A telling blow to armed insurgency

Deccan Herald

22-05-2025

The killing of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao, alias Basavaraju, marks a decisive moment in the union government's renewed initiative to eliminate left wing insurgency in the country. The security forces' offensive in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh has left 27 members of the outlawed group, including Rao, dead. This is the first time in three decades that a Maoist of a general secretary rank has been eliminated. For the forces, the neutralisation of such a high-ranking leader comes as a decisive boost to their ongoing counter-insurgency action. Rao was involved in deadly Maoist strikes including the 2010 Dantewada attack that killed 76 CRPF personnel. Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that after the completion of Operation Black Forest, 54 Naxalites have been arrested and 84 have surrendered in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Maharashtra..The government estimates that between 2004 and 2025, left wing extremism has claimed 8,895 lives in the country. Dubbed India's biggest crackdown on left wing extremism, the current operation is integral to the government's objective to make India Naxalite-free by March 2026. The government's stated approach to address insurgency in the affected regions has been three-pronged: intensified security operations, accelerated development initiatives, and strategic surrender-rehabilitation programmes. Since January 2024, more than 350 Maoists are estimated to have been killed in Chhattisgarh, in a coordinated Centre-state offensive. Some of the senior Maoist leaders are believed to have escaped but the operation has dealt a severe blow to the insurgents..As the forces closed in on the Karregutta Hills along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, the Maoists were cornered in what had, so far, been a safe hideout. The forces recently killed 31 insurgents in a 21-day operation in the hills. With its top leader killed and cadre base scattered, the Maoist movement is facing one of its worst organisational crises – a quick regrouping appears unlikely. Though the insurgents have recently made appeals for peace talks, formal negotiations with the Central and state governments are uncertain. It remains to be seen if the second-tier leadership will keep the armed struggle alive in their remaining bases in central India or take the option to surrender. There should be a concerted effort to identify and address social and systemic inadequacies that also feed extremist ideologies. The government, while responding efficiently to the security situation, must work towards ensuring two key imperatives – all-round development in the insurgency-affected regions and a viable rehabilitation model that can help the surrendered extremists reintegrate with society.