It started as innocently as a school sit-and-draw competition. Delhi’s air had turned indefensibly toxic, and when students with placards started their protest, people welcomed the fresh air of civic activism.

But soon, the slogans started getting dark.

“Madvi Hidma amar rahe", “Kitne Hidma maroge? Har ghar se Hidma niklega", and “Hidma lal salaam" rang out in support of the Maoist terrorist who was recently killed in an encounter with India’s security forces.

Hidma was the Osama bin Laden of Maoist terror. He waged a war against the India State, and was responsible for 26 attacks, including the 2010 Dantewada massacre of 76 CRPF personnel. His official kill tally stands at 260 security men and women and 76 civilians.

The “clean air" sit-in did not stop at that. Protesters attacked the police with pepper spray.

Slogans bizarrely linked environmental decay to Naxal glorification, reeking of a much deeper agenda. More than 20 arrests have been made, and FIRs invoking Section 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (threat to national integration and security) have been filed.

It was a classic hijacking of legitimate grievances, just like Bangladesh’s quota stir. This “Trojan horse" tactic seeks to enlarge and channelise isolated........

© News18