BASTAR, INDIA — Home Minister Amit Shah proclaimed India “Naxal-free” on March 30, marking the end of a nearly six-decade Maoist rebellion that once gripped a third of the country.
Addressing Parliament, Shah declared without hesitation, “We have become Naxal-free,” detailing a relentless campaign that crushed the insurgents, known as Naxals after their 1967 origins in a Himalayan village uprising. “Bastar is now Naxal-free,” he emphasized, referring to Chhattisgarh’s vast, mineral-rich forests—once home to 15,000-20,000 fighters at their mid-2000s peak.
In 2025 alone, security forces killed 364 rebels, arrested 1,022, and saw 2,337 surrender, including top commanders. Civilian and security deaths plummeted 90% since 2010, with attacks dropping from over 1,900 to about 200 annually.
Shah credited an “all-agency approach”, beyond firepower, to bolster local police, enhance coordination, and dismantle the group. All but two commanders are eliminated or surrendered, he said.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma echoed this, stating the state is fully insurgent-free: “Their entire armed cadre has been eliminated… the movement no longer has any organisational format.”
The Maoists claimed to champion marginalized indigenous rights amid mining interests, but over 12,000 lives were lost since 1967. Surrendered ex-rebel Vishnu Madvi, 26, shared from a rehab camp: “My commander was killed in 2025… Our top leaders were all gone, there was no option but to give myself up.”