Editors Guild Hits Out at BJP Over ‘Dimagi Naxal’ Attack on Journalists

New Delhi, August 24: The Editors Guild of India (EGi) on Monday strongly condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party for using its official social media handles to portray journalists who question the government as ‘Dimagi Naxal’ (Intellectual Naxal), taking particular exception to the targeting of senior journalist and former Guild president Rajdeep Sardesai.

In a statement, the Guild said the move was especially disturbing because the attack came not from fringe elements but from the official social media accounts of the ruling party. It described such attacks as undermining India’s democratic credentials and further eroding media freedom guaranteed under the Constitution.

The condemnation follows remarks made by BJP MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi at a press conference. Trivedi had claimed that ‘Intellectual Naxals’ sympathised with and provided intellectual support to Naxals, celebrated the deaths of security personnel, and advocated street action instead of seeking solutions through the parliamentary process.

The Guild rejected any such characterisation of Sardesai. “An editor with India Today TV, Rajdeep Sardesai, in his long public career as a journalist and TV anchor, has been objectively presenting and analysing news developments. By no stretch can his actions and utterances be termed those of a ‘Dimagi Naxal’,” the statement said.

The Editors Guild linked the incident to a broader shrinking of space for independent media, citing India’s fall to the 157th position out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

It called on the BJP’s social media outlets to stop painting media professionals discharging their professional duties as public enemies and to recognise that dissent and scrutiny form an integral part of the democratic process.

The statement was issued by Guild president Sanjay Kapoor and general secretary Raghavan Srinivasan.