Published 13:28 IST, August 29th 2018
Urban Naxals are the 'invisible enemies of India', says Vivek Agnihotri, the man who coined the term
A political storm erupted after the Maharashtra police conducted a multi-city crackdown at the residences of Maoist sympathisers and detained five of them on Tuesday
A political storm has erupted after the Maharashtra police conducted a multi-city crackdown at the residences of Maoist sympathisers and detained five of them on Tuesday. Appearing on Republic TV's primetime debate on the development, Vivek Agnihotri, the author of 'Urban Naxals: Buddha in a traffic jam', took his stand on the the authorities' action, calling Urban Naxals 'the invisible enemies of India'.
"These are the enemies of the state. It's not about BJP or Congress. What I failed to understand is whenever something of this kind happens why they get rattled? These are very dangerous people and they are invisible enemies of India", the Filmmaker and Author of 'Urban Naxals' said.
Questioning the Opposition parties that have attacked the Modi government over the detentions of Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Varavara Rao, and the house arrests of Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha, Vivek Agnihotri said:
"There is a bigger game plan. All these names did not pop up today. They have been there since 2011. That government never acted, this government is acting."
On April 16, 2018, the Union Home Ministry removed 44 districts from the list of 'left-wing extremism' (LWE) hit states. This brought the number of affected districts down to 30. Taking on the shrinking stronghold of Maoists, Vivek Agnihotri added:
"They are rattled now because they are getting exposed. They are shrinking, they are getting diluted in Jungles, their cadre is getting exposed. People like me are fighting them every single day. Their game plan is exposed. 'Urban Naxalism' is an accepted political ideology".
Meanwhile, Union minister Kiren Rijiju quoted former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and criticised Rahul Gandhi for 'openly supporting Maoist sympathisers'. The Minister also requested Rahul Gandhi to 'keep national security above politics'.
This came after Rahul Gandhi said that in the "new India", there was the place for only one NGO — the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Taking a similar stand, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav also referred to it 'Fascism':
The CPI(M) has issued a strong statement:
In June, the arrest of five persons in connection with the Bhima Koregaon caste-clashes had revealed a letter detailing a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that had allegedly been recovered from the laptop of Rona Wilson, one of the five arrested. Meanwhile, another older letter, purportedly part of the correspondence between Maoist leaders, contained a plan to assassinate PM Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP party president Amit Shah.
An investigation by Republic TV has also revealed details of a larger conspiracy including an 'Urban Naxals-Maoists' conduit, an arms angle and terrorist link, and sensational details of an ‘end Modi’ plot.
Updated 15:48 IST, August 29th 2018