe s,”
PM
Modi
said
i
his
I depe de ce
Day
add ess.

He
also
alleged
that
people
with
a
Maoist
mi dset
had
ea lie
occupied
positio s
of
i flue ce
i
gove me t
committees
a d
policymaki g.

“Fo
yea s,
people
with
Maoist
thi ki g
we e
the e
i
public
life,
eve
i
gove me t
committees
this
thi ki g
had
affected
va ious
i stitutio s
a d
i itiatives,”
PM
Modi
said,
befo e
calli g
fo
the
“dimagi
axal”
to
be
ide tified
a d
isolated.

Co g ess
attacks
PM
Modi’s
‘dimagi
axal’
ema k

Chidamba am’s
espo se
came
a
day
afte
Co g ess
had
al eady
attacked
PM
Modi
ove
the
ema ks.Co g ess
ge e al
sec eta y
Jai am
Ramesh
accused
the
P ime
Mi iste
of
evivi g
the
“u ba
axal”
label
to
ta get
political
oppo e ts.
He
a gued
that
the
gove me t
had
p eviously
used
the
te m
despite
U io
home
mi iste
Amit
Shah
cla ifyi g
i
Pa liame t
that
the e
was
o
official
defi itio
of
“u ba
Naxal”.Ramesh
also
alleged
that
the
gove me t
eve tually
adopted
some
of
the
issues
aised
by
people
it
had
labelled
“u ba
Naxals”.
He
cited
the
caste
ce sus
as
a
example,
sayi g
the
idea
had
ea lie
bee
dismissed
as
eflecti g
“u ba
Naxal”
thi ki g
befo e
the
gove me t
a ou ced
a
caste-based
ce sus.“Fi st,
you
make
de ogato y
ema ks–calli g
them
‘U ba
Naxals’
o
‘Me tal
Naxals’–but
late ,
you
accept
the
ve y
dema ds
you
political
oppo e ts
we e
maki g,”
Ramesh
said,
acco di g
to
ews
age cy
ANI.The
Co g ess
leade
had
also
ea lie
called
PM
Modi
a
“maste
abuse ”
i
“E ti e
Political
Scie ce”
while
eacti g
to
his
use
of
the
“u ba
axal”
a d
“dimagi
axal”
labels.

The
b oade
Oppositio
has
also
c iticised
PM
Modi’s
ema ks.
CPI(M)
ge e al
sec eta y
M
A
Baby
said
his
pa ty
opposed
Naxalism
but
accused
the
gove me t
of
usi g
the
“Naxal
me tality”
label
to
ta get
political
oppo e ts.CPI
ge e al
sec eta y
D
Raja
desc ibed
“dimagi
axal”
as
a
attempt
to
stigmatise
disse t.TMC
leade
Saket
Gokhale
simila ly
accused
PM
Modi
of
usi g
the
I depe de ce
Day
platfo m
to
take
“cheap
shots”
at
his
c itics.

PM
Modi
says
a med
Naxalism
‘b eathi g
its
last’

PM
Modi’s
ema ks
came
as
he
decla ed
that
the
gove me t
had
made
substa tial
p og ess
i
tackli g
a med
Naxalism.He
said
Naxalism
had
kept
la ge
pa ts
of
the
cou t y
a d
its
populatio
“hostage”
fo
decades
a d
had
esulted
i
the
deaths
of
thousa ds
of
secu ity
pe so el.

“I
2014,
whe
you
gave
us
the
oppo tu ity
we
had
decided
that
we
will
id
the
cou t y
of
axalism,
a d
today
I
am
happy
to
a ou ce
that
axalism
does
ot
have
eve
the
st e gth
fo
b eathi g,”
PM
Modi
said.At
the
same
time,
he
cautio ed
that
the
e d
of
a med
i su ge cy
did
ot
mea
the
ideological
challe ge
had
disappea ed.“Eve
if
these
axals
a e
go e,
but
the
‘dimagi
axal’
(people
with
axal
thi ki g),
a e
looki g
fo
a
oppo tu ity,
looki g
to
see
ways
of
viole ce,
a d
t yi g
to
d ag
the
cou t y
to
a
w o g
path,”
PM
Modi
said.He
li ked
the
issue
to
his
b oade
call
fo
you g
people
to
co t ibute
to
the
gove me t’s
visio
of
a
developed
I dia
by
2047,
a gui g
that
emote
a eas
o ce
affected
by
Naxal
viole ce
we e
ow
seei g
developme t.

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