India is Naxal-free, says Amit Shah in Lok Sabha; blames Congress for decades-long insurgency

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday declared India “Naxal-free” as he blamed the Congress and previous governments for the decades-long insurgency, criticised a landmark Supreme Court judgment that had banned a controversial militia, and snubbed sympathisers. Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks in Lok Sabha during the budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Monday. (Sansad TV)Shah’s 84-minute address in the Lok Sabha came a day before the government’s deadline of March 31, 2026 to eradicate left-wing extremism in the country. Shah said in the last three years, 4,839 Maoists surrendered, 706 were killed, and 2,218 arrested and jailed. “The central committee and politburo of the Maoists had 21 members in the beginning of 2024. Today, there is none. There were 37 state committee members in the Dandakaranya region. All of them have been either killed, arrested or surrendered. In Telangana, only one leader is absconding. We vowed that by March 31 we will uproot Naxalism. Now, I can say that India is Naxal-mukt,” Shah said. The minister defended the use of force against Maoists, saying those who fire bullets must be responded to with bullets, adding that 92% of the arms used by the rebels were taken from police stations. Also Read | 'Left-wing ideology, Indira Gandhi': Amit Shah names 'root causes' of Naxalism in Lok Sabha “We improved policing, improved coordination between CAPF and police and started an all-agency approach with the NIA, ED and intelligence agencies. We didn’t leave any vacuum in governance,” he said. Shah also slammed former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, who was part of an apex court bench that banned the Salwa Judum, a counterinsurgency citizens militia that was accused of human rights violations, in 2011. “I condemn such judgement which is based on an ideology that led to killings of thousands of civilians. Ideology can’t be above people’s interest,” Shah said. Targeting the Congress, Shah alleged that former prime minister Indira Gandhi had accepted the support of the Maoists. “Experts say without the support of those in power, the Red Corridor could not have been created,” he said, referring to the region affected by Maoist violence, once across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Shah addressed the Lok Sabha after a lengthy debate on efforts to free the country from left-wing extremism. He mentioned three important dates: August 20, 2019, August 24, 2024 and March 31, 2026. “On 20 August, there was a meeting at the home ministry on police coordination, recruiting retired Naxals, and making our strategy. You can ask, why did it take so long? Because in Chhattisgarh, Congress had formed a government (2018-2023). In Chhattisgarh, the Congress government helped Maoists to survive. In January 2024, the government changed in Chhattisgarh. I went there next month and on August 24, 2024, I announced that Naxalism will be wiped out from India. Naxal affected districts have come down from 126 to just two. Most affected districts have come down from 35 to zero. Earlier, 350 police stations handled Naxal-related complaints. Now, there are only 7. We set up 406 CAPF camps and had given them 400 bullet proof cars, 5 hospitals for troops and night landing facilities for helicopters,” Shah said. Shah came down heavily on the Congress and who he called “Urban Naxals”. Shah accused the Congress leaders of supporting Maoists and noted that the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council in 2004 had people such as Harsh Mandar, who he alleged supported the rebels. He said that after 70 jawans were killed by Maoists, former home minister P Chidambaram had said that he couldn’t ask Naxals to give up arms as armed struggle is their motto. Shah alleged that after the killing of jawans, leftists held celebrations in Jawaharlal Nehru University where the national flag was trampled upon. Shah even accused Rahul Gandhi of supporting a Maoist leader and sharing the stage with another dreaded insurgent in Odisha. Shah said that the Salwa Judam was created by Congress leader Mahendra Karma. “But after justice Reddy banned Salwa Judum, Maoists came and killed all former Salwa Judam leaders. The Congress made the same B Sudershan Reddy their candidate for vice-presidential polls. I condemn such judgement which is based on an ideology that led to killings of thousands of civilians. Ideology can’t be above people’s interest,” Shah said. Also Read | Naxalism has reached the verge of its end, says Amit Shah after review meet The minister said that after 2014, “a clear policy and strong political will” was shown as Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that be it Kashmir, Northeast or Maoist areas, illegal activities will not go unpunished and will be strongly dealt with. Alignment between states improved as did policing and coordination between paramilitary forces. “We started an all-agency approach with NIA, ED and intelligence. We didn’t leave any vacuum in governance,” he added. Shah alleged that “Urban Naxals” wrote 2,000 articles demanding sympathy for Maoists. “These Urban Naxals didn’t write a single word for the mother whose eight-year-old son was abducted by Maoists for arms training. They didn’t show sympathy towards impaired farmers whose legs were blown off with bombs. More than 5,000 security forces were martyred. No article for their widows and orphan children. I do not accept this double character of humanity,” the minister said. He further indicated that the government might go after Naxal sympathizers. Describing the scene in rehabilitation camps, Shah said, “All Urban Naxals must go to the rehab camps and see how lives of people have been destroyed. A young girl cried while putting on nail polish for the first time. She was abducted and all these years she had to run wearing a shirt, pants and a pair of boots. When these girls meet their parents, some of them become furious with their parents for letting them join Naxals? Who will care for a 32-year-old girl who could apply mehendi for the first time in the camp? Narendra Modi will care for them.” He argued that Maoist sympathisers were equally guilty as those who picked up arms against the country. The minister also slammed Left ideology, which he said was inspired by Russia (USSR) and China. “False Leftists propaganda was spread that to fight against injustice, one must take up arms. Can arms be taken against the Constitution and our country? This ideology was aimed to attack the root of democracy. Solutions to crises can happen through dialogue not through arms. They wanted to create a vacuum in governance. By wiping off respect towards the Constitution they wanted to create a Constitutional vacuum and by torching down police stations and killing security personnel, they wanted to create a security vacuum,” Shah said. “I want to tell people that Maoists and Naxal influence have been diminished and government rule will continue for a long time. In our country, 20,000 people have died in the hands of Maoists. This is an ideological war. The country should not consider this as a fight against injustice. Left ideology has lost its base, that’s why all Leftists are trying to create different theories in whatever way possible to fulfil their ideology. Their aim is to create vacuum. Many innocent people have been hanged by Maoists. There are no lawyers, no judges or courts. They themselves assume these roles and hang people. such acts can’t be justified.,” he said. “They ran a parallel government. They had home minister, food ministers in Chhattisgarh. They created an illusion and they don’t allow development works. They targeted the Constitution and justice system and didn’t allow people to participate in the electoral process: there won’t be any sarpanch or members of tehsil or district panchayat. MLAs of their choice could win. Now, it is being said that talks should be held. I have said it 50 times, in every part of Bastar that ‘give up your weapons, the government will rehabilitate you’. But they didn’t give up their weapons. Our government’s policy is clear: we can talk with those who have given up arms. Those who fire bullets will be replied with bullets. This is our policy,” Shah said. “We used the latest technology, used location tracking and scientific call lockings. Improved forensic analysis, drone surveillance, satellite imaging and AI data analysis. We had Operation Octopus in Burapahar of Bihar, Operation Double boot in Gulma and Latehar, Operation Thunderstorm in Sarai quila, Khunti and Singhbhum districts, Operation Bhim in Munger, and Operation Chakrabandha in Gaya and Aurangabad. I want to specially mention the Op Black force on the Telangana and Chhattisgarh border. Maoists made a permanent camp on the hills. They had enough ammunition and food to fight for five years. They set up IED factories and had 400-500 cadres,” he added. Talking about the ground difficulties and the resilience of forces, Shah said afternoon temperature in the area could reach up to 45 degree celsius. “Our jawans drained 2-3 litres of sweat and we could give them 300 ml of water in ration. But no one complained. The operation ran for 21 days. More than 30 Maoists were killed. The rest tried to climb down and either got killed or arrested,” Shah said “One of the biggest reasons for the defeat of Naxals is that governance has reached every village. We took the whole of government approach for development.” The minister told the Lok Sabha that in Maoist-areas, 17,500 kilometres of road was approved, and 12,000 kilometres already constructed. The Union government has spent ₹20,000 crores, installed 5,000 mobile towers, opened 1804 bank branches and 1,321 ATMs, with 37,550 banking correspondents. Another 6,025 post offices opened in 12 years, as were 269 Eklavya Adarsh schools, 140 ITIs, 49 SDCs and 16 Kaushal Vikas Kendras. A 240-bed super speciality hospital has come up in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh. “For security and SRE, ₹3000 crore has been given in ten years. Additionally, ₹5000 crore for special infra schemes, extended SIS for ₹2000 crore and ₹4,000 crore for critical public infrastructure have been spent. Development is now possible because we have eliminated bomb makers,” Shah said. Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies.