New Delhi: ‘Dimagi Naxals’, the phrase used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during I-Day address from Red Fort, is again at the centre of attention.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced sharp criticism from the Editors Guild of India over the use of the term ‘Dimagi Naxals’ to refer to journalists.
The Guild condemned the party’s official social media handles for portraying journalists who question the government as ‘Dimagi Naxals’, taking the instance of targeting of senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, a former Guild president.
BJP MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said at a press conference recently that “Intellectual Naxals” sympathised with and lent intellectual cover to Naxals, celebrated the deaths of security personnel, and pushed for street action instead of solutions through Parliament.
Thereafter, BJP handles amplified the framing in a video that named Sardesai.
In an official statement, the Guild said Sardesai has objectively presented and analysed news over a long career as a journalist and TV anchor, and that by no stretch of imagination could his work be called that of a ‘Dimagi Naxal.’
The Guild pointed out that it was especially alarming that the attack came from official handles of the ruling party, and not from a fringe group. The Guild warned such moves undermine India’s democratic credentials and chip away at media freedom protected under the constitutional right to free expression.
“The increasingly constrained space for independent media is the reason for India’s alarming fall to the 157th position out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders,” the Guild remarked.
The Guild urged BJP’s social media outlets to stop attempting to paint media personnel discharging their professional duties as public enemies, and to accept that dissent and scrutiny are part of the democratic process.
Statement Condemning BJP’s Video Portraying Journalists as ‘Dimagi Naxal’ pic.twitter.com/TRVU4xEpfk
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) August 24, 2026
