SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday described herself as a “dimaagi Naxal”, saying she supports Article 370 of the Constitution.
“I support Article 370. I’m a dimaagi Naxal,” Mehbooba wrote in a post on X.
Her remark came in response to Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “dimaagi Naxal” remarks during his Independence Day address were not directed at Opposition leaders.
Rijiju said the term referred to people who support Maoists while rejecting the Constitution, those who stand with separatists and support Article 370, and those advocating the severing of the strategically important “Chicken’s Neck” corridor connecting the Northeast with the rest of India.
Mehbooba’s brief response appeared to directly reference Rijiju’s inclusion of Article 370 supporters in that categorisation.
The exchange followed Prime Minister Modi’s Independence Day speech in which he said armed Naxalism had been pushed back significantly but warned that “dimaagi Naxals” continued to look for opportunities to fuel violence and unrest. He called upon people to identify and isolate such elements.
Modi’s remarks have triggered a political war of words, with Opposition leaders questioning the use of the term while BJP leaders have maintained that it was aimed at ideological supporters of Maoism, separatism and forces seeking to undermine national unity.
Article 370, which had accorded special constitutional status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was effectively abrogated by the Centre in August 2019. Mehbooba and her Peoples Democratic Party have continued to demand its restoration.
