THAT incidents of Naxalite-related violence have reduced by 77% in the last 11 years -- that is from the total of 2213 in 2010 to 509 in 2021 -- is a good news, as per information the Government gave in Parliament. In the past some time, the Government has been sharing with the nation multi-parameter information about how it is succeeding hugely in curbing Naxal violence as well as the area under Naxal influence. Thanks to a patient and planned approach of the Government, armed Naxalite movement is on the wane all over the country. However, the Naxalites have developed a counter to the Government’s offensive by way of a silent initiative to create ultra-Left influence in the society through an army of people described as ‘Urban Naxals’ -- who are active all over the country spreading disinformation and misinformation about the Government and the country. The new challenge, therefore, is to counter the narrative created and spread by ‘Urban Naxals’.

It must be noted with much satisfaction that the Government is fully aware of the presence of ‘Urban Naxals’ in the society, and is making rather meaningful efforts to counter the threat. A very good indication of this came from a speech of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in Gujarat some time back urging the nation to defeat the designs of ‘Urban Naxals’. Mr. Modi made a strong case against ‘Urban Naxals’ and appealed the common people not to get trapped in the disinformation and misinformation game of the ‘Urban Naxals’.

The Prime Minister’s appeal made a big and positive difference to the national fight against Ultra-Left extremism in the past some time. Initially, a strong lobby of nationalist intellectuals and thinkers operated to counter urban Naxalism with little help from the Government. After the Prime Minister’s specific appeal against the phenomenon, multiple layers of the governmental pyramid also started operating on those lines. This has boosted the nationalist narrative like nothing else has until now.

Urban Naxals are, of course, a dangerous tribe. Their main aim is to create intellectual disturbance and disharmony in the larger Indian society through misinformation and disinformation about the country and its history and culture and ethos in all domains. They present a distorted history, try to shame those who present correct history, cause insult to national heroes, shame those who honour national heroes. They blame the Government for every good thing it does, and shame those who appreciate the Government’s good work. Every time some good thing happens to the country, and when the common people appreciate it, the urban Naxals raise doubts about its correctness. For example, when Indian Armed Forces register a victory in a given operation, then the urban Naxals -- and their cohorts in other garbs -- raise issues of the integrity and correctness of the information in that regard. In the process, they cause a deliberate insult to the brave Armed Forces -- with an eye on the gullible common people with a weak information and belief base. Another area in which urban Naxals play havoc is books on various national issues. On a pre-set narrative, the urban Naxals write books that seek to distort the reality on the ground and colour it with a purpose of misleading the common public that has no firm ideological value-system to sift between truth and lie.

The purpose of all these activities is only one -- to create a sense of doubt in the common people’s heads about India as a nation. This is an extension of the core idea of Naxalism -- to wage a war against lawfully formed Government of a constitutionally established State of India. This war is fought on two planes -- armed and unarmed. When the Government is succeeding in curbing armed struggle of the Naxalites, as indicated from the information shared with Parliament, the urban Naxals spring into action to create an intellectual disengagement of the common people of the country with the Government and the national cause. The sum and substance of all actions by the Naxalites, thus, is one and the same, as evidence proves. It is in this area that the Government has now to launch a counter-narrative to defeat Naxalism in a new form.