From Reds to NGOs: RSS weekly expands ‘dimagi Naxal’ label

The RSS, a wing of the Hindu nationalist organization, has joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign against "dimagi Naxals," as reported by its affiliated weekly 'Organiser'. The editorial in 'Organiser' criticized the National Advisory Council (NAC), led by Sonia Gandhi during the UPA government, for allowing Maoist-influenced thinking to seep into policymaking.

The 'Organiser' referred to NAC as marking the "classic takeover of the 'dimagi Naxals' of governance" and accused the bureaucracy, policy machinery, legal system, academia, media, and NGOs of playing a role in this "revolutionary strategy". The weekly did not accuse Sonia or Congress of direct links with Maoists, but its criticism was directed at NAC and the ideological influence it exerted on governance.

The weekly distinguishes "dimagi Naxals" from ordinary agitators or reform groups, acknowledging that issues such as education and climate change could have genuine concerns, but believed that these issues may be appropriated by an ideological core. In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Modi stated that armed Naxalism was nearing its end, but warned that individuals subscribing to the ideology who entered government panels as advisers were still seeking to create violence and anarchy.

This reference also recalled the UPA-era controversy involving human rights activist Binayak Sen, who was arrested in 2007 and later nominated to the Planning Commission's steering committee on health in 2011. The government sought to draw a boundary around the expression, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stating that Modi was not accusing opposition leaders or parties, but referring to those who support Maoists, who reject the Constitution and back separatism.