NEW DELHI: After Union Home Minister Amit Shah set a target date of March 31, 2026, for eradicating Naxalism from the country, the entire state machinery, including the security forces, is making a concerted effort to address the issue. Official government data indicate a significant decline in Left-Wing-Extremism (LWE)- induced violence over the past six years, dropping from a total of 501 incidents in 2019 to 374 in 2024.However, the trend slightly increased from 361 in 2021 to 413 in 2022 and 485 in 2023. “But the rise in 2022 and 2023 occurred due to increased counter LWE operations by security forces, who commenced entering into the core areas dominated by the extremists,” Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Nityanand Rai said.In March, three back-to-back encounters took place in Chhattisgarh, leading to the neutralisation of 33 Maoists. However, during the operations, one DRG of the state police was also martyred.On March 20, in the encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur and Kanker districts, of the 30 Maoists killed, 16 were women cadres. Again on March 25, the security forces neutralised three extremists on the inter-district border of Dantewada and Bijapur of the state.Encouraged by successes, which the security forces achieved against Naxal operatives, Shah, while reiterating the government’s “zero tolerance policy” against Naxalism, asserted that the Centre has been taking a “ruthless approach” against Naxal insurgents, who “refuse to surrender despite opportunities provided for reintegration”.A senior Police officer, however, on the condition of anonymity, disagreed with the assertion of the term “ruthless”, saying that the left-wing extremists are not like enemies from across the country’s borders. “They are all Indians, and they need to be brought back to join the mainstream,” he added.He also asserted that the issue of Naxalism is connected to civil society, and the government should address the issue of inequality by tackling the issue politically.Attributing the recent successes in dealing with the LWE, the MoS (Home) said, “The government has envisaged a multi-pronged strategy involving security-related measures, developmental interventions and ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities.”Among the several measures, intelligence gathering has been playing a pivotal role in security forces’ successes with the sharing of inputs through the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) at the central level and the State Multi-Agency Centre (SMAC) at the state level, a senior security official said.Noting that the earlier majority of casualties to security forces in anti-Naxalite operations were caused due to IEDs, the officials said the MHA has given extensive support for counter-IED capacity building for Central Armed Police Forces and state police forces.While Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region and Madvi Hidma—one of the most wanted Naxals and a top leader—remain significant challenges for the forces, the Naxal leadership is shrinking, he said. With limited weapons and minimal support from locals, Naxal leaders are essentially fighting a losing battle, struggling to maintain their propaganda.
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