One after another Maoist leader and Maoist fighters are getting killed in Chhattisgarh. Have the common people of Chhattisgarh turned away from them? Has the Maoist regime completely lost its credibility in Chhattisgarh? A detailed analysis.

Taking the upper hand on the most notorious Maoist leader, Basabraju 

Abujhmar is the vast hilly region between Dantewara and Narayanpur. Still today, the place is under the control of Maoists. According to the instructions of Narayanpur police station, moving beyond the Kunkrajhor area can be dangerous. All around, after cutting off the small hilly grounds, the highway towards Maharashtra is being built up. It is hard to say nowadays that the major portion of Abujhmar is still out of the government survey area. Although very recently, the land survey work has started in Konkrajhor and its surrounding areas. In these areas, the police administration begins its day through an opening march. After that, the central and state forces enter the region. On 21st May this year, in the dense forest of this region, the top Maoist leader Basabraju and his 26 comrades died in an encounter with the security force. But according to the detective department, the region is still not out of danger, as today, at any moment, a pressure mine or IED can blast at the touch of an unmindful footstep. Every day, explosives are being seized in the jungle area. After crossing this danger zone, one can reach to the villages like Akameta, Mundi, Kutul, et cetera. Even few months ago, it was not possible to enter these villages. Now, the central force and police forces have pitched their tents in these regions. And the villages have become quiet. Beside a lonely road, a local old man, Shambhu Potai, says, "Those boys were fighting for their ideals. Will they give up so easily?" Another old man sitting beside him disagrees, “What have we got in return for the ideals of those boys? No home, no jobs."

Only a few people live in the lap of these vast hills and jungles. Rumours have been doing the rounds secretly over the death of the general secretary of CPI, Basabraju. A young boy says, "For the last few days, Basabraju was getting interested in discussions with the government. Maybe that's why the police have got his whereabouts so easily. Afterwards ..." After looking carefully all around, the boy whispers, "If we say much, we will be in danger from both sides." The DSP of juvenile crime investigation of Narayanpur area, Amrita Paikra, says, "The Maoists are cornered now. The routine combing and after taking a stand beside the local people, the Maoist influence has decreased by 70%. Roads are being developed in villages. Regular rations are being distributed there. The government officials are visiting the villages. Within a few days, we shall erase the moist culture." The lives of the Ganda, Mourja, Gondi, and Holbi tribes are dependent on forests. They collect tamarind, natural mushrooms, and Mohul flowers from the jungle. Rice and corn are cultivated in unprepared lands during the rainy season. For the last few decades, health services and education services have been provided by the local branch of Ramakrishna Mission. One or two voluntary organisations are also offering their services. The former official of such an organisation and an advocate at Narayanpur court at present, Roshan Sahu, says, "The indigenous community of this hill region were oppressed and deprived for the past few decades. While fighting for some people who were arrested for their Naxalite connections, I found out that they had nothing to do with the Naxal operations. They were just victims of the situation." Roshan also mentioned that everywhere in this region is highly enriched in different kinds of minerals. Added to that, the under-construction highway to Maharashtra will bring forth good days to this region. But ultimately, what kind of benefit will all these be for the indigenous community of this region? Time will tell that.

Is the spirit of the Maoists going down following the death of Basabraju and other Maoist leaders? At least the words of Bikalpa, the spokesperson for the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, do not say anything like that. In a press statement, Vikalp has demanded that the Hindu government has conspired to kill Basabraju. Vikalp has called out to retaliate for this murder. That's why the police force and Central force have become very cautious while taking a step in Abujhmar. Besides, CRP and the India Tibet Border Police (ITBP) are establishing their camps in one village after another. According to the Chhattisgarh police administration, not only in Abujhmar and Narayanpur district area, but throughout the Maharashtra border, there are several camps also. Police administration says this kind of alertness has to be maintained all the time. They are furnishing the government data, that out of the seven districts of the Bastar division, only the Bastar district has been declared a moisture-free zone by the government, last March. "Extreme Maoist Prone Zone" is written about Dantewada and Narayanpur still today. On the soil of Abujhmar, one can feel the remains of this heat still today. The area looks quiet from the outside, but inside, the undercurrent of this political contradiction is still flowing secretly.

Was Basabraju betrayed by his former comrades?

Had his erstwhile colleagues shown the way to reach Basabraju? The versions of Sanju Mandabee and Sonnu Kotam hinted at that. Sanju and Sonnu were still hesitant to show the direct route to reach Basabraju. The District Reserve Guard (DRG) of Chhattisgarh police and the Bastar Fighters had jointly carried out the operation. Sanju and Sonnu were members of DRG. Sanju didn't want to divulge any more information about the encounter with Basabraju. But he said, "We surrounded the area. More than a hundred DRG and Bastar Fighters had taken part in the mission." That meant the security force had taken along the former Maoists to find out Basabraju. In the administration, this style of operation was called "one thorn drives away another." But why did these former Maoists join those Maoist gangs, and then why did they return to the mainstream? The answers to these questions had deciphered the mystery of the Maoist uprising and its fall.

Sanju used to live in the Palagura village of Bijapur district, under the Pamer police station. In 2011, at 16, he joined the Maoist gang. He remained posted at the action squad for a long time. In 2020, he was shot in the shoulder and left thigh in the fight with police in the Minpa area of Sukma. Sanju recalled, “Then I realised, without treatment, I would die. I didn't have the courage to go to the city. I realised it was not possible to win this battle in the end." On 5 December 2021, Sanju surrendered. He began working as an informant of DRG and later rose to the level of constable on the merit of his performance. Sonnu Kotam also hailed from Bijapur. He lived in the Korchouli village under the Gangalur police station. He joined the local guerrilla gang of Dantewada in 2015. He said, "At first I used to think, I am fighting for an ideology. Later, I came to realise that our superior leaders were using us as their human shields." In 2020, Sonnu surrendered with arms. Later, he was appointed to the DRG. Gradually, on the merit of his efficient performance, he became an assistant sub-inspector. Sonnu went on, "We know this area well. That's why we decided which way we should take while surrounding the area and where possibly the tents could be; we chalked all these out well at the beginning." According to the Dantewada in-charge, Inspector Pradip Kumar Bisen, "The DRG commandos like Sanju and Sonnu used to live in this jungle. That's why they had understood many things in advance at the time of the operation. This advantage worked greatly on our part."

There was another member among the former Maoists, who was regretting. She was Sundari Korram. According to her, in 2002, Maoists had abducted her from an interior village of Narayanpur district under the Orchha police station. She was only 15. At first, she was tasked with cooking for the brigade. Then she was posted in the women's squad of Dantewada. Sundari said, “We wanted to return to normal life. But we couldn't. They used to warn us that they would kill us once we tried to run away." In 2008, she was brought to the guerrilla squad of Narayanpur - Dhourai area. In the Dhourai forest during the huge encounter of 2010, 26 CRPF jawans had died. Sundari had taken part in that fight. She said, “In those days, it would seem that all other ways of survival were closed for us. But later, we slowly realised, we were misled in the name of our ideology."

In 2014, Sundari surrendered with her husband, Gopi Istam. Then she joined the DRG in the Field Commando unit. She got the promotion to the rank of Constable in the DRC unit. On the day of the Basabraju encounter, she was given other duties. Sundari regretted, "On that day, I had a special responsibility in another area. That's why I couldn't go to the encounter area. I regret it very much now." Why did she change her mind? Sundari told, "Before, they would give arms in our hands and ordered us to kill the enemy. Now we have arms in our hands. But that is to protect the common people."

The IG of the Bastar range, Sundarraj Pattilingam, said, "Through the government policies, the number of surrenders and rehabilitations has increased. Many former Maoists are now active members of the security force." But according to the analysts, although this model is bearing fruitful results in reality at present, how long this peace lasts in the entire Maoist belt or how well the local population ultimately accepts this initiative, time will tell.

"No more bloodshed. We have seen enough of it”

All of the Bastar and its surrounding areas have been declared as moist - free zones. But Dantewada, Bijapur and Sukma have remained Maoist-sensitive zones. Throughout the hilly road, upto that area, the moist tents have been pitched. Beside the road, the women of the Gond tribe are selling mangoes. During the free moment, Maya Khachoure and Hammalbati Gaure claim they are living in peace now. On one side, on her mobile screen, Madhuri Sovi is watching news on a local YouTube channel. She smiles and says, "Now we get the news of the outside world through the mobile phone." In an interior area from the main road, there is Khiskepara village, surrounded by forests. A well is the main source of drinking water for the entire village. Madhuri says, "Now we have a government tube well. But old habits die hard. That's why many people still drink the water from the well, in the local language called 'chua'."

At a distance, there is a place called Gidam. On the night of 14 September 2003, 100 armed Maoists had attacked the old building of the Gidam police station. One constable had died and seven police men were seriously injured. The attackers had looted the arsenal. Then, on 17 December 2011, the Maoists destroyed the under-construction new premises of the Gidam police station by bombing. In those days, a mass panic and insecurity had spread over the Dantewada district.

Now the scenario has changed. People are thronging in shops and markets. Mangoes and mushrooms are being sold in the open market. The local farmer, Mansingh Markom, says, "We want peace. We don't want to smell the burnt gunpowder in our village anymore." A local visitor at the grocery store, Sudharani Kashyap, utters the same words, "For the last few years, police camps are here, roads have been built. We don't want those days of terror anymore." Forests become dense towards Marigura of Bijapur. Police and central force jawans are patrolling the roads. At the entrance of the village, a 50-something person informs that, in 2019, Maoists had suspected his brother of being a police informer, because he had brought some rations from a government camp. Then they kidnapped and killed him. The faces all around are saying, those days are over, mostly by the grace of the central force. Now, mobile signal can be accessed at Birsapur of Dantewada. Somroti Markom, the mother of a local adolescent, says, "Previously, as schools remained closed, children didn't want to study. Now they are finding interests in books. Few girls are learning stitching. They are building their lives brick by brick. The fear still exists, but our dream is moving towards reality."

The scenario at Burkapal near Dantewada and Sukma border is the same. In April of 2017, 25 CRPF jawans were killed here in a Maoist ambush. Kalpana Koram of Kasoli village says, “Maoists had delivered the death penalty to my husband. My husband used to collect tamarind and mohul flowers from the forest and sell them to provide for the family." Why they had killed him, what was his crime, I still don't know. “Besides cultivating in her land, Kalpana now works as a staff member in the local health home. The collegegoer Sanjib Markom speaks in a forward manner, "We want to study, we want jobs. Now there is peace, but in this forest area, nobody knows when something goes wrong." He lives in the Morjum village of Dantewada. Still, there is police in the village, and the roads are in good condition. Mobile networks are working. But when the villagers look at the distant hill, they feel an undercurrent of panic inside. The government statistics say that the developments in Dantewada district have taken place mostly surrounding the police camps. Dhaniram Ponde, the farmer of Fulpad village of Dantewada district, says in a clear-cut way, "The consistent presence of police and administration is a reason behind the prevailing peace in this area." Prabhat Markom of Nilavaya village says, "Atleast the circumstances are survival-friendly now. But after losing my son, I am not afraid anymore." In 2019, the local Maoists had beaten his son to death after declaring him a traitor in the public court. "My son didn't inform the police; he only went to the government camp to bring the ration. This was his only crime," says Prabhat. His wife, at his side, silently covers her eyes with her sari.

Between 2010 and 2017, the roads of these villages were all destroyed with huge man-made potholes. Bombing at police stations, trials of the villagers at village courts, murder, attacks on police, and sabotage were parts of daily life. From 2018, there have been consistent developments in the area. According to the government statistics, 27 new roads, 11 new schools had been built, and 48 mobile towers had been installed.

Have the Maoists truly retreated? A primary school teacher of Gidam says, "They are hiding in the distant hill now. They have lost public support. This is why they don't come to the forefront nowadays. But every time there is an election or an administrative event, they try to make their presence felt in public. For the last few years, they haven't been seen in the area." There is relative peace everywhere. But the words of the businessman, Suryakant Pottan, reverberate in everybody's words, "We have seen enough blood. No more of that. Our children need to study and become established in life."

A bullet cannot kill ideology. So the secret war continues.

In the early hours of one morning, the news arrives in the forest of Chhattisgarh. In the Abujhmar area, 27 Maoists, including their leader, Nambola Kesav Rao, aka Basabraju, have died in an encounter with the security forces. The discerning section knows that this turning point in the repression of Maoists has not arrived suddenly. The police have planned the war tactics keeping in mind that the Maoist ideology is strong in that area. In the war of the last two years, 450 Maoists have died. 1400 Maoists have returned to the mainstream after surrendering during the past 16 months. But after killing the top Maoist leader, has the Chhattisgarh police successfully erased the root of the Maoist ideology from the area? The successful name in the state Maoist repression, the south Indian IPS, the IG Sundarraj Pattilingam says, "Maoist repression is not possible only through arms. The social shadow war is going on. The police are no longer a force, but the friend of the villagers. The boys and girls with knowledge of local languages have been recruited into the force. The indigenous boys and girls are now members of the Bastar Fighters and the DRG. A part of them are the former Maoists who have returned to the mainstream. Sports activities have started in the area. Bastar Olympic and 'Indigenous Festival' have begun." How fruitful have all these been? The old lady Bhagabati Netam of Umargaon says while arranging the corns in the sunlight, "In those days they used to kill anybody on the suspicion of spying for the police. Now the police are killing them." But will the peace return permanently? Many cannot speak their minds or don't want to. They fear the police and the red shadow of Maoists. An advocate of Narayanpur, Roshan Sahu, says, "Guns won't tell the last words. One has to go deep into the problem and observe it. The people of the area are between the two sides. They can't stay this way." Although IG Sundarraj says, "We are maintaining the dual policies of development and security. The Maoist 'Red Corridor' is practically finished. Boys and girls are now going to school. They are getting a mobile network. This is not only administrative but a psychological fight." The signs of this battle are evident throughout the area. But in the distant villages, fear still rules the air. On his way to Koronpal village carrying the sack of fertiliser, Lachhman Hemla says, "the former Maoists are now in the police force. So the anxiety stays." The anxiety for what? Lachhman doesn't answer. Like Rabi Karonga of Kutul, many say, "Will the Maoists sit quietly? Still, the police cannot move freely everywhere. We, the common people, are in a real problem. On one side, there is the police, and on the other, there are the Naxalites." His home is in Coimbatore of TamilNadu. The 2003 IPS cadre Sundarraj is confident. He claims, "in the Bastar range the Maoist revolution is at the last phase." For the last 22 years, Sundarraj has been carrying out the responsibility of the Maoist belt, first as the DIG of the Dantewada range and now as the IG of the Bastar range. After speaking about his huge experience, he presents figures: "In the last year, 270 and this year until now, 190 Maoists have died." Is the death of Basabraju the turning point in this change of baton? Because Basabraju was not only a Maoist operation commander. He had become a Maoist myth in the interior villages. The police claim that his death means the end of that myth.

But do the shadow and the ideology of the leader get wiped out so easily? Then why don't the villagers want to mention their names? Even the village Mukhiyas and Sarpanchs stay silent when it comes to saying their names. The experienced IG knows these and says that only on the Bastar range, 500 police camps have been set up. The objective is to provide different facilities to the villagers besides security. So that they can leave those days of deprivation behind, and the Maoists cannot make a comeback through those paths. According to Sundarraj, "before, there wasn't any road, any schools. It would cost an entire day to go to the hospital. Now in the presence of the police force, the service is reaching the villagers." He is also alert, "Now the Maoists are decreasing in numbers and they are also losing their influence. We are keeping a constant vigil. Necessary steps are being taken." Why are the Maoists avoiding any mutual discussion? Sundarraj claims, "They were given chances. But they didn't take them. We don't want any loss of life. But if they attempt to destroy the democracy through murder and terror, they will have to pay the price." The BJP President of the Bastar district, Vedprakash Pandey, doesn't want to stay alert about the Maoist influence or Maoist comeback in the area. "Since we came to power in the area in 2023, development is everywhere. The way the force is getting success, within the next few days, there will be nothing left called Maoism." The villagers of the interiors are cautious. A few villagers of Hiroli, Aranpur and Nilaoa villages say on the question of anonymity, for the last two decades, the Maoists have been teaching Maoism to the children. So they don't see any quick solution to this problem. The Congress leader of Bastar district, Manohar Lunia, also says, "The Maoist influence has decreased. But it's not possible to face the problem with only arms. Besides development, the government will have to find a permanent solution to this problem." Although Sundarraj claims, “Villagers became compelled to support Maoists not for ideology but in the fear of arms and terror. The scenario is changing. The Maoist free zone is only a matter of time now."

The colour changes in Lalgarh.

Sarpanch Poseram Kashyap wanted a bridge for communication. That became a crime for Maoists, and they delivered the highest punishment to Poseram. Today, that bridge is standing on the Indravati River, which is named "The Late Sri Poseram Kashyap Bridge." The 650-meter-long bridge was built three years ago. Even seven years ago, this river current used to take with it its flow, the frustrations, agony and deaths of the villagers of Chhindnar. There was a time when in this village, situated in the Gidam area of Dantewada, taking the name of the government administration was a crime. On this side of Indravati, there is Chhindwar. On the other side, there are thirty villages with which Dantewada had no direct connection before. One had to cross the river by boat. Realising the problem, Poseram had met the administrative officials and urged them to build a bridge on the Indravati River. But the news had reached the local Maoists. On the next day, 14 August 2018, in broad delight, Poseram was declared guilty by Maoists in their public court trial, and he was beaten to death in front of the terrorised villagers. Poseram's eldest son, Dhaniram, became seriously injured while trying to save his father, while the youngest, Kesav, was an adolescent. The memory of their father's horrible death stays in their mind like a thorn. The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has introduced paved roads in the villages. Besides, drinking water projects and CRPF camps are in sight. Inspite of all these, the Sarpanch of Chhindnar doesn't want to mention his name. The 45-year-old man says, "We are well now. But I won't say anything more. I still don't know where they are hiding. We don't want the fate of Poseram to happen to us." The surrounding five to six villagers nod in support of his words. The Maoist slogans have vanished from the village walls. The youths of Dantewada, after finishing high school, are studying in college now. Poseram's eldest son, Dhaniram, is now a constable with the district police, as his youngest son, Kesav, is posted as a constable with the DRG. They don't take the risk of staying at their village home anymore. According to Dhaniram, "The Maoists don't want any communication system in the area. Their ultimate objective is to hold the villagers in captivity and use them as a shield. So that they can fight with the government from behind those defenceless villagers. "Kesav adds to this, "the Maoists have beaten, butchered and killed so many people by hanging, also, just like they killed my father. We are avenging those killings." The Dantewada DSP of the Bastar Fighters, Govind Deewan, was saying, "Even seven years ago, it was not possible to enter this area. Now the central force camps have been set up in villages. Developments are taking place at a steady pace. Now the people are no longer with the Maoists."

Is that true? After crossing the bridge on the Indravati River, as one advances the next five kilometres, one notices forests covering two sides of the road. Hillocks are standing here and there as the hill range stands at a distance. Small settlements break the vast silence of the hill range. But compared to Chhindnar, this area is much more desolate. On both sides of the unmettled road, CRPF jawans stand in watch with guns in their hands. In Chhote Karka village of Cherpal panchayat, roads are being built under the PMGSY scheme. The security measure is being taken especially for that reason. The old lady, Magli Markam, says, "Now the administration is staying in the area all the time. Upto Chhindwar, it is a trouble-free zone. But from Chhote Karka upto the villages near the hill area, the Maoists still have their control over." In 2005, during the tenure of the BJP government, the Dantewada Congress MLA Mahendra Karma united the local Santhal population and began "Salva Judum" or "The Cleansing Drive". In fact, that was the state-supported resistance movement against the Maoists. The BJP had supported this initiative. But the Maoists identified Mahendra as their enemy. On 5 July 2011, the Supreme Court declared Salva Judum unconstitutional and ordered it to stop immediately. Two years later, on 25 May 2013, while returning after finishing the "Parivartan Yatra", 27 Congress leaders, including Mahendra Karma and the Chhattisgarh province Congress President, Nandkumar Potel, were killed in a sudden maoist ambush near their Jhirom camp. The martyr's altar still stands with the photos of those 27 Congress leaders on it. The local Shalkhan Singh of Tongpal village says, "Mahendra was a Bastar Fighter. Had he been alive today, something different might have happened. "Developments are being carried out in the interiors of this state, so that the central force can reach those areas. The communication development works for the people's advantage. Ultimately, the main objective is to kill the Maoists." Then, were the government-level people like Poseram used as ploys? An application for a bridge and a murder in return. Then the force enters the area and builds the roads and communication, and sets up its camps. Is it possible to ward off the Maoists permanently this way? This burning question is being raised everywhere now.

The Maoist possessions now belong to the police force.

Once upon a time, in the name of TCOC, the local police administration used to sweat in fear. The Maoist-led Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign would become sanguinary during the Summer times. Bombing the police and central force convoys by blasting IEDs, land mines, and directional mines was their main objective. In West Bengal's Jungle Mahal, this TCOC operation had claimed the lives of so many police and central force jawans. But in Dantewada, Bijapur, Sukma, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Kanker and Abujhmar of the Chhattisgarh area, the joint force had to pay much more penalty than that. But time is turning around. The war tactics are changing upside down. In a strange revelation, Sundarraj Pattilingam says, "Now TCOC is our biggest weapon against the Maoists. We have managed to stop them from using these tactics." Because most of the jawans of DRG and Bastar Fighters happen to be the sons and daughters of this soil of Chhattisgarh. And they are former Maoists. On 22 May, the day after the death of Basabraju, in the National Park area of Bijapur, another top-ranking Maoist leader, Narsinghchalam aka Sudhakar, was killed in an encounter with the central force. Automatic guns and rifles had been seized from the epicentre. One of the "most wanted" Maoist leaders of the country, Sudhakar, was active throughout Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. One crore rupees was declared on the head of this member of the Maoist central committee. According to the Chhattisgarh police, this has been the success of the joint TCOC operation led by DRG, Kobra, Special Task Force and the joint force, together. Police source says, in collaboration with the local people, Maoists used to run TCOC operations during April, May, and June as seasonal operations. The Jan militia or the public armed force played an important role in these operations. Exactly this Jan militia was the People's Committee in West Bengal's Jungle Mahal. In Chhattisgarh, besides recruiting the local boys and girls in their force, Maoists used to form the Jan militia with the villagers and give them responsibilities, like doing the reconnaissance work and providing the advance information about the movement of the joint force.

The DRG and Bastar Fighters have turned the battle around. According to Chhattisgarh police, many jawans of the paramilitary force don't even understand the language of the area. It takes a lot of time for them to get acquainted with the area and its culture. That problem has been solved now. A DRG jawan, who was a member of the Jan militia before, says, "Now we surround the caves where we used to hide before. Now we block that route, through which the Maoists used to escape before. Previously, after receiving the advance news about which route the force would advance, we used to ambush them by hiding ourselves. Now we are using those tactics in decimating the Maoists." Yogesh Mandvi of Chintalnad under the Sukma range was in the Naxal organisation for 12 years. After surrendering, he has become the Assistant Sub Inspector of the no. 7th Battalion of DRG. According to him, "Now we attack those places where Maoists take rest and reside. The ambush techniques are being used against Maoists." The former Maoist, now a DRG jawan, Chhotu Mandvi says, "Before, in the Maoist organisation, we were taught that the police were our enemy. Now we realise that the real enemy is those who have burnt children's schools, snatched away our rations and destroyed the future of our children."

The lessons Chhattisgarh learnt from Bengal

From 2004 to 2011, during the Maoist upsurge, many police, central force jawans and common people were killed in West Bengal. A former police officer admits that, during the Left regime in Bengal, the police operation was extra outwardly and based on tapping the mobile phone conversations, which had failed to understand the ground reality. Because, since the local folks, voluntarily or under compulsion, were the members of Gana Militia, the police never got the information correctly. For instance, the news of the then top Maoist leader Kishenji giving an interview to the news media in the jungle of Ajnashuli in Lalgarh had reached the local police much later. In those days, police wouldn't make any hasty moves in the jungle, fearing the TCOC.

After a decade, following the political change of guard in West Bengal, the Jungle Mahal districts are now Maoist-free zones. The major portion of the Maoists and the Jansadharan Committee, after returning to the mainstream, have joined the service of the West Bengal police's special home guard. According to the IG of Bastar range, in Chhattisgarh, through respecting the local Janjati representatives, local jawans and the local sentiment, establishing the atmosphere of "no fear, but trust" has been possible. The incharge of Dantewada camp, Pradip Kumar Bisen, claims, "not only through bullets, but through the support of Janjati and their self-confidence, this success has come." Navin Gupta, the senior journalist of Bastar district headquarters, says, "In the Naxal-influenced dense forests of Bastar range, there have been serialised fightings. As a result, Naxalism is now cornered there. After returning to the mainstream, the villagers are now enjoying the facilities of different government schemes." Still, some fundamental questions keep coming back. The West Bengal Central Editorial Board member of APDR, Ankur Mandal, says, "Our fear is that, in the name of non-judicial encounters, mass killing is going on in Chhattisgarh. Those who are getting killed are also the citizens of this country. A political solution is needed to solve the problem. Because not only the Maoists, but the Janjati there have become involved in the fight for 'Water - Land - Jungle'. They are also being treated in the same way, which is not at all expected." The soil and air of Chhattisgarh are also asking the same question.

Next stop of Maoist refuge, Orissa

After being cornered in Chhattisgarh, the Maoists of that area have scattered in small groups and started taking refuge in the jungle of Orissa, where high alerts have been sent to the police administration. According to a Union Home Ministry security official, "Having suffered heavy losses in Chhattisgarh, the Maoists are decentralising their armed units and spreading themselves in small groups towards and across the vast forests of Orissa." According to an intelligence bureau official, the security forces in Orissa have received alarm notices about the Maoists' movements in the forests of Budanai, Koraput, Boudh, Nuapada, Malkhangiri, Kalahandi and Kandhamal. It is feared that Maoists may enter Jharkhand through Orissa. The official says, "The forces have been directed to intensify the area domination and combing operations in these areas, besides setting up forward bases and camps." The Maoists have started regrouping as their area of operation has decreased and the number of fresh recruitments has stopped. It is believed that the leaders have also gone underground.

During the September - October operation in the area, to escape the joint force, many Maoist leaders had run away to the "MMC Corridor", Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Following the frequency of armed operations in Chhattisgarh, the Maoist leaders were compelled to take refuge in the Orissa corridor, which was lying quietly for some time, according to the intelligence bureau official. In 2016, the Maoists had created the MMC Corridor as an escape route for their leaders. A Chhattisgarh CRPF official said, "Our main focus is now to track down the remaining most wanted Naxal leaders." Meanwhile, a fact-finding committee of a civil rights group had accused the forces of treating the Adivasi community of the Bastar range in the same harsh way. The committee had pointed out that the forces had illegally set up camps in the Adivasi region to have the upper hand on Adivasis. They alleged that the Adivasis were not "allowed to move freely, and even the weekly market, which is the lifeline for the communities and the regular purchases are subject to monitoring and under police control."

Maoists eye Kolkata as another point of shelter

The central detective department claims that Maoists are now eyeing Kolkata and the Nadia district of West Bengal to find new shelters. According to their source, following their devastating defeats in the fighting with the central force, Maoists are moving towards Chhattisgarh, adjacent Malkhangiri, Kandhamal of Orissa and Saranda forest of Jharkhand's Singbhum district. The operations are going on in Jharkhand and Odisha, too. The detectives are assuring that there is no chance of the Maoists' comeback in the Jungle Mahal of West Bengal. Because they are not feeling safe here anymore. The return of the larger chunk of the Bengal Maoists into the mainstream and their subsequent job recruitment, and the huge number of appointments of the local youths as civic volunteers have built up a social resistance.

From Belpahari to the Jharkhand border, the tourism business has flourished. A section of the residents is running a home stay business and local businesses. The district police also maintain regular records of the tourists. New communication system, healthcare service and education infrastructure together have given birth to a changed Jungle Mahal where it has become difficult for Maoists to gather any further public support for them. The district police super of Jhargram, Arijit Sinha, says, “Jungle Mahal is free from Maoists. Not the least chance of any Maoist comeback. Still, a regular vigil is going on." In January of 2024, in Purulia, West Bengal, the CPI (Maoist) central committee member, Sabyasachi Goswami, was arrested by the State police special task force. After interrogating him, the police came to know that in Nadia and the adjacent suburbs of Kolkata, Maoists are trying to spread their organisation.

Before, in the season of Amon rice, Maoists used to enter the Jungle Mahal in the farmer's camouflage. Detectives opine that they won't take that risk now. Instead, suspicions have been expressed in the detective department's letter about the latest activities of a few far-left and people's movement supporting organisations in the metropolitan areas of West Bengal. According to the detectives, these organisations are actually the public faces of the Maoists. The interrogation of Sabyasachi and two other Maoist leaders has revealed this information. But why in Kolkata or the suburbs? It is observed that owing to the dense population in these areas, people more often pay no attention to the whereabouts of the comings and goings of their neighbours in adjacent flats or houses. Taking that advantage, the Maoists are choosing Kolkata and its suburbs as their new "safe houses". In 2026, before the upcoming Assembly Election, the West Bengal state detective department is becoming alert to resist the infiltration of the far-left organisations.

What keeps the Maoists alive?

Year after year, Chhattisgarh stands as the map of a long-standing civil war. On one side, there is the Maoist guerrilla force, and on the other, there are state and central security forces. In between, there are the common people, who are bearing the brunt of these two opponents. Behind this confrontation on one side, there is the long history related to Janjati's land, rights, dreams and deprivations. And at the other end, there is the government's domination tactics and promises of development, hour by hour. In 2023, after the BJP came back to power in the assembly election of Chhattisgarh, the fight began all over again. And this new government's message is far more aggressive than before and much more "clean" than before. The police force claims that since the beginning of 2024, they have been able to enter the Maoist camps, unlike in the past. Many top-ranking Maoist leaders have been killed in the following encounters. But the question is being raised - will these serialised armed operations be able to solve the Maoist problem?

The root of this confrontation does not lie only with the armed guerrillas. The ultimate root goes much deeper. When a vast region lies deprived of healthcare services, drinking water supply, education system and employment opportunity, people's resistance rises its head. Still today, in Chhattisgarh, the percentage of child malnutrition stands as the highest in the country. The literacy level is below the national average level. In many of the Janjati inhabited villages, electricity has not reached. So, despite the establishment of the government camps, how far the development has reached in the lives of the people living outside those camps, the question remains. The villages of Bastar, which the administration is pointing to as the Maoist-free zones, remain under the control of the central force during the day. But in the night, the Maoist influence can be noticed everywhere. The fact that setting up posts does not establish the existence of an administration has been proven several times before. No doctors visit the area, no teachers in schools and no electricity - these deprivations build up the very foundation of people's distrust. And Maoists keep their existence alive in this gap between people and the administration.

But the scenario is changing. Many youths now don't want to join the Maoist gangs. They prefer to stay in the mainstream. The government has started the rehabilitation programmes. Still, in several cases, the Maoists who surrendered didn't get any job or security from the administration. So an air of distrust and terror persists.

Politics is also playing its game here. The Congress claims, during their tenure, so many works had been done in the overall infrastructure development of villages, including the construction of roads, bridges and the reformation of the food rationing system. At the opposite side, the BJP claims, they have activated the administration using new tactics. But both administrations have remained strongly reactionary in the question of the local people's fight for their rights, lands and self-identity. Chhattisgarh is rich in minerals. The huge repository of crude iron, coal and bauxite is lying under the ground. But do the common people receive any material reward from the entire flow of money that spins around these minerals? Few industrial groups are taking away all the mineral assets of the area whose natives are still left in hunger, disease and endless insecurity. These heartless disparities keep the Maoists alive.

The reasons behind the Maoist downfall

The Maoists claim that they have been surviving in Chhattisgarh for the last four decades only because of successfully preventing the multinationals from accessing the natural resources and keeping the same in Janjati's possession. The former head of the north guerrilla command of Abujhmar, Ravindran says, the reasons behind the destruction of their social justice system in Telangana and the guerrilla tactics in Chhattisgarh are mistakes in their analysis. Also, society has changed a lot. One reason is clear here: Maoists can never appear as a mainstream political power in front of the bigger society in order to gain its trust. This has its root in the 2007 Maoist Unity Congress's decision to build up free zones in the village belt through arms movements and surrounding the nearest city with this village belt. There has not been a change in these tactics since.

But the advocate of this policy, Mao Tse Tung and his communist party had implemented it nine decades ago during the Chinese revolution. Several sympathising theoreticians towards this policy believe that it is no longer possible to make an advance in today's India using this policy. Where the state is comparatively weaker, it is possible to carry out armed movements by building up a free zone for a certain period of time. But it is not possible to proceed with the movement. The moment the state makes its forceful entry into the free zone, the fight comes to an end. Still, Maoists have survived in Chhattisgarh for four decades, because the Bastar range is a 40,000 kilometre area, which is a little bigger than Kerala. In this kind of huge region, the size and underdevelopment have worked in favour of the Maoists. Whereas in a smaller region of West Bengal's Lalgarh, Maoists have perished years ago.

Three more reasons need to be discussed here. First, there have been a lot of characteristic changes in the Indian society. Most of India is now right-leaning. Communism is dying everywhere. In the past, those who had fought for the violation of Maoists’ rights and Janjati's human rights are either serving jail terms or fighting court battles. Today's modern Indian society is completely indifferent towards the issues of Maoists and Janjati people. Second, the state's military power has increased rapidly. From Operation Green Hunt of 2009 to Operation Kagar of 2025, the state has made a thorough study of Maoist activities. In 2015, the joint secretary of the Home Ministry's Maoist domination department, M. A. Ganapati, had made a national plan. That was the foundation of the new strategies to fight out Maoism. In this planning, stress had been given on the provision of jobs and monetary reward to the surrendering Maoists. This has helped a lot in this year's operations, also. Third, like Telangana, Chhattisgarh state has made a lot of effort in the public welfare projects in Bastar. Simultaneously, attention has been paid to stopping the theft from the projects. As a result, the Maoist influence has started deteriorating. According to Telengana's Marxist intellectual, social scientist and journalist, N Benugopal, "As long as oppression stays, the movements against it will also go on. Secret organisations will have their relevance. But what is the relation between these movements and mainstream politics, whether those movements should make their way into mainstream politics - arguments will continue on this aspect. Movement will find its own way." In all these public wars, thousands and thousands of people's lives have been wasted. Stopping that is the need of the hour. A large section of the civil society has made the proposal for an armistice and mutual settlement, to which the Maoists have agreed. The centre has not opened its mouth on this yet. Once they accept this proposal, many lives will be saved.

The fight may not be over yet. If peace is the true objective, then that can only come through building up a people-friendly system. Armed encounters can never achieve that. The state will have to stand on a strong humanitarian and sensitive ground in order to win the people's trust. Therefore, the question before the state is not how many Maoists get killed, but how many ordinary people learn how to dream of a bright future.

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