Union home minister Amit Shah declares victory over Naxalism

Subhashis Mittra 

For nearly six decades Maoist violence left a blood-splattered trail in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar—known as the Red Corridor. But, with the apex body of the Maoists and their central structure almost completely dismantled, curtains appear to have been brought down on a troubled chapter in vast swathes of central and eastern India.

“India has become free from Naxals,” declared Union home minister Amit Shah in Parliament, giving the entire credit for this to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), especially the jawans of COBRA and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the state police—particularly the Chhattisgarh Police and District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans—and the local tribals.

Wrapping up an animated discussion in the Lok Sabha on the efforts of the government to rid the country of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), the home minister said that the Left-wing extremists and their supporters had presented a false narrative before innocent tribals that they were fighting for their rights and to deliver justice to them. Giving a political twist to his remarks, Shah said that those who advocate Naxalism should explain why all this did not happen from 1970 till now. Even 75 years after Independence, the main opposition party (Congress) ruled the country for 60 years, yet how did the tribals remain deprived of development? “It is now Narendra Modi who is bringing development… the opposition party should introspect and see who is really at fault.”

A red corridor had been created across 12 states, including Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal, Kerala, parts of Karnataka, and three districts of Uttar Pradesh. “In these areas, 12 crore people lived in poverty for years, and 20,000 youth lost their lives. Who is responsible for this? The root cause of Naxalism is not a lack of development but Left-wing ideology,” said Shah.

He further stated, “This ideology has nothing to do with development or the demand for development. What is this ideology? What is Maoist ideology? What is their guiding slogan? Their guiding slogan is ‘Power flows from the barrel of the gun.’ These people are not fighting for development but for the survival and victory of their ideology, and to seize power by spreading their ideology among innocent tribals. They have no faith in democracy. Some people have gone to the extent of comparing them with Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Are you comparing Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Bhagwan Birsa Munda—who fought against the British—with those who break the Constitution, pick up arms and kill innocent people? The supporters of this ideology have not taken Bhagwan Birsa Munda, Shaheed Bhagat Singh or Subhas Chandra Bose as their ideals, but have instead chosen Mao as their ideal.”