Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri on Saturday said though every country has liberals, they do not berate their own country like those in India whose sole intention is to break the country.
In conversation with Raghavan Jagannathan, editorial director of Swarajya magazine, on Urban Naxals at Mangaluru Lit Fest 2018 here, Mr. Agnihotri said only two civilisations -- Indian and Chinese -- have survived. Every attempt is made to destroy the Indian civilisation, which has grown stronger after the Independence, from Islamic countries on the West and Communists on the East, he said.
China celebrated birth of Naxalism in India a day before it was formally launched at Naxalbari immediately after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. The Congress has suffered the most due to Naxalism, Mr. Agnihotri said citing the death of Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla in Naxal attack in 2013.
Mr. Agnihotri said he is using the term Urban Naxals, by which he meant those resorting to self-abuse to gain publicity, since 2011 in social media. A cover for Naxals on the ground, Urban Naxals are present in universities, government departments and the media. Youngsters who feel ‘liberated’ from parents upon entering universities were encouraged to rebel by seniors and later undergo indoctrination to Naxalism by the faculty, he alleged.
Extortion from Jharkhand and Bastar in Chattisgarh is their main funding source besides foreign funding. Though everyday people are killed by Naxals in Bastar region, it does not make news with exceptions like the recent killing of a Doordarshan scribe, Mr. Agnihotri said.
Inauguration
Earlier in the day, Nitte Education Foundation Chairman N. Vinay Hegde, Organiser Editor Prafulla Ketkar and Taranga Executive Editor Sandhya Pai inaugurated the Lit Fest with the theme “The Idea of Bharat."
Mr. Hegde said a strong India could be built in a democratic way without being affected by religion, language and education.
The Lit Fest would conclude on Sunday.