PM Modi on Independence Day

New Delhi: The youth took centre stage in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address on Saturday as he unveiled a host of initiatives, including free online coaching and AI skilling, but also warned against “dimagi Naxals...looking for ways of violence and anarchy”, who, he said, must be “identified” and “isolated”.The PM’s 13th consecutive speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, over 75 minutes long, was marked by repeated invocations of the youth, who were the face of the most consequential protest his govt has faced since 2014, leading to education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and a slew of legislative and executive measures to reform the examination system.The PM emphasised the threat “dimagi Naxals” pose even as his govt has largely eliminated “hathiyari Naxals” (armed Naxals). Modi has often used the term “urban Naxals” to describe sympathisers of the Maoist movement. His coinage of “dimagi Naxals” appears to be a nod to the belief in BJP circles that hardcore Left groups, especially AISA, the student wing of CPI(ML), played a key role in mobilising and sustaining support for the Cockroach Janta Party-led protest.“These dimagi Naxals are looking for ways of violence and anarchy. They are resorting to various tactics to drag society to the wrong path. We must identify these dimagi Naxals, isolate them, and steer the nation’s youth toward the mainstream effort of transforming India into a developed nation,” he said.

The challenge of ‘dimagi Naxals should not be underestimated’ as they used to have presence in “corridors of power”, even as advisers in govt committees, he emphasised. BJP has accused Congress of keeping people with professed Naxal sympathies in committees that shaped policies during UPA’s tenure in 2004-2014.Govt to offer youth free online coaching for examsPM Narendra Modi has himself revved up engagement with Gen Z of late, and used the showpiece annual event, in which he often lays out his governance agenda and sums up the country’s development arc since he took office in 2014, to unpack several programmes for them. This comes amid the assessment in political circles that there is a growing clamour for more and better job opportunities.Self-reliance was another key theme, with Modi announcing “sapta-dhara”, which will focus on seven different aspects of the country’s economy to ramp up growth.Fresh off a Parliament session, which was a virtual washout owing to the opposition’s protest against his govt on a variety of issues, Modi denounced his rivals as a bunch of doomsayers who draw perverse pleasure in keeping the country scared and worried, noting that they predicted the worst of fuel crises after the West Asia conflict broke out but his govt handled it ably. “Rumours were spread that petrol would not be available at petrol pumps, that there would be no gas, no diesel and no fertiliser,” he said.Acknowledging the financial burden of coaching classes on the poor and middle-class families, he announced, “We have decided to provide free online coaching for various examinations for the youth. We have digital public infrastructure; we have excellent talent and teachers.