Delivering his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India's 80th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that armed Naxalite and Maoist violence is "breathing its last" across the country, while issuing a sharp warning against what he called dimaagi Naxals—or intellectual Naxals.
Highlighting the significant security gains made over the past twelve years, the Prime Minister noted that while ground forces have systematically dismantled armed insurgent networks in remote forests, the country must now stay vigilant against the intellectual ecosystem that continues to covertly push extremist propaganda from comfortable urban settings and academic corridors.
Modi drew attention to the brutal human cost of Left-Wing Extremism over the last four decades, reminding the nation that Maoist insurgencies claimed the lives of over 3,500 police and paramilitary personnel while stalling economic and social progress in vast tribal belts. He emphasized that after his administration took charge in 2014, eradicating the red terror network became a core national mission.
Through continuous security operations, aggressive road expansion, schools, hospitals, and direct welfare delivery, regions once terrorised by gun violence are turning a corner, trading conflict for local development, sports, and active democratic participation.
The Prime Minister stressed that the final battle against extremism is not just fought in the jungles, but in calling out the ideological enablers who shield violent movements behind constitutional arguments and human rights rhetoric. Asserting that a rising India cannot afford to let intellectual deception mislead its youth or disrupt national stability, Modi urged citizens and civil society to actively spot and isolate these subversive influences.
He made it clear that stamping out both physical weapons and their intellectual backers is non-negotiable if the country is to stay on track toward becoming a secure, self-reliant Viksit Bharat by 2047.