(Al Jazeera Media Network) Indian security forces have launched an all-out war against Maoist fighters in Chhattisgarh state, as the federal government aims to “wipe out” long-running armed rebellions in the mineral-rich tribal region of the country.
The Karrigatta hills forest, which straddles across Chhattisgarh and Telangana states, has turned into a “warzone” with more than 10,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the anti-Maoist operation – dubbed “Operation Zero or Kagar”.
The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs both the state as well as the central government, has drastically escalated security operations, killing at least 201 Maoist rebels, also known as Naxals, this year.
At least 27 rebels were killed on Wednesday, including the leader of the Maoists. In the past 16 months, more than 400 alleged Maoist rebels have been killed in Chhattisgarh state, home to a sizable population of Adivasis (meaning original inhabitants or Indigenous people).
But activists are alarmed; they say many of those killed are innocent Adivasis. And campaigners and opposition leaders are urging the government to cease fire and hold talks with Maoist rebels to find a solution to the decades-old issue.
More than 11,000 civilians and security forces have been killed in clashes involving Maoist fighters between 2000 and 2024, according to official figures. Security forces have killed at least 6,160 Maoist fighters during the same period, according to police and Maoist figures.
So, will the government’s hardline approach help bring peace, or will it further alienate the Adivasis, who are already one of the most marginalised groups in the country?
The armed rebellion in India originated in a 1967 rural uprising in the small town of Naxalbari, located in West Bengal state. The word Naxal comes from the town’s name.
Led by communist leaders Kanu Sanyal, Charu Majumdar, and Jungle Santal, the armed uprising called for addressing the issues of landlessness and exploitation of the rural poor by landlords.
The three leaders founded the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI(ML)) on April 22, 1969, to wage armed rebellion against the Indian state. They believed that their demands were not going to be met by the prevailing democratic setup.
The Naxal rebels were also inspired by the revolutionary ideology of the Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Modelled on the Chinese communist party’s approach to capturing the state, they waged a violent rebellion against the Indian security forces in mineral-rich central and eastern India for decades. The West Bengal government, led by Congress leader Siddhartha Shankar Ray, launched a fierce campaign to suppress the Naxalite uprising.
I once again assure the countrymen that India is sure to be Naxal-free by 31 March 2026
by Amit Shah, home minister
Sanyal, one of the founding leaders of the movement, told this reporter in 2010 that “by 1973, at least 32,000 Naxalites or sympathisers had been jailed across India.”
“Many were killed in fake encounters. And when the emergency was declared in June 1975, it was clear; the sun had almost set on the Naxalite movement,” he said. He died in 2010, aged 78, apparently by suicide in Siliguri.
Over the years, the CPI(ML) splintered into multiple parties, more than 20 of which still exist. The main CPI(ML) itself gave up armed struggle, expressed faith in the Indian Constitution and began participating in electoral politics. Currently, it is a legally recognised political organisation with several legislators.
Meanwhile, in 1980, one of the splinters, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People’s War, was founded by Kondapalli Seetharamayya and Kolluri Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh.
Another major breakaway faction, the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), had a base in Bihar and West Bengal states. In September 2004, the MCC and CPI(ML) People’s War merged, resulting in the formation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the largest armed Maoist organisation in India today.
The organisation’s most recent general secretary, Nambala Keshava Rao, alias Basavaraj, was killed by security forces on Wednesday in Bastar, Chhattisgarh – the last stronghold of Maoists.
