Modi threatens to target ‘intellectual Naxals’ in Independence Day speech

What the report says

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his Independence Day address in New Delhi on Saturday to say the country has largely defeated the decades-old Maoist-inspired Naxalite rebellion, while warning that what he called the movement’s ideological supporters still pose a danger. According to Al Jazeera, Modi said those he described as “intellectual Naxals” should be identified and isolated because they could encourage violence, a phrase that echoes the broader political label often applied by his government and allies to critics.

The speech was delivered from the Red Fort during the annual Independence Day ceremony. Modi said his administration’s security and development policies had sharply reduced Maoist violence since 2014 and argued that armed insurgency had damaged the prospects of generations of young people. He also said India had moved from being a fragile economy to the world’s fastest-growing major economy over the past decade.

Al Jazeera reported that the remarks came weeks after a youth-led protest movement, the Cockroach Janta Party, emerged as a notable challenge to Modi’s government and helped bring down the education minister. While Modi did not refer to those protests directly, he emphasized youth-focused measures such as AI training and free online exam coaching, and reiterated his target of making India a developed nation by 2047.

For context, the Naxalite movement began in 1967 in eastern India and developed into a long-running armed rebellion affecting parts of central and eastern states. Rights groups have frequently accused the Indian government of using legal and regulatory tools to pressure civil society and dissenting voices.