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Fifth column by Tavleen Singh: Am I a Naxal?
In her latest column, Tavleen Singh questions whether her opposition to the Modi government's policies could label her a 'dimagi Naxal.' She traces her anti-Naxal credentials, critiques socialism and Soviet-style economics, and asserts that dissent is essential for democracy. The column appears in The Indian Express and The Financial Express.
In her latest column, veteran journalist Tavleen Singh poses a provocative question: 'Am I a Naxal?' The piece, which appeared in The Indian Express and The Financial Express, reflects on her long career and her current political stance.
Singh begins by establishing her credentials. She writes, 'On this, my credentials are impeccable. I openly opposed the late Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale at a time when you could be killed for doing so. And, never at any stage of my long career in journalism have I had the smallest sympathy for the naxalites—not even in the seventies when many young people of my acquaintance were not just in sympathy with this movement but had given up college to march with the comrades in the jungles.'
She recalls that in the 1970s, 'it was fashionable to be extremely leftist and unfashionable to be mildly rightist, either politically or economically.' She describes conversations in dingy, smoke-filled 'barsatis' over cheap rum and cigarettes, where she talked with others about how only a revolution could save India. Yet, she writes, she was never persuaded.
Economics and Ideology
Singh says she became convinced that 'it was decades of 'socialism' that kept millions of Indians mired in poverty.' She argues, 'It is simply not possible to distribute wealth without first creating it.' In the column, she reiterates a view she says she has expressed before: that India 'would have been among the richest countries of the world if we had adopted the principles of free markets and liberal democracy.'
Instead, she contends, India chose to emulate the Soviet Union, leading to millions living 'on government handouts and the dream of a government job.' She adds that those aged leftists who still view Mao and Stalin as heroes 'pretend that they have not noticed' that Russia and China only began to prosper after adopting free market policies.
Why the Fear?
Given her openly anti-left views, Singh wonders aloud why she fears being placed in the 'dimagi Naxal' (intellectual Naxal) category. Her answer is that she opposes 'many of the policies that the Modi government has chosen to follow.'
She adopts the cause of the Cockroach Janta Party, a group she says campaigns to improve village schools. She agrees with Abhishek Dipke's point that government schools will only improve dramatically when political leaders and high officials are forced to send their children to them. When she sees 'cockroaches' spreading across villages to create reels showing poor conditions in government schools, she views them as 'nationalists and patriots', not subversives.
Suppression of Dissent
Tavleen Singh also addresses the climate for dissent in India. She observes that since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office, dissent has been suppressed. She cites methods including the use of investigative agencies against critics and the labeling of journalists speaking out as 'anti-nationals.' During Jantar Mantar protests, she reports, some devotees demanded passports of the 'cockroaches' be confiscated.
She writes that a democracy needs dissent as 'oxygen' to breathe and remain healthy. Singh maintains India is 'no longer the liberal democracy it once was.' Drawing a historical comparison, she says that while Indira Gandhi's Emergency was overt repression, the last twelve years have been 'more insidious and more dangerous'.
A Cardboard Deity and a Final Question
Singh shares that she first witnessed the lifting of a pall of fear by the mocking of Modi in reels and speeches by the Cockroach Janta Party. She also describes a makeshift temple where a cardboard cutout of Modi is placed as Lord Rama and devotees recited a 'Modi chalisa.'
She asks, given her opposition, 'Could this put me in the 'dimagi Naxal' category?' The column ends with her reflection on her own label.
How each outlet told it
The Financial Express
Framing: The headline adds 'Fifth column' before the question, emphasizing the author's role as a potential dissenting insider, but it still centers on the 'Am I a Naxal?' question. — Defensive and critical: the opening on credentials suggests a defensive posture, while phrases like 'sickened and shamed' maintain critical tone.
Facts Included:
The article is a column by Tavleen Singh titled 'Fifth column by Tavleen Singh: Am I a Naxal?'
Singh states her credentials: she opposed Bhindranwale at a time when it was dangerous, and has never sympathized with Naxalites.
She recalls that in the seventies, many young people sympathized with the Naxal movement.
She says it was fashionable to be leftist and unfashionable to be rightist.
She describes conversations in 'barsatis' about revolution, but she was never persuaded.
She believes socialism kept millions in poverty and that wealth must be created first.
She says India emulated the Soviet Union, leading to reliance on handouts and government jobs.
She notes that Russia and China prospered after adopting free market policies.
She opposes Modi government policies and agrees with Cockroach Janta Party on village schools and Abhishek Dipke's point.
She sees cockroaches as nationalists and patriots.
She mentions the PM's Independence Day speech and public support from devotees.
She says acolytes explained Modi's speech as referring to intellectuals as Naxal collaborators.
She notes BJP propagandists posting reels with photos of political opponents as 'new traitors'.
She says dissent is oxygen for democracy.
She says dissent has been suppressed since Modi became PM, using investigative agencies and treating journalists as anti-nationals.
She mentions Jantar Mantar protests and passport confiscation demands.
She says India is no longer a liberal democracy.
She compares Modi's rule to Indira Gandhi's Emergency, saying the past twelve years are more insidious.
She describes the makeshift temple with cardboard Modi as Lord Rama and the 'Modi chalisa'.
Framing: The headline is a direct question, 'Am I a Naxal?', which emphasizes the author's personal concern about being labeled a Naxal due to her opposition, but leaves out her anti-Naxal credentials. — Anxious and critical: phrases like 'I fear that I might end up in the 'dimagi Naxal' category' and 'This sickened and shamed me' convey personal distress and strong criticism of the government's suppression of dissent.
Facts Included:
The article is a column by Tavleen Singh titled 'Am I a Naxal?'
Singh describes past conversations in 'barsatis' about revolution but says she was never persuaded.
She states her belief that decades of 'socialism' kept millions of Indians in poverty and that wealth must be created before distribution.
She says India would have been among the richest countries if it had adopted free markets and liberal democracy.
She criticizes the choice to emulate the Soviet Union, leading to reliance on government handouts and jobs.
She notes that Russia and China only prospered after adopting free market policies.
She opposes many Modi government policies.
She agrees with the Cockroach Janta Party's campaign to improve village schools.
She agrees with Abhishek Dipke's point about leaders sending children to government schools.
She calls the cockroaches nationalists and patriots, not subversives.
She mentions the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech and the 'explosion of public support' from devotees.
She says acolytes explained Modi was talking about intellectuals as Naxal collaborators.
She notes BJP propagandists posting reels with photos of Modi's political opponents as 'new traitors'.
She says dissent is oxygen for democracy.
She observes that dissent has been suppressed since Modi became PM, using investigative agencies and treating journalists as anti-nationals.
She mentions Jantar Mantar protests and demands to confiscate cockroaches' passports.
She says India is no longer the liberal democracy it once was.
She compares Modi's rule to Indira Gandhi's Emergency, saying the past twelve years are more insidious.
She describes seeing a makeshift temple with a cardboard Modi cutout as Lord Rama, with devotees reciting 'Modi chalisa'.
She asks if her opposition makes her a 'dimagi Naxal'.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimTavleen Singh authored a column titled 'Am I a Naxal?'.
ClaimAbhishek Dipke says that government schools will only improve dramatically when political leaders and high officials are forced to send their children to them.
ClaimFollowing the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech, there was an explosion of public support for him from his devotees and television spokespersons.
ClaimThe first time Tavleen Singh saw the invisible pall of fear lift was when the Cockroach Janta Party began mocking Modi in their reels and speeches.