Red star waning
Killing top Maoists like Basavaraju will hobble extremism, increasing prosperity will finish it
The killing of top Maoist leader Basavaraju in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday is a morale booster for security forces and leaves Naxals on the backfoot. Basavaraju, as Amit Shah pointed out on X, is the highest ranking Naxal neutralised in over three decades of operations. He was allegedly the mastermind of the April 2010 Dantewada ambush in which 75 CRPF personnel were killed, and also the 2013 Jhiram Ghati massacre in which most of Chhattisgarh Congress's top leadership was wiped out. Since 2017-18, he had led CPI(Maoist) as its general secretary, and carried a ₹1cr bounty on his head.
By eliminating Basavaraju, GOI has taken a giant stride towards its goal of ridding the country of Naxalism by March 31 next year. The fact that this successful operation – in which 26 other Maoists were killed – was carried out close on the heels of the 21-day Operation Black Forest that resulted in the arrest of 54 Naxals and the surrender of 84 others, shows the increasing momentum of govt's assault on the last strongholds of Naxals. Last month, Shah had said the total number of Naxal-affected districts had reduced to 18 across seven states, from 38 in nine states earlier. And almost 90% of Naxal violence is now concentrated in six districts across four states.
For years, Naxal or 'Left Wing Extremist' (LWE) violence has been considered as India's biggest internal security challenge – bigger than Kashmir – and Shah had acknowledged this in an interview to India Today recently. Back in 2006, Manmohan Singh had also said as much: 'It would not be an exaggeration to say that the problem of Naxalism is the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country.' At that time, the number of Naxal-affected districts was 160. It had blocked investments and held up development, perpetuating the backwardness of these regions. Now, as the threat abates, govt must fast-track development to ensure Maoists find no takers for their violent ideology.
While Shah recently said, 'Disgruntlement over the lack of development could be seen as a cause of Naxalism', Singh's diagnosis was similar: 'Exploitation…iniquitous socio-political circumstances, inadequate employment opportunities…lack of land reforms – all contribute significantly to the growth of the Naxalite movement.' It's not surprising that Naxalism's retreat has coincided with India's rapid economic growth. While guns will silence old ideologues, only prosperity will shut down the nursery of violence.
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This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
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