The return of Maoist spectre in Telangana

Home minister Amit Shah said in October that the last battle against Maoists has begun and that the LWE problem will be tackled by 2026.

The encounter on Sunday in Telangana’s Mulugu district that resulted in the death of seven persons — all members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), according to police — points to the continuing presence of Left-wing extremists in the state. This incident, coming in the wake of Maoists killing two tribal people on November 23, is only the second of its kind in the last 10 years. Telangana, once a hotbed of Maoists/Naxalites, nearly eliminated Left-wing extremism (LWE) using a judicious mix of police action and incentives such as an attractive surrender-rehabilitation policy for Maoist cadre and developmental initiatives in underdeveloped areas.

Bhadradri Kothagudem: Arms and ammunition recovered from the site of an encounter between maoists and police, in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Six cadres of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) including two women were killed after an exchange of fire between the ultras and police in the district of Telangana on Thursday, police said. (PTI Photo) (PTI)

This success, however, is yet to be replicated in Chhattisgarh, which remains the last major bastion of Maoists. Ironically, the resurfacing of LWEs in Telangana could well be the result of security operations in Chhattisgarh: At least 207 LWE activists have been killed in Chhattisgarh in 2024, the highest since 2009, which may have forced Maoist cadre, already on the backfoot, to flee into Telangana. Mulugu district, a relatively less populated and forested region in the state, borders Chhattisgarh.

Since former prime minister Manmohan Singh termed Naxalism as India’s greatest internal security threat in 2009, there has been a strong push, involving central forces and specially trained state police, to eliminate LWE. This involved both interstate security action as well as smart policy interventions to address social and economic issues that the Maoists have exploited to spread their ideology. Home minister Amit Shah said in October that the last battle against Maoists has begun and that the LWE problem will be tackled by 2026. The government needs to go about this task without compromising on human rights so that extremists cannot exploit the situation in the ostensible endgame. To ensure this, the government must not veer from its larger goal of extending public goods and services to the people living in embattled regions.