Amit Shah's Naxal countdown: How close is India to ending Red terror?
India Today
In 2010, the Naxalite-Maoist movement was described as India's most critical internal security threat. By 2026, Left Wing Extremism has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. But as Home Minister Amit Shah's March 31 deadline for the eradication of the Maoists nears, how close is India to destroying the spectre of red terror?
In the aftermath of the deadly Dantewada ambush by Maoists in 2010, in which 76 CRPF soldiers were killed, then-PM Manmohan Singh, called the Naxalist-Maoist movement "the biggest internal security threat facing our country". Sixteen years later, the spectre of red terror has faded drastically from India's resource-rich hinterlands.
In 2024, Home Minister Amit Shah declared the Maoist movement nearing its end, setting a strict deadline for its complete eradication. He declared, "By March 31, 2026, armed Naxalism will be eradicated from the country". Two years later, with the deadline set to expire within less than a week, how far has India actually come to meeting the Home Minister's deadline?
The Naxalite-Maoist movement traces its roots to a peasant uprising that erupted in the village of Naxalbari, in West Bengal. At its peak, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected at least 180 districts across India. This encompasses a belt of states comprising Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana and Chhattisgarh known as the Red Corridor.
In the early 2000s, at the height of Maoist activity, militants carried out attacks on civilians and forces, including the a series of ambushes, the killing of Jharkhand MP Sunil Mahato, and an attack on Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu's convoy.
Cut to 2026, following increased counter-insurgency actions in the preceding areas, as well as sustained government investment in developing LWE-affected areas, India is closer than ever to eradicating the threat posed by the Maoists. The question is, are we on track to meet HM Amit Shah's deadline?
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