Editorial 1: A Red Sunset on the Horizon
Context:
There is decline of the Maoist insurgency in India, once considered the most severe internal security threat. The government strategies, sustained security operations, and socio-economic interventions have significantly reduced their influence.
Movement declined:
- For decades, the Maoist movement thrived in central and eastern India, spreading across nearly 180 districts.
- The movement drew strength from tribal discontent, poverty, displacement, and exploitation.
- It positioned itself as a fight against state oppression, appealing to marginalized sections with the promise of an egalitarian order.
- However, by 2025, the insurgency has shrunk to only 38 districts, with most of its leadership neutralized, arrested, or surrendered.
- The death of senior leaders due to age, illness, and security operations has left the leadership hollow. Ideological appeal has weakened, and the base of support among villagers has shrunk drastically.
- In 2025 alone, 270 Maoists have been killed, 680 arrested, and 1,225 surrendered.
- Today, attacks are fewer, sporadic, and geographically restricted.
- The government’s consistent operations have confined Maoists to small, forested areas of states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Maharashtra.
Several factors explain this decline:
- Security Force Pressure: The coordinated strategy between central and state forces, improved intelligence, and better equipment has weakened the Maoist military apparatus. Camps have been destroyed, supply chains disrupted, and recruitment severely affected.
- Leadership Crisis: Many top leaders like Kishenji, Ganapathy, and Mallojula Koteswara Rao were eliminated or weakened. Remaining leaders are old, ailing, or constantly on the run. New cadres lack ideological clarity and experience.
- Loss of Support Base: Earlier, Maoists had considerable sympathy from local villagers, intellectuals, and civil society groups. With time, however, people grew weary of violence and extortion. They now prefer state welfare schemes, roads, schools, and development projects. This erosion of grassroots support left Maoists isolated.
- Development Initiatives: The government simultaneously launched schemes to improve infrastructure, education, and livelihoods in Maoist-affected areas. By linking welfare delivery to security operations, the state created a “carrot and stick” approach that offered alternatives to violence.
- Surrenders and Rehabilitation: Attractive surrender and rehabilitation policies encouraged many Maoists to give up arms. Former cadres have been reabsorbed into mainstream society, further weakening insurgent morale.
Beginning of the Naxalism:
- The Naxalite movement began in 1967 in Naxalbari, West Bengal, under the leadership of Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal.
- It spread rapidly in the 1970s–80s, fueled by agrarian distress and tribal land issues.
- The 2000s marked its peak, when then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it “India’s single biggest internal security threat.”
- The insurgency controlled vast “liberated zones,” ran parallel administrations, and executed major attacks on police and paramilitary forces.
- However, after 2010, coordinated operations like Operation Green Hunt and subsequent strategies steadily eroded its presence.
- By the 2020s, their influence was largely limited to pockets of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and adjoining states.
End of the Naxalism:
- While security officials remain cautious, the insurgency appears to be at its lowest ebb in history.
- Intelligence reports suggest that Maoists are unable to recruit young cadres and are running short of weapons, funds, and ideological appeal.
- Internal documents show desperation, with leaders urging cadres to “fight till the last breath,” even as desertions grow.
- However, experts warn against complacency. Maoist ideology, rooted in socio-economic disparities, may find new forms of expression if underlying grievances remain unresolved.
- Tribal displacement, inequality, and lack of justice are issues that the state must continue to address.
- The lesson from history is that insurgencies can re-emerge if the root causes are ignored.
Way Forward:
The Maoist insurgency, once spread across the heart of India, is now nearing its end. From 180 districts, their presence has dwindled to just 38. The combination of military pressure, loss of leadership, waning public support, and development initiatives has brought them to the brink of collapse. Yet lasting peace can only be ensured if development is inclusive, governance is accountable, and justice reaches the marginalized.