As the government of Chhattisgarh is fighting a decisive battle against the Mao’s men in the tribal heartland of Bastar, the efforts of the administration and the security forces have begun to yield fruitful outcome in the areas earlier identified as the Maoist’s stronghold.
These initiatives taken by the administration not only have paved way for basic amenities earlier unavailable to the locals but significantly it has also instilled a ray of hope in the masses that the dark shadow of the insurgency has now started fading away from the Maoist’s bastion of Bastar.
One of the significant changes that has taken place pertains to the growing believe of the masses in the initiatives taken by the government to improve the overall quality of life in these hinterlands, this includes providing them with the basic facilities like health, education and intercommunication services.
Defying Diktats
Recently in a significant development the government has also re-opened around two dozen schools in Maoist’s den of Bijapur district, which encompasses a few highly affected pockets of the State marred by red terrorism.
Majority of these schools were non-operational since long while a few of them closed for around two decades after Maoists started launching frequent attacks on schools and other government buildings following their unlawful occupation of a large chunk of hinterlands of Bastar, a division of the State government rich in dense forests and breathtaking landscapes somewhere around mid-2000.
These frequent attacks on the schools and other government buildings appears to be part of the Maoist strategy who further started motivating the kids and teenagers of the tribal dominated areas to follow the education/literature propagated by them so that the latter’s can be brainwashed and indoctrinated as future guerilla fighters.
According to various reports, the recruitment process of these teenagers commences with their inclusion as a member of Bal Sangham, a wing of the outlawed CPI Maoist, where the recruits are motivated to read extremist literature, selective history books enriched with full of propaganda, they were further provided training with arms in subsequent years.
Majority of the recruits in the Sangham are reported to be forceful in nature stemming out from the Maoist’s diktats pertaining to allotment of at least one member of the family to the cause of so-called revolution as claimed by many.
However, after decades of uninterrupted monopoly of the extremist in ruining the adolescences and future of these kids and teenagers, the tides have started to change in interiors of Bastar where the augmenting footprints of the security forces have made sure that these kids can now choose and shape their future according to their own will.
This has been taking place despite the persistent threats of the Maoists who are still operational in the region however with lesser strength and most significantly with ever weakening support from the masses which has apparently motivated the kids or their parents to defy the diktats of the Maoists.
Factors behind the change
The shift of the mindset of the residents who now looks confident enough in sending their kids to school indicates a lot about the overall changing scenario of the Maoist-hit villages of Bastar.
This paradigm shift has been mainly driven by two major factors which are the new found sense of security due to persistent domination of the security forces and the massive push for infrastructure projects along providing benefits of government schemes as a measure of trust building among the masses.
As per the statistic shared by the state government, it has already completed as many as 11 road projects under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna in core Maoist zones of the State in the last four months alone.
Significantly five out of these road construction projects have been built in Sukma district alone, while three have been completed in the neighboring Dantewada district. One road construction project each has been completed in Kondagaon, Bhanupratappur, and Kanker all part of the Bastar division.
Additionally, the government has further identified a total of 85 such projects while work is already in progress on 40 of them, covering around 260 kilometers. Most of the work pertaining to road projects are being carried out in areas where roads are being built for the first time since independence.
Significantly, the state government, in a major move earlier, also announced the flagship ‘Niyad Nellanaar’ (Yours good village) scheme, aimed at providing basic facilities and benefits of government schemes to the residents of Maoist infested areas of the state.
The flagship scheme will cover villages which fall under the five kilometer radius of each security camp opened in the core Maoist zones. It is worth mentioning here that dozens of such camps with an aim to solidify operational bases and strengthening the grip on the interiors have already been established by the government which has already caused immense damage to the Maoist’s intel networks.
Massive operations in Maad region
Other than pushing for development projects, the state government at the same time has passed instructions to amplify counter-insurgency operations against the Maoists, especially in Abujhmaad or the Maad region which has been largely remained untouched so far due to operational difficulties stemming out of hostile terrains.
Surrounded by dense forests at length the very remote region of Maad is considered home to the top leadership of the Maoists including members of their all powerful Central Committee and even a few Polit-bureau members if sources are to be relied upon where the forces have launched a string of operations lately.
These continuous operations have led to large scale neutralisation, arrest and surrender of scores of Maoists in the last 4-5 months alone which is expected to surpass the highest ever tally achieved in a calendar year, especially in terms of neutralising the ultras in encounters.
According to the figures available on South Asian Terrorism Portal, as many as 141 Maoists have been so far killed in separate encounters that have unfolded in the state in this year alone which is likely to outnumber the tally of 154, the highest ever tally of the Maoists killed in action in a calendar year. Even the said figure was of the year 2009 and the statistics of last five years suggests that the total tally of Maoist killed during separate encounters in the last five years stand at 241 only.
Fresh ‘Surrender and Rehabilitation policy’
These killings are followed by surrender of as many as 437 Maoists cadres and arrest of a total of 503 outlaws till mid-June, indicating a massive success for the security forces in only a limited time span of 5-6 months.
This has come amidst the state government recently announced that it is mulling over enacting a new surrender and rehabilitation policy for the outlaws which in all sense be prepared in accordance with the needs of those who are willing to join the mainstream by shunning the path of violence, indicating that the government is set to treat the surrender cadres softly while it will go all guns blazing against those walking the path of violence at the same time.
“We would like to know from the Naxalite themselves, what they want in the surrender policy, there is no point roaming around in the forest with a gun. Move into mainstream, adopt democracy, the government has released a mail ID, a Google form, and a handwritten form for suggestions on the surrender policy” – Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vijay Sharma
In all, the incumbent government seems to be doing everything in their capacity to turn the tables in the hinterlands of Bastar, however it is also evident that the road ahead is full of obstacles and securing the strongest bastion of Maoists will not be a cakewalk for the forces either, though at the same time the efforts put by the forces and the administration through various initiatives and major operations have started to alter the status quo in a positive way.
The winds of change though slowly in the mesmerizing lands of Bastar has eventually started to blow and it will not be an exaggeration to assess that with every passing day Bastar is inching closer to walk from the shadows of the red terror and write a new story.
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