Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Anshul Vipat
Image source: IANS
It should be noted that though the naxal violence has decreased in the past few years, there are some strongholds where naxals continue to dominate
The security forces have achieved a major milestone by successfully penetrating for the first time in the naxal strongholds of Budhapahad’ situated at the border of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and the extremely inaccessible areas of Chakrabandha and Bhimabandh of Bihar. Also, a large quantity of arms, ammunition, foreign grenades, Aero Bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were recovered by the security forces at these naxal strongholds. Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah congratulated the security forces for their successful operation and said that the home ministry’s zero tolerance policy will continue against Maoism and terrorism.
In a report released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, it mentioned that all the above mentioned areas were the strongholds of top naxal commanders. The security forces have set up a permanent camp in these areas making it partially free of the naxal presence because even if the area has been cleared of the Maoists, the chances of naxal infiltration in the area are high as similar instances were reported earlier in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh where the Maoists had attacked the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) camps and vehicle convoys.
Operation Octopus, Operation Double Bull and Operation Chakrabandha were some of the successful anti-naxal operations carried out by the security forces in 2022. A large number of Maoists were killed and arrested in Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. One of the important Maoists killed in these operations was Mithilesh Mahto who had a bounty of Rs. 1 crore on his head. Between 2018 and 2022, there has been a 39 per cent reduction in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence in India. Though there has been a reduction in the naxal violence in India in recent years, there has been a very gradual reduction in naxal presence in the Dandakarnya region which is considered as the greatest stronghold of Maoists. The charts below show the number of fatalities due to naxal violence from 2000-2022.
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal
The highest number (481) of incidents of killing were reported in 2010 as it was one of the worst years affected by the naxal insurgency. Seventy Six CRPF policemen were killed in a naxal attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada in 2010. This is one of the deadliest attacks carried out by the naxalites in the 21st century. The year 2010 also registered the highest number of civilian casualties as 630 lost their lives due to naxal violence. The highest number of security forces were killed in 2009 as 319 security personnel lost their lives. Highest numbers of naxals (343) were killed in 2006.
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal
From 2012-2022, the highest incidents of killing were reported in the year 2016 as 263 such incidents were reported. Maximum number of civilians (164) lost their lives in 2013 and also the highest number of security personnel were killed in the same year as the number of deaths was reported at 103. The year 2016 reported the highest number (231) of naxal fatalities. Apart from 2022, the lowest number of security forces were killed in 2020. The reason behind this can be attributed to the lockdowns imposed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
It should be noted that though the naxal violence has decreased in the past few years, there are some strongholds where naxals continue to dominate. They have also been regularly indulging in violence against security forces. Last year, Sukma – a naxal stronghold saw one of the worst terror attacks claiming the lives of 22 security personnel. The death toll was the worst for Indian security forces fighting the Naxalites since 2017 when 25 policemen were killed at the same location.
The naxal affected areas also have least socio-economic development. This has been one of the primary failures of our democracy, something we need to take care of.
