New Delhi, April 21 (AHN) The incident in Pune in which students of a Maharashtra Welfare Department hostel danced to a song eulogising slain Maoist commander Madvi Hidma is an eye-opener for the Indian agencies

While traces of the insurgents have been wiped out in the jungles on March 31, as promised by the Narendra Modi government, the security agencies had flagged the ideological presence in certain cities.

The investigation into the Pune incident revealed that five students were from Gadchiroli, while one was from Chandrapur. Gadchiroli, which has been declared Naxalite-free (Maoist-free), still has some elements who are ideologically inclined towards the cause.

With the battle on the ground over, the agencies are now keeping close tabs on the ideologically driven elements, who are mainly based in the cities. These elements continue to raise issues regarding the tribals in a bid to promote the ideology of the Maoists.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had called out such elements and said that intellectuals who write long articles advising the government never write about the sufferings of the tribals. In reality, these urban elites cling to hollow ideology, which the world has long rejected, according to officials.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that these elements will try to rake up issues relating to the tribals in a bid to drum up emotions. They are aware that the battle with the gun is long over, and now the attempt is to ensure that the ideology is spread.

Another official explained that the push that is being made is not brazen as of now. They will continue to test the waters before trying to make a bigger push, the official said.

In the first phase, the aim is to infiltrate protests and then eulogise a slain Maoist, trying to earn the person sympathy. The Pune event, too, was one such effort that was made in this direction.

Officials say that these elements would not organise a programme exclusively to back the ideology of the Maoists. There would be a soft push, which could raise issues in protests that are unrelated to the cause.

Attempts to infiltrate educational institutions and slowly spread the thought process is also on their anvil. Pasting posters eulogising Maoists and terming the Indian state as an aggressor against a noble cause is also part of their plan, the official added.

A particular area of concern would be the educational institutions. They would look to poison the minds of students so that it could one day lead to an uprising.

The Union Government has taken note of this, and the focus is on creating awareness and counter-narratives about the Maoist movement. The students are unaware of what really transpires on the ground, and hence, would be fed with false information about the plight of the tribals and why the Maoist cause was necessary to back these people.

The government, on the other hand, is educating students about the evils of the Maoist movement. More importantly, they are being told that one of the main reasons why the movement crumbled is because of the massive infrastructure push that was made by the government in the villages and areas dominated by the tribals.

An official said that the friends of the Maoists in the urban areas would look to counter the government’s initiative. They would look to organise seminars speaking about the need to spread this ideology. The focus would largely be in the urban areas as they would look for an uprising in such centres, another official said. The government knows that the battle with guns is over, and now the war is against the ideology. Officials say that even the government is aware that educational institutions would be the target, and hence it is urging such institutions to regularly host events and seminars that speak about the evils of the Maoist movement, both in the jungles and in the urban areas.