Urban Naxals:
Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha that the government does not use the phrase “urban naxals”, but when it comes to left-wing extremism (LWE), be it in urban areas or any other place, a vigil is kept and strict action is initiated.
- Rai was responding to a question by Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Rakesh Sinha who said that “Maoism thriving due to extra parliamentary forces and urban naxals who are sitting in universities and under the garb of journalism are breaking the country”. He said that some mainstream political parties were supporting them.
- Rai’s statement on LWE having foreign roots was countered by Communist Party of India’s Binoy Viswam.
- “Unlike right-wing extremism, which has a foreign influence and emanates from Italy and Germany, the LWE has socio-economic roots, it is there due to social deprivation”.
- Rai stated that the geographical spread of the violence had also been reduced and only 46 districts reported LWE-related violence in 2021 as compared to 96 districts in 2010.
- He said the the number of districts contributing approximately 90% of the LWE violence had come down to 25 districts in 2021.
- The reply stated that the incidents of LWE violence had reduced by 77% from an all-time high of 2,258 incidents in 2009 to 509 in 2021.
