Nearly two-and-a-half months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day reference to ‘dimagi naxals’ triggered a political controversy, a Right to Information (RTI) response from the Union Home Ministry has brought the question of the government’s formal basis for using the term back into focus.The first RTI application accessed by The Tribune in the matter sought to establish whether ‘dimagi naxal’ is an official government category at all and, if so, how people are identified under it. The application was filed with the Ministry of Home Affairs and registration number ending with ‘06945’, filed on August 29, 2026.The response from the CPIO of the MHA’s Left Wing Extremism Division, dated September 30, is brief. It states that the information sought “is not available with the undersigned CPIO” and advises the applicant to file an appeal under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act within 30 days before the designated appellate authority.The response, therefore, does not provide a government definition or disclose a database of people classified as ‘dimagi naxals’. Nor does the document establish that no such classification exists across the government. It only records that the information sought was not available with the concerned CPIO.That distinction assumes significance because the phrase has remained politically contentious since Modi used it in his August 15 address. The Prime Minister said that armed Naxalism was nearing its end, but warned that people with a Naxal mindset remained and called for such ‘dimagi naxals’ to be identified and isolated.Opposition subsequently questioned the meaning and scope of the term. Congress leader P Chidambaram said he was ‘proud’ to be called a ‘dimagi naxal’, while other Opposition leaders accused the government of using such labels against dissenters.The government earlier, however, moved to clarify that the Prime Minister’s reference was not directed at Opposition leaders. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the term referred to people supporting maoists, rejecting the Constitution or backing separatist causes.The applicant sought the total number of people officially identified or recorded as ‘dimagi naxals’, state-wise figures, the government records under which such classification was made, and the legal or administrative definition or criteria used to identify an individual as one. RTI also sought copies of guidelines, circulars, SOPs, reports and advisories concerning their identification, monitoring, investigation or prosecution.The questions went further. The applicant sought year-wise figures for the past five years on FIRs, arrests, chargesheets, convictions and acquittals involving people identified as ‘dimagi naxals’. It also asked whether the Centre had any specific policy, programme or strategy dealing with such individuals or groups.Most significantly, the RTI explicitly asked the government to confirm whether no official record, database, classification, definition or category exists under the term ‘dimagi naxal’, and, if so, what alternative official terminology the government uses for the concept referred to in the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech.RTI response now adds a new layer to that debate, while the political definition of ‘dimagi naxal’ has been contested publicly, the available MHA response does not provide the formal classification, criteria or numbers sought by the applicant.For now, the RTI does not answer the central question that who, under government records, is actually a ‘dimagi naxal’?In another RTI response received on October 28, filed seeking similar information in its next level also received ‘NIL’ response.