‘Curbing urban Naxalism': Maha CM defends Public Security Bill
Addressing the media, Fadnavis said, 'The Public Security Bill has been passed to counter Urban Maoism. A deliberate strategy was being employed to promote Naxal ideology. While such laws already exist in four other states, Maharashtra lacked the legal teeth to act against 64 such organisations operating here. This bill empowers the state to take concrete action.'
He explained that while laws like the UAPA apply only when a clear terror element is established and MCOCA targets individuals and not organisations, this new legislation fills a critical gap.
"This law will allow us to act against organisations directly. It is aimed purely at dismantling the infrastructure that promotes Naxalism,' CM Fadnavis clarified.
The bill, passed in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Thursday, has drawn mixed reactions. While some in the opposition supported its intent, others raised concerns about its potential misuse.
NCP (Sharad Pawar group) MLA Rohit Pawar said, 'We are against Maoism and Naxalism. Any bill that helps fight these threats, we support it. However, the definitions of 'group' and 'individual' in the bill are vague. There must be clarity to prevent misuse.'
He also urged the government to ensure that no innocent person is targeted. 'We told the Chief Minister that the law should not be misused to harass individuals. Safeguards must be ensured.'
On the other hand, NCP (SCP) leader Jitendra Awhad strongly opposed the bill, branding the state government as 'anti-democratic' and 'authoritarian'.
'This is a policing state now. The government is using laws to silence dissent. In states like West Bengal, Kerala, Jharkhand, and Odisha, some Left-linked organisations are banned. But, this law targets those who merely speak against the government,' Awhad said.
The Maharashtra Public Security Bill, 2025, provides the state with broad powers to ban organisations and prosecute individuals suspected of aiding or abetting Naxal or Maoist activity.
The law will impose punishments ranging from two to seven years in prison for members of unlawful organisations. Offences under the Act will be cognisable and non-bailable in nature, and grant the government the authority to seize and forfeit funds belonging to such groups.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
22 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Calm down please: From Maharashtra to Bihar, a politics of apocalypse
Dear Express reader, In the last few days, the news from two states, otherwise positioned at opposite ends of the spectrum — Maharashtra ranks among India's most industrialised states, while Bihar remains one of the least developed — has sounded similarly dire. In Maharashtra, amid incidents of violence on the language issue, after a government circular on Hindi in schools appears to have created space for the estranged Sena cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray to re-unite to be 'saviours' of the supposedly re-endangered 'Marathi Manoos', the Devendra Fadnavis dispensation has passed a law that paints an alarmist picture of a state overrun by 'urban Naxals'. The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill uses cloudy language and extra-large definitions as it purports to, as CM Fadnavis said in the Assembly, rescue the state's youth from those 'provoking people for armed revolt to demolish democracy, Parliament and institutions'. It is in line, arguably, with Fadnavis's earlier remarks on the election in Maharashtra: It was a contest, he said, not between parties but between the 'forces of nationalism' and 'forces of anarchy'. In Bihar, the Election Commission's exercise for updating and cleaning up electoral rolls, the Special Intensive Revision, which in a dramatic departure from the past, casts the onus on large swathes of undocumented voters to prove their citizenship, has sparked widespread fears of disenfranchisement. At the same time, a spate of incidents of murder in the state have revived 'law and order' concerns, at least among the politicians, including one prominent BJP ally. Whether or not Bihar sees a revival of the nasty and brutish motif of 'jungle raj' — this time with a role reversal, with the RJD using it to hit back at the ruling BJP-JD(U) — ahead of a crucial election, the ground is fertile for an apocalyptic clamour to rule the airwaves. This can only be bad news for a state that desperately needs a sober search for answers for the way forward. For all its several accomplishments, Bihar's turnaround story, scripted and steered by Nitish Kumar, has hit a long plateau, and Nitish himself is a waning presence. What is common to Maharashtra and Bihar is an apocalyptic politics that makes fear its currency, and in which complex challenges are presented with simple solutions. These feature zero-games and us-versus-them scenarios which demonise the opponent and create conditions that are ripe for 'saviours', draconian laws and the strong-armed state. The rhetoric of apocalypse is a conversation cul-de-sac, a dead-end for debate. In Maharashtra, therefore, the Thackerays raising the pitch on the language issue and the Fadnavis government arming itself with wider powers to blur crucial distinctions between terrorists, Naxalites and 'urban Naxals', threatens civil liberties, even as it narrows the possibilities of a policy and politics that aims at re-energising growth momentum in the state. In Bihar, the costs of apocalyptic politics are even more dispiriting. The return of 'law and order' as an issue combined with anxieties of disenfranchisement could make the upcoming election more about pessimism, and less about hope, in a state that lags a long distance behind Maharashtra on development parameters. But it's not just the politics of Maharashtra and Bihar. A politics that trades on spectres and scenarios of the end of the world as we know it, and fantasies of rebuilding on a blank slate, no matter what it takes, is in fashion. The Narendra Modi-led BJP at the Centre, as much as it taps into the aspirations of a changing electorate, has also excelled at telling stories of a fall and rise. Read between the lines, and in its telling, any attempt to change requires the destruction of the old order. The old order, the Congress-Left 'eco-system', must be felled and flattened, and New India will rise from the ashes of the old. It will be a country that is radically rearranged and reconstituted, with a grand temple in Ayodhya, without Article 370, with One Election, One Language, One Civil Code (and One Party and One Leader). The fantasy of total destruction and erasure of the old is intrinsic to the BJP's version of apocalyptic politics, and its vision of the new. The politics of Modi's main challenger, Rahul Gandhi, is also apocalyptic, but a coherent vision of the new utopia seems to be missing from it. That is one reason why his war cries of 'Constitution in danger' and 'Democracy under siege' and his exhortations for rooting out the existing system, which he paints as irredeemably authoritarian and corrupt, don't get much voter buy-in. Gandhi paints himself as a crusader, raises the pitch, but falls short in offering a persuasive or even clear vision of an alternative. Despite their differences, however, the politics of both Modi and Gandhi does the same disservice: Their painting of the apocalypse narrows the space for a conversation with the political opponent, leave alone for treating them with respect and reciprocity. If the opponent is the enemy — and in CM Fadnavis's language, a 'force of anarchy' — anything goes, arguably, in terms of how they can be treated. Apocalyptic politics is an abdication of democratic humility, of the responsibility to negotiate and explore the middle ground in a country of great diversities. It sets the stage for conduct that is unconstrained by the rules of the game, that does not abide by even its small and basic conventions and courtesies, and leads to a polarised polity. When deployed by the powerful, an apocalyptic politics also hides the fact that there are multiple pathways to reach goals, and many possibilities to tweak and change the system from within, not just the all-or-nothing options that are being propagated. Till next week, Vandita
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Maharashtra govt puts one big condition on new liquor shop licences in the state
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said that the government has made a rule that no licences for liquor shops will be given without taking the legislature into confidence. Earlier in the day, NCP (SP) legislator Jitendra Awhad claimed that the BJP-led Mahayuti government was planning to issue 328 new liquor shop licences to tide over "financial distress". He said this would drive the state, which is a land of saints, into alcoholism. Talking to media persons in Pune, Pawar said rules are diligently followed in Maharashtra as far as liquor licences are concerned. "We have made a rule that if licences for liquor shops in the state are to be granted, it should not be done without taking the legislature into confidence," said Pawar. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Moose Approaches Girl At Bus Stop In Dhaka - Watch What Happens Happy in Shape Undo In other states, the number of liquor shop licences is increasing, but Maharashtra follows rules and acts in this matter systematically, he said. "Our approach is different. If a shop is to be relocated, we give permission only as per the rules, and everything happens accordingly. There's a committee that makes every such decision. If women at some places raise objections, we shut down the liquor shops," said the deputy CM. Live Events The government will take action if allegations concerning liquor shops are found to be true, he asserted. Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, NCP (SP) leader Awhad said that Maharashtra's liquor policy would drive the state, which is a land of saints, into alcoholism and cause distress to lakhs of families. He claimed that the BJP-led Mahayuti government was planning to issue licences for 328 new liquor shops across the state to "cope with the financial burden of schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana (under which eligible women receive monthly aid of Rs 1500)". "This liquor-driven policy to fill an empty treasury is a betrayal of families. To pay the Ladki Bahin (beloved sister), this government will cheat brothers, husbands and fathers. The Devendra Fadnavis government will go down in history for selling alcohol licences instead of preserving public health," he asserted. The state of saints like Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Tukadoji Maharaj and Gadge Baba is being reduced to a marketplace of wine and whisky, the MLA from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) claimed. "Today, licences that were cancelled 50 years ago are being sold at Rs 1 crore, when the same are worth Rs 15 crore. I have a list of 47 directors of firms who are making the rounds of Mantralaya (for these licences). These are the people benefiting from this corrupt system," he alleged. This government does not care if water is available in every household but there must be full supply of alcohol, he said. "If this is their vision and model of governance, then sell the Gateway of India as well for money. When the state government tried something similar in 1974, stalwarts like Mrinaltai Gorhe, Ahilyabai Rangnekar, and Madhu Dandavate led an uprising that forced a rollback. Fifty years later, this government is testing the same fire again," Awhad said. He urged citizens of the state, especially women, to come out on the streets to oppose the state government's liquor policy. He cited the alleged sale of liquor in prohibited areas in the Yeoor stretch in Thane of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, adding that excise officials were hand in glove in this racket. Incidentally, on July 8, Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance and state excise portfolios, had informed the assembly that no new liquor licences have been granted in the state since 1972 though transfers of existing licences from one location to another are permitted following due procedure. He also told the assembly there was no legal provision under existing rules that allowed municipal corporations to pass resolutions revoking liquor licences within their jurisdiction. Pawar was responding to a calling attention notice given by Panvel BJP MLA Prashant Thakur regarding the cancellation of liquor licences in Kharghar and declaring it an alcohol-free zone.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Raj Bhavan, Kerala government set for another face-off over foot worship at schools
The Raj Bhavan and the Kerala government appeared to be set for yet another face-off over the 'foot worship' ceremony that was held in some schools in the State as part of Guru Purnima on Thursday. While Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar strongly defended the practice as part of Indian culture, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty, who directed the Director of Public Instruction (DPI) to seek explanations from the schools, said that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is piggybacking on the Governor to push its regressive practices meant to promote a slave mentality among students. Visuals of the ceremony, held in schools managed by the Bharatiya Vidya Niketan in Kasaragod, Kannur, and Alappuzha, showed students kneeling and washing the feet of teachers and offering flowers in a symbolic ritual of reverence. In a foot-washing ceremony held at Vivekananda Vidya Peedom in Mavelikara, the students were made to wash the feet of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader too. The visuals had drawn widespread condemnation in socio-political circles. Speaking at a programme organised by Balagokulam, an RSS-affiliated organisation, in the capital on Sunday, the Governor criticised those who were against 'Gurupuja'. 'Gurupuja is an integral part of Indian culture. Some people object to it. I don't understand which culture these people are coming from. If we cast aside these practices, it will seriously affect the very existence of society,' said Mr. Arlekar. DPI's report Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Mr. Sivankutty said that such practices being pushed by the RSS are alien to Kerala's culture. 'It is unfortunate that someone holding the position of Governor would make such statements. I would like to know which particular text related to Indian culture celebrates the practice of students washing the feet of their teachers. We are issuing directions to all the school authorities that no student studying in any school in Kerala should be made to wash the feet of teachers or anyone else,' he said. Mr. Sivankutty said that though the government had limitations in taking action against unaided school managements, they still require an NOC from the government to function. The government will decide on the action to be taken based on the Directorate of Public Instruction's (DPI) report, which is expected in a week. 'Feudal culture' Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary M.V. Govindan said that the RSS is attempting to revive a ritual rooted in the feudal culture to push its agenda of implementing Chaturvarnya (case system). 'We are not against respecting teachers, but that should not be an excuse to revive such feudalistic practices. Students were even made to wash the feet of RSS leaders. It is part of an RSS agenda to erode Kerala's secular and democratic fabric. The secular society of Kerala has to unitedly oppose this,' he said. All India Congress Committee (Organisation) general secretary K.C. Venugopal said that the Governor is attempting to haul Kerala society back to the dark ages by defending such practices. 'Such a Governor is a shame for progressive Kerala,' he said.
