Civil rights group condemns DU V-C’s remarks on ‘urban Naxals’ as regressive

Delhi University (DU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Yogesh Singh’s recent speech on “urban Naxals” in universities has drawn sharp criticism from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), which termed his remarks “regressive” and “defamatory.”

Prof Singh delivered the 24-minute address on September 28 at an event titled “Bharat Manthan 2025: Naxal Mukt Bharat Ending Red Terror Under Modi’s Leadership”, organised by the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation in partnership with the Association of Indian Universities at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi. In his speech, he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal to end Naxalism by 2026, warning that “Naxalism today operates not from forests, but from universities and cities.”

He said that some individuals “hid behind intellectual masks,” including professors, doctors, and employees who may appear to support the poor but allegedly kept them in poverty. Singh also expressed concern that students joined universities with “dreams and innocence” only to be ideologically misled, referring to the 2016 sedition row at Jawaharlal Nehru University and questioning whether the education system had failed if professors were spreading such ideas.

The V-C recommended the film Buddha in a Traffic Jam by Vivek Agnihotri, saying it demonstrates “how professors manipulate students emotionally to serve ideological agendas.” He also criticised faculty supporting groups like the now-banned Popular Front of India and its student wing, the Campus Front of India, asking, “When did anti-nationalism become part of the curriculum? This is a failure of vigilance.”

The university, however, defended the V-C’s remarks. An official said, “If any individuals, whether students or teachers, are associated with such Maoist ideologies, it naturally raises concern.”