Amit Shah’s wipeout Naxalism programme is entering the endgame, March seems to be the pious month for it

The Modi government for the past seven years has been waging an all-out war against Naxalism and Maoists who continue to operate out of certain regions of stronghold, particularly in Chhattisgarh. First, under former Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and now under the leadership of Amit Shah, the MHA is ensuring that the menace of Naxalism is eradicated. In what could serve as the final nail in the coffin of Maoists, the Ministry of Home Affairs and security forces are planning a massive operation which is being touted as one being conducted to ensure that Naxalism is routed and the movement is rendered leaderless.

According to a report by Amar Ujala, beginning March, when the leaves of largely impenetrable forests in the Naxal strongholds begin falling off – the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite Cobra commandoes will launch an unprecedented offensive against the leadership of Naxals, which will result in them either surrendering, running off forever or being killed. For the massive anti-Naxal operation, a former CRPF DG, senior security adviser K. Vijay Kumar and MHA deputy secretary and security adviser Harjot Singh Sandhu have been made responsible.

Read more: “Go for the jugular”, Amit Shah gives free hand to CRPF to exterminate Naxals

Chhattisgarh’s District Reserve Guard has also been roped in for the all-out operation, which aims at obliterating the supply, communication and control lines of the Naxalites. The report added that Naxal violence has, over the past few years, been contained to 46 districts of India alone. This has got the Modi government upbeat, which is why it is now going forward with an extraordinary offensive against violent Maoists who for decades have been bleeding India internally, stalling development, harassing and even killing citizens. It is only befitting that such anti-India elements operating under the cover of thick forests be exterminated along with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In December last year, ThePrint had reported that the Modi government and the MHA had decided to go after the security blanket that surrounds Naxal leadership. The Central Committee of CPI (Maoist) is protected by an entity called the Central Regional Command (CRC), and five new CRPF battalions have been posted to the Sukma and Bijapur districts by the MHA, where the CRC is most active. It is very likely that these battalions will be the ones conducting the extensive anti-Naxalist operations, which aim at reducing the entire violent movement into inconsequence.

The report also added that the new battalion camps will hold 30 CRPF companies, which will be stationed at gaps of five to six kilometres, thus being able to spread out over 150 km between Sukma and Bijapur. The plan is to bring around 1,500 square kilometres of the Maoist-stronghold territory under their control.

Meanwhile, statistics reveal that in the past two years, over 460 Naxalites have been killed by the security forces. Already plagued with recruitment constraints for the violent movement, the remainder of Naxalites, particularly the leaders of the cheap version of Indian Maoism have real hell headed their way with an unprecedented operation being planned against them by the Indian state. In fact, not only is the operation in the planning stage, but is ready for execution. The only waiting which the forces are having to do is for the dry leaves to fall off, following which the Naxalites will be reduced to ashes as easily as the fallen leaves.