Crushing the Red Menace

The recent elimination of extremists in Chhattisgarh prove that the Indian government is making good on its promise to root out Maoist extremism.

Chhattisgarh

The recent encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, which saw the elimination of 18 armed Maoists, including top leaders involved in some of the most gruesome attacks on security forces and politicians, mark yet another milestone in India’s fight against left-wing extremism.

For decades, India has been at war with a phantom ideology that claims to fight for the poor but has left nothing but blood and destruction in its wake. For decades, the outlawed ultra-leftist insurgency that has plagued the country’s heartland has thrived on terror, extortion and murder. Now, after years of failed appeasement and half-measures, the Modi government has taken decisive steps to eradicate it.

Among those killed was Kudhami Jagdish, a senior commander who masterminded the 2013 Jhiram Ghati massacre, where 32 people including senior Congress leaders, were slaughtered. His list of crimes includes 100 murders of security personnel, civilians and politicians, along with his role in the deadly 2023 Aranpur IED blast. His death ought to be a signal that the days of Maoist impunity are over.

The security operations in Sukma and Bijapur were no ordinary skirmishes. These were meticulously planned strikes in some of India’s most hostile terrain, where heavily armed Maoists once dictated terms. The ability of India’s security forces to penetrate these strongholds reflects both improved intelligence and a broader shift in strategy under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Home Minister Amit Shah’s vow to eradicate Naxalism by 2026 is being backed by a systematic dismantling of Maoist networks, from eliminating top commanders to choking off their financial lifelines.

This crackdown has also exposed the hypocrisy of India’s so-called liberals, many of whom have historically sympathized with the Naxal cause. Several have romanticized Maoist violence as a ‘revolutionary struggle,’ conveniently ignoring the beheadings, IED attacks and village massacres perpetrated by these insurgents. The same voices that decry police action against urban Maoist sympathizers remain conspicuously silent when security personnel are killed in the jungles of Chhattisgarh. Their reluctance to acknowledge that Naxalism is fundamentally an anti-democratic, terror-driven movement suggests not naivety, but complicity.

For too long, India’s intellectual and cultural elite have indulged the myth that Maoism is a legitimate response to state oppression. While it is true that India’s tribal regions have long suffered from underdevelopment and exploitation, Maoist guerrillas have done nothing to improve the lives of the very people they claim to represent. Instead, they have terrorized villagers, recruited child soldiers and derailed development projects. Naxalism was once described by late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as India’s “biggest internal security threat.”

The Modi government’s focus on infrastructure and governance in Maoist-affected areas, building roads, ensuring access to electricity and improving communication networks, has played a crucial role in isolating Naxalites from their traditional support bases.

Since the beginning of this year, over 130 Maoists have been neutralized in Chhattisgarh. More than 100 Naxal strongholds have been dismantled and key leaders have either been eliminated or forced into hiding. Surrender rates among Maoist cadres have surged, as the government’s dual strategy of military pressure and rehabilitation schemes gains traction.

Yet, the final victory over Naxalism will not come merely from the barrel of a gun. It will require a complete ideological shift - one that delegitimizes Maoist extremism not just in the forests, but in academia, media and politics. India must reject the false narrative that Naxalism was ever a just cause.

It was not. It was a violent, regressive insurgency that sought to overthrow democracy through terror. Those who shielded it under the guise of intellectual dissent must now reckon with the blood on their hands.

In the end, Modi and Shah will be judged not just by their ability to eliminate Maoists on the battlefield, but by their success in ensuring that Naxalism never returns. The future of India’s heartland depends on it.