Don’t let ‘urban Naxals’ hijack movements: RSS

The RSS on Tuesday organised a seminar that focused on how to identify the ‘urban Naxal’ and insulate the mainstream society from their lifestyle, thinking or even language.

At the ‘Know Your Urban Naxal’ event, the Sangh published a report based on inputs from a 12-member team it sent to the Naxal hotbed of Bastar in Chhattisgarh. The report looks at ways to deal with the urban Naxals, a term coined to label rights activists who allegedly provide support to Left wing extremists.

The report identifies BBC and Al Jazeera among media organisations that were “constantly portraying the problem as one created by the State”. It also says the urban Naxals were using folk culture to woo members.


Speakers at the event primarily comprised Delhi University teachers and lawyers. Abhinav Prakash, an associate professor from DU, said nationalists must take up the issues of farmers and Dalits, as urban Naxals always try to hijack their movements which do not seek to overthrow the State.

Another speaker said there was an urgent need to look into the nexus between Christian organisations and Naxals in states such as Chhattisgarh, while a third said it was important to dismantle the support provided by urban Naxals to the ultras to break the ecosystem. The term urban Naxal became a buzzword after the Pune Police recently arrested five rights activists in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence. The police have been asked to submit evidence against them in the court on Wednesday.