Maharashtra passes bill to curb ‘Urban Naxalism’; CM says it targets passive militanc
Maharashtra passes bill to curb ‘Urban Naxalism’; CM says it targets passive militancy
M.U.H
11/07/202516
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra legislative assembly on Thursday passed a bill aimed at curbing 'Urban Naxalism' in the state, which seeks to prevent unlawful activities of Left Wing Extremist organisations.
The bill is yet to be tabled in the legislative council.
Maharashtra will be the fifth state after Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand to enact a special public security law to curb 'urban Naxalism'.
While tabling the 'Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill', Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government was not against the Leftist ideology or organisations, and did not intend to suppress dissent.
Fadnavis said that the government received over 12,000 suggestions and objections over this bill which was tabled in the last state assembly session in December 2024.
Speaker Rahul Narvekar had suggested that this bill be deliberated closely and thus it was sent to an advisory committee. However, the CM said that the bill is a necessity, and four other states have already passed similar bills. He said the UAPA was insufficient to take action against the growing Naxalism and therefore they brought this bill.
Vinod Nicole, the lone Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA in the assembly, opposed the bill, terming it unconstitutional.
The bill was passed by a voice vote. Speaker Narwekar declared it to have been passed by a majority.
Chief minister Fadnavis said the bill was cleared with amendments from the joint select committee of both houses of the state legislature.
The law will not be misused, he assured, adding that safety and security of the state and country were important, and to curb the activities of organisations which work against the country's democracy and the Constitution was the need of the hour.
"There will be no abuse of power. It is a balanced law and more progressive than that in force in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand," he said.
He then noted that the issue of urban Naxalism has persisted for a long time. "The Congress-led UPA government identified major extremeist organisations and handed over to the respective states to take actions," CM Fadnavis said.
He said that many academics and even some civil servants are not directly linked to the Maoists, but are a part of the movement as they are engaged in the act of radicalisation of the youth. The deeply-rooted nuisance will be addressed through this bill, he said.
"Due to the absence of strong law, we are unable to curb the urban Naxal movements. In Maharashtra, there are as many as 64 such organisations. Four of them are already banned in other states, but are operating in Maharashtra. The reason was that we had no law to take action against them," Fadnavis pointed out.
He said this bill is not against the Opposition and anti-government voices.
"Under this law, the police have authority to only arrest the people who are members of the banned Naxal organisations. Police have no right to abuse. Our law would be progressive. We are not against anyone but the people who are against the Indian constitution. Therefore, this law should be passed unanimously," the chief minister said.
