Urban Naxal

Introduction

The term Urban naxals is not well-defined, and the source of the word can be traced to the book and a few essays by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri Urban naxals: The Making of Buddha in a Traffic Jam. ‘Urban Naxal’ is often used by some segments of the political spectrum to describe sympathisers of the Naxalism cause as well as certain social activists.

Various Instances of Urban Naxalism

• In 2004, a CPI (Maoist) document titled ‘Urban Perspective: Our Work in Urban Areas’ explained the Urban naxalism strategy: 

• It emphasised mobilising urban poor people and industrial workers, establishing front organisations, building ‘tactical united fronts’ of like-minded organisations including students, middle-class employees, intellectuals, women, Dalits and religious minorities, and elaborating on gaining leadership and expertise from urban regions. 

• Urban naxalism is also posing a threat. It is an old Maoist strategy to focus on urban centres for leadership, organise masses, build a united front and engage in military tasks such as providing personnel, material and infrastructure. 
• Many Indian cities have active front organizations: Front organizations promoting ‘Urban Naxalism are active in a number of cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram, Nagpur, and Pune, according to an intelligence report. 
• Often the Indian Government has blamed “Urban Naxals’’ and “some global institutions and foundations’’ for stopping “modern infrastructure’’ projects that can raise the standard of living of people in the country.