NEW DELHI (AP) 鈥� Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that India鈥檚 decades-long was nearing its end but warned that the country now faced a new battle against what he called 鈥渄imagi Naxals,鈥� or people who align with the movement鈥檚 ideology.
In his address to the nation on India鈥檚 79th Independence Day from the ramparts of New Delhi鈥檚 17th-century Mughal-era Red Fort, Modi said Maoist violence was 鈥渂reathing its last鈥� after years of security operations against the insurgency, once described by Indian authorities as the country鈥檚 biggest internal security threat.
Also known as the Naxalite movement, it challenged state authority across large swaths of central and eastern India for decades, leaving thousands of civilians, rebels and security personnel dead.
鈥淲e have succeeded in getting rid of armed Naxals in the jungles, but 鈥榙imagi Naxals鈥� (intellectual Naxals) are looking for opportunities to create violence and unrest,鈥� Modi said. 鈥淭hey have to be identified and isolated.鈥�
鈥淭hey want to drag the society on the wrong path,鈥� he added.
Modi also unveiled a series of measures aimed at boosting self-reliance in sectors ranging from defense to agriculture, with a strong focus on youth.
The outreach to young people comes weeks after a youth-led protest movement, the , emerged as a and helped force the resignation of his education minister. While Modi did not mention the protests, he repeatedly highlighted initiatives aimed at young Indians, including AI skills training and free online coaching for competitive exams.
He said India had transformed from a 鈥渇ragile鈥� economy into the world鈥檚 fastest-growing major economy over the past decade and reaffirmed his government鈥檚 goal of turning the country into a developed nation by 2047, the centenary of its independence.
The Naxalite movement, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, began in 1967 with an uprising in the village of Naxalbari in eastern India, and grew into a decades-long armed rebellion championing the rights of landless farmers, the rural poor and Indigenous communities.
Modi said the Maoist movement had 鈥渄estroyed the future鈥� of generations of young people, and credited his government鈥檚 security and development policies with sharply reducing Maoist violence since he took office in 2014.
The phrase 鈥渄imagi Naxal鈥� echoes the politically charged label 鈥渦rban Naxal,鈥� a term Modi and leaders of his Bharatiya Janata Party have previously used for activists, academics, intellectuals and other critics of his government. Critics say such labels have increasingly been used to stigmatize dissent.
Modi鈥檚 remarks come amid years of criticism from international rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have accused the government of using anti-terror laws, sedition-related provisions and foreign-funding rules to squeeze civil society and target activists, journalists and groups critical of its policies.
Jairam Ramesh, a senior leader of the opposition Congress party, dismissed Modi鈥檚 phrase as political rhetoric and said Modi first called his opponents 鈥榰rban Naxals鈥� and now he calls them 鈥榙imagi Naxals.鈥�
Ramesh accused Modi of vilifying certain ideas as extremist before ultimately adopting them. He cited the caste census as an example, saying the government initially dismissed the demand as 鈥榰rban Naxal鈥� thinking before eventually embracing it. He added that it is a 鈥渟ure sign鈥� of Modi’s 鈥渄esperation.鈥�
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