Naxal violence has been a major challenge to internal security in the country. Naxalism started in 1967 from the village of Naxalbari in West Bengal. The movement was started by Communist Party of India leaders Kanu Sanyal and Charu Majumdar. In fact, this movement was against social and economic inequality. In 1969, a widespread fight against the ruling party was launched across the country over the acquisition of forest land. The Naxalite leaders said that the land should belong to the one who cultivates it. Naxalites resorted to violence to end the plight of workers and farmers. Gradually, the movement spread. A red corridor was established from Pashupatinath (Kathmandu) to Tirupati. States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were the worst affected by Naxal violence. The intention of the Naxalites was to overthrow the state by force of arms and to end the domination of the capitalists over the governance and agrarian system. Gradually, the dominance of politics started increasing on this movement and this movement deviated from its basic issues. This fight became a fight of the ethnic class rather than water, forest and land. Even though the Naxalites say that they are fighting for the poor and tribal people, they continued to indulge in violence, extort money from people and target schools and hospitals in the name of it. In the last five decades, he has shed the blood of thousands of innocents, including those of security forces. They continuously targeted security forces, government property and democratic institutions.
Now due to the coordinated campaign of the Narendra Modi government and the state governments, the red terror has died in the country. Security forces killed 27 Maoists, including Keshav Rao alias Basava Raju, a Rs 1.5 crore reward commander, in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division. A week earlier, 31 Maoists were killed in a 21-day-long operation and now 27 Maoists are claimed to have been killed in the Narayanpur encounter. The central and state security forces have assessed that a large number of Maoists were hiding in the hills, valleys and caves of Karenguttaloo after which thousands of security forces were deployed in the area. Apart from claiming the death of 31 Maoists in the incident, the security forces also claimed that a total of 214 Maoist hideouts and bunkers were destroyed in the anti-Maoist operations.
Home Minister Amit Shah had announced in Parliament that Naxalism would be eliminated in the country by March 31, 2026. Statistics show that the government is moving towards achieving the goal of a Naxal-free India. The central government made a special policy in 2015 and started working according to the action plan. The government has been following a policy of zero tolerance towards Naxalism for the last decade. The government wants to develop the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas by implementing the schemes fully. This means that the government will not tolerate Naxalism at any cost and will take every possible step to end it. The effect of this is shown by looking at the data. For example, a decade and a half ago, if more than 700 civilians were being killed in Naxalite incidents, by 2024, this number had come down to 121.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the total number of districts affected by Naxalism in India was earlier 38. The number of most affected districts has now come down to 6. At the same time, the number of known districts and other Left Wing Extremism affected districts has also come down. The six districts most affected by Naxalism are now four districts in Chhattisgarh, Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur and Sukma, West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand and Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. Further, the number of districts that need intensive resources and attention has come down from 9 to 6. These districts are Alluri Sitarama Raju in Andhra Pradesh, Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Malkangiri in Odisha and Bhadradri-Kothagudem in Telangana.
On one hand, the government is working to end Left Wing Extremism and on the other hand, it is carrying out development projects in Naxal affected districts at a fast pace. A network of roads is being laid in rural areas. Governance is reaching the areas where the government had not reached so far. Due to development plans, many big Naxal commanders and cadres are surrendering. Top Naxalite commanders have been killed. Now the circumstances have completely changed and Naxalism is counting its last breath in the country.