The overnight stay of the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah in the previously restive Gundam village in the trijunction of Bijapur, Narayanpur and Maharashtra in dense Abujmarh forest that straddles Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra—the heartland of Naxal activity—during the Bastar Olympics in December has sounded the death knell of Naxalism in the country.
Synergy between State and Centre
Explaining the objective of an intensive campaign, which is being spearheaded by him, Union Home Minister has declared that Naxalism will be wiped out of the country by March 31, 2026. Till a few years ago, such a definitive claim would have been regarded as fanciful. Fortunately, due to the tireless efforts of both State Police and Central Paramilitary Forces over the past few years, the target appears as much an attainable goal as a rallying cry. This is borne out by no fresh recruitment and no call to boycott the last few Elections, contrasting with Maoists chopping off the hand of three people in Chatra a few years ago for daring to vote. Casualties in the security forces have been 73 per cent less in the last year.
Maoist Strongholds Shrinking
Naxalites are an Armed Wing of the Urban Naxals. It is these Urban Naxals, who enjoy capitalistic lifestyles by keeping these hapless ignorant people in far flung areas in perpetual poverty depriving them of benefits of development. These Urban networks provide arms, explosives, ideological and financial backing to the armed Naxal movement. Foreign forces fund and train Urban Naxals.
The area under Naxal influence is shrinking. As against 231 districts, it is now limited to 32 districts in nine States. Back to back anti-Naxal operations are being carried out killing prominent leaders of the insurgents.
Rehabilitating Capitulated Militants
Scores of erstwhile Naxal Commanders and hundreds of cadres have surrendered. The surrendered Naxalites are being provided jobs, skill training and rehabilitation training. The Prime Minister has given a full and final call to Naxals to surrender or die.
China’s Hand in Naxal Movement
At this juncture, when the prospect of its end appears tantalisingly close, it is worth briefly reviewing Naxalism’s history. The movement started in the eponymous Naxalbari village of West Bengal in the erstwhile Siliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district in 1967. The thinking of the new CPI(M) party, which had in the same year first formed a coalition Government in West Bengal, leaned heavily on Russian Communist thinkers. This model of electoral Communism was thus inspired by the objective of organising industrial workers and making them the motor of a future revolution. However, leaders of the Naxalbari uprising idolised and set out to put into practice the Maoist model of agrarian Communism. The Chinese Government naturally hailed it at that time and offered to provide all help to the Naxal movement. In future decades and across different States of Bharat, weapons recovered from Naxalites were often found to be Chinese-made.
The area under Naxal influence is shrinking. As against 231 districts, it is now limited to 32 districts in nine States. Back to back anti-Naxal operations are being carried out killing prominent leaders of the insurgents
The West Bengal Governments of the 1960s and 1970s, also included the electoral Communists, who did not conceive the full extent of the challenge nor were able to implement any development programme or policy. They tried to forcibly extinguish the movement, and many farmers died in police firing. Over time, the movement spread to other areas in Bengal, the contiguous areas of Bihar/present-day Jharkhand, Odisha, present-day Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and even Kerala—hopping diagonally much the way Bishop moves in a game of chess. The problem would fester for many years, with fluctuating bouts of intensity.
With accelerated development programmes in remote areas over the past decade and the strengthened resolve of the security forces, the tide of Naxalism began to be reversed. Where the positive works of the Bharatiya Government could not arrive quickly enough, the outreach programmes of social and community organisations laid the ground for grassroots democracy and social improvement while encouraging the preservation of the sacred traditions of the Janjati community. The credit of bringing Naxalism to the verge of defeat is thus also attributable to the tireless work of such outreach organisations. The selfless workers under their umbrella operated as a failsafe in the broken relationship between the mainstream and the resourceless, underprivileged citizens living in the forested hinterland. For example, 165 Eklavya Model Schools were started in the dense jungles of Bastar in Chhattisgarh alone. By providing access to scarce resources such as schools and healthcare and by holding together the ancient ties of Bharatvarsh, a great national service was done by thousands of anonymous workers.
Eliminating Factors Behind Naxalism
Another potent factor in fighting Naxalism has been the change in approach post-2014. Instead of treating Naxalism as a military battle alone, which is like dressing a festering wound, the underlying cause is being diagnosed and treated by eliminating the factors that encourage the Naxal ecosystem. Discontent and alienation caused by callousness of the administration is sought to be actively remedied. The efficiency of welfare schemes has been greatly improved by the penetration of Aadhaar Cards and Bank Accounts. The service and sacrifices of the security forces including Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) undoubtedly facilitated this. In the vast Dandakaranya forest where Shri Ram, Laxman and Sita Mata lived during Vanvaas, a security camp that doubles up as a development camp is being set up in every seven-eight kms radius.
Support of Missionaries
The Naxalites did not allow any roads to be built, any communication to reach, any administrative or financial reach by intimidation and killing to keep villages in darkness and poverty. They have been supported by Christian Missionaries on evangelical mission to proselytise and facilitate mass conversions, as manifested by the Mission led Pathal Gadi movement.
Government and bank officials previously could not even access remote areas without putting their lives at risk. The revenue map of Abujmarh thus remained non-existent for many years and is in fact so till date. All this is aimed at being remedied. The proposal to set up a maneuvering range by the Indian Army in this vast uninhabited area is being mooted to remove the development vacuum.
Due to a combination of the various factors discussed above, a symbolic first nail in the coffin of Naxalism could be hammered in 2018 when the Union Home Minister was welcomed for a meal in the house of Gita and Raju Mahali in Naxalbari itself. It is in fact notable that the Naxalbari village is now not a Communist party stronghold. It bears mention that members of the Janjati community had made equal and selfless efforts in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi struggle. By shaking off the terror of arbitrary coercion and violence imposed by the Maoism-inspired and foreign-funded Naxals, residents of the Naxalbari village area, like many tribal areas in Central and Eastern Bharat are returning to their roots of worshipping nature, Gram Devi, Ma Durga in local forms like Ma Danteshwari, Bhagwan Ram, Shiv and the pantheon of Sanatan Gods and Goddesses. The underlying core values of the forest communities are the most powerful force for the sacred and sustainability in human life.
