Raipur: Declaring that India has become “Naxal-free”, Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday said the sacrifices of nearly 1,000 security personnel had ended a 55-year nightmare of bloodshed and fear, and promised that Bastar’s developmental loss of five decades would now be repaired in the next three to five years.Shah, who is on a three-day tour of Chhattisgarh, his first after the country was declared free from Maoist violence in March, urged the people of Bastar to “accept” about 3,000 surrendered Naxals and help in their assimilation into the national mainstream. The minister will chair the 26th central zonal council meeting in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar district, on Tuesday that will see the participation of four chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.Addressing CAPF personnel, families of martyrs, victims of Naxal violence and surrendered cadres in Bastar, Shah said March 31, 2026 marked not just the end of an armed insurgency, but the beginning of a new phase where roads, schools, banks, post offices, drinking water, electricity, welfare schemes and livelihood would be taken to the last tribal village.“Seena taan ke keh sakta hoon ki Bharat Naxal-mukt ho chuka hai (I can say it with pride that India’s now Naxal-free),” Shah said, adding that three generations had lived through the violence from 1971 to March 31, 2026. “This was not a small period. For Naxal-affected areas, it meant terrible bloodshed, darkness of development and a bleak future for youth.”“India got Independence in 1947, but Bastar got freedom on March 31 this year,” Shah said, adding that the Centre had fixed the March 31, target in a closed-door meeting on January 21, 2024, despite warnings from several quarters that it was too ambitious. “We planned, worked and implemented it. With Goddess Danteshwari’s blessings, the day of Naxalism’s end has arrived,” he said.“Modi govt made schemes for the backward and tribal communities — paddy purchase at Rs 3,100 per quintal, 7kg rice per person every month, 15% reservation in jobs. But Bastar people could not benefit because education, roads and the state itself were not allowed to reach them,” Shah said.The home minister sent out a message to Maoist sympathizers stating, “They spread the misconception that development did not happen, so they took up weapons. The truth is development did not happen because they were sitting here with weapons.”He said Bastar could not benefit from govt schemes because Maoists blocked development for decades.Shah said a developed India would remain incomplete without a developed Bastar. “The Centre has resolved for a fully developed India by 2047. But I want to make it clear — without a developed Bastar, the dream of a developed Bharat will remain incomplete,” he said.Shah promised that the Union home ministry would directly monitor the region’s development push. “Whether it is roads, rural development, banks, post offices, gas cylinders, tap water in every home, free grain or electricity, the home ministry will worry about every facility,” he said.In another event, standing at a former Bastar security camp where six policemen were once killed in Maoist violence, Amit Shah announced that 70 of Bastar’s 200 CAPF camps will now be converted into tribal welfare hubs. The camps that protected tribals, farmers, women and children from Maoist violence, would now be converted into “Sewa Deras” or welfare centres. He said these centres would become the base for delivering 370 govt schemes, services, skills and livelihood to remote villages, from the same centre.He credited DRG, CoBRA, Bastar Fighters, Chhattisgarh Police, CRPF, other CAPFs, NIA, NTRO, home ministry teams, intelligence agencies, local journalists, social leaders and public representatives for the success of the campaign.“How can I forget Operation Black Forest,” Shah said, recalling security personnel climbing mined hills in 45-degree temperature without worrying about supplies. “Had that operation not happened, had those hills not been cleared, a Naxal-free Bastar would not have been possible. Many personnel suffered dehydration, lost limbs and endured severe hardship during the operation.”He also named operations Prahar, Black Forest and Octopus, saying these campaigns cleared the Maoist belt across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Telangana. Paying tribute to the dead, Shah recalled major Maoist attacks — Tadmetla, where 76 personnel were killed; Ranibodli, where 55 died; Manpur, where 29 were killed; Burkapal, where 25 personnel lost their lives; and Telam, where 22 died. He also referred to massacres of tribals, homes being burnt and civilians, including an eight-year-old child, being killed.The home minister said around 3,000 surrendered Maoists were being rehabilitated under a detailed plan. Of them, around 2,000 had never received formal education.“Subah ka bhula agar sham ko ghar aa jaye, to use bhula nahi kehte (It’s never too late),” Shah said, appealing to Bastar society to accept surrendered cadres back with dignity and forget bitterness.He said many surrendered Maoists had told him they were forced into the movement as children. “One of them told me that Naxals picked up an entire Class 3 batch from school and all of them became Maoists,” Shah said.Shah also spoke of the emotional impact of his visit to Netanar’s service camp. “I have addressed gatherings of lakhs, but the satisfaction I felt among 400 tribals in Netanar was different. A little girl said, ‘Ab hum bach gaye (now, we’re saved)’. It is difficult to express what that meant to me,” he said.The home minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strengthened India’s external and internal security, and the country had largely moved past three major challenges — Jammu & Kashmir, the Northeast and Naxalism.But Shah cautioned that the job was not over. “Naxalism will not be considered truly finished until the damage done to these villages is repaired. In the next five years, Bastar will emerge as the most developed tribal regions of the country,” he said.Shah also linked the new welfare camp model with livelihoods. He said the Centre and state would work through NDDB to bring a dairy model to Bastar, with tribal women to be supported with livestock. He added that forest produce would be packaged, branded and marketed through national-level cooperatives to open a new era of employment.
