A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the nation to identify and isolate “Dimagi Naxals” in his Independence Day speech, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had clarified that the remark was not directed at Opposition leaders but at those who reject the Constitution. The RSS-linked weekly Organiser, however, has now expanded the definition to include the UPA-era National Advisory Council (NAC).In its latest issue, the weekly has sought to link a series of recent public protests to what it has labelled a larger campaign targeting Hindutva.Advertisement“This precisely is the reason why agitations ranging from farmers to students eventually turn against Hindu civilizational identity,” Organiser editor Prafulla Ketkar wrote in an editorial.Also Read | Dimagi Naxal frames the mind as enemy territoryThe editorial alleged that “Dimagi Naxals” (loosely translated as people with a Maoist mentality) operate secretly in cities and create multiple “frontal organisations” in the name of students, women, labourers, farmers, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and “so-called minorities”.“The National Advisory Council of the Sonia Gandhi-led UPA Government was a classic takeover of the Dimagi Naxals of governance. Their idea of penetrating the bureaucracy, policy machinery, legal system, academia, media, and NGOs is part of the ‘revolutionary strategy’,” Ketkar wrote.AdvertisementThe NAC was set up in 2004 to advise the UPA government on policy matters and its recommendations helped shape, among other things, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Right to Information Act, the National Rural Health Mission, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and the National Rehabilitation Policy. The Council, led by Gandhi, consisted of academics, civil society activists, and technical experts. Gandhi served as the NAC chairperson from 2004 till May 2006, when she resigned from both the Council and the Lok Sabha amid the office-of-profit controversy. She resumed the leadership of the reconstituted NAC in 2010.Ketkar argued that “Dimagi Naxals” do not carry guns but operate through labels such as “eminent historians or intellectuals, award-winning literary figures, legal luminaries, human rights activists, independent journalists, celebrity actors or actresses, and environmentalists”.“Civil society is their tool of resistance to Constitutional Democracy. …Subversion of democracy through democratic means is their classic style,” said the editorial.Must Read | Naxalism’s ideological front hides behind democratic idealsAccording to the editorial, “Dimagi Naxals” are highly educated and may raise genuine issues, but it alleged that they use their intellect for “destructive purposes”. It also alleged that big technology companies support their activities.“Agenda-driven individuals and organisations control minds through ideas planted in social media spaces and use them against the nation. Algorithms run by their handlers and funders in big-tech companies favour them, helping them influence large masses,” it said.In an apparent reference to recent protests over education and other issues, the editorial argued that systemic problems were inevitable in a large country such as India.“Education, healthcare, and overall development model need a drastic overhaul. However, these issues neither emerged in the last twelve years nor exist only in BJP-ruled States. For them, targeting Hindutva as the hegemony and pitching each peripheral, constructed identity as non-Hindu is the larger game,” it said.The editorial also alleged a broader conspiracy behind various agitations, bringing together radical Islamists, Maoists, evangelical missionaries, intellectuals, legal professionals, NGOs, Bollywood personalities, cultural groups, and sections of the media.“The collaboration of radical Islamists, Maoists and evangelical missionaries, with the set of select intellectuals, legal professionals, NGOs, Bollywood stars, other cultural groups and media platforms is visible in every agitation that is happening around; it is a pattern and not an accident. This precisely is the reason why agitations ranging from farmers to students eventually turn against Hindu civilizational identity,” it said.The editorial also invoked the late American political scientist Gene Sharp, known for his work on strategic nonviolent resistance, describing him as a “Boston-based Dimagi”. Sharp founded the Albert Einstein Institution in 1983 to study and advance nonviolent struggle.“Discrediting elections, questioning all policies or legislative processes, pitching one group against another, proving elected Government as illegitimate and hegemonic, ultimately eroding the legitimacy of electoral politics are key steps in this strategy. Now connect the dots from the Awards wapasi drama to the Dimagi Naxal Party, and one will get to see a more clear picture,” the editorial said.In his Independence Day speech, Modi said: “For years, those with Naxal mentality had their place in the power corridors. They were in government committees as advisors. Maoist thinking impacted policies. We have succeeded in getting rid of armed Naxals in the jungles, but ‘dimagi Naxals’ (intellectual Naxals) are looking for opportunities to create violence, unrest … They want to drag the society on the wrong path.”“These ‘dimagi Naxals’ have to be identified and isolated, and connect the youth with the mainstream,” he said.After Opposition parties reacted sharply, Rijiju said the next day that Modi “didn’t say Opposition leaders are Dimagi Naxals”.“Only the following are Dimagi Naxals: 1. Who support Maoists and reject Indian Constitution. 2. Who stand with separatists & support Article 370. 3. Who want to cut Chicken’s Neck to separate North-East from India,” Rijiju said.