‘I proudly declare — India is now Naxal-free’: Amit Shah in Bastar on first visit after his March 31 deadline

The Union Home Ministry declared India free of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) following the successful conclusion of Operation Kagar, a large-scale anti-insurgenc...

What Happened

The Union Home Ministry declared India free of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) following the successful conclusion of Operation Kagar, a large-scale anti-insurgency operation launched in early 2024 with a stated deadline of 31 March 2026.
The announcement was made at a public event in Bastar, Chhattisgarh — the epicentre of Maoist insurgency in India — where senior ministry officials formally declared the operation successful.
Operation Kagar involved deployment of 60,000–100,000 security personnel across Chhattisgarh and Telangana, using a combination of forward operating bases (FOBs), drone-based intelligence, strengthened police infrastructure, and a generous surrender policy.
By late March 2026, all active Naxal insurgents were reported to have been either neutralised or surrendered, with only two senior commanders still at large.
The Red Corridor — once spanning nearly 180 districts across 10 states at its peak in the late 2000s — had shrunk to just 3 affected districts by early 2026.

Static Topic Bridges

Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in India — Origins, Ideology, and the Red Corridor

Left Wing Extremism in India refers to armed insurgency by groups inspired by Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology, seeking to overthrow the state through protracted people's war. The movement traces its origins to the 1967 Naxalbari peasant uprising in West Bengal, from which the generic term "Naxalism" derives. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) — CPI (Maoist) — formed in 2004 through a merger of CPI (ML) People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India, became the principal umbrella organisation for armed insurgency.

Red Corridor: the geographic belt across central and eastern India with sustained LWE presence; historically covered parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Kerala
At peak (late 2000s): ~180 districts affected; annual LWE-related violence incidents numbered in the hundreds
By April 2024: officially 38 districts across 7 states classified as LWE-affected
By early 2026: reduced to 3 districts following Operation Kagar
Root causes identified by security analysts: land alienation, displacement due to mining and development projects, absence of state services in remote tribal areas, weak implementation of Fifth Schedule protections and the Forest Rights Act (FRA)

Connection to this news: Operation Kagar's success in reducing the Red Corridor to near-zero is the culmination of nearly two decades of combined security and development strategy.

Operation Kagar — Tactical Architecture

Operation Kagar (Hindi: कगार, meaning "brink" or "edge") was launched in early 2024 by the Ministry of Home Affairs with a publicly declared deadline of 31 March 2026 for eliminating organised LWE. The operation represented a qualitative shift from earlier piecemeal counterinsurgency toward a coordinated, time-bound campaign.

Four strategic pillars: (1) establishment of Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) deep in forested areas; (2) drone and satellite intelligence for real-time tracking; (3) construction of over 612 new police stations in liberated areas; (4) a generous surrender policy offering rehabilitation, vocational training, and cash incentives
Security forces deployed: approximately 60,000–100,000 personnel from CRPF, state police special forces, and STF units
Primary theatre: Bastar division (Chhattisgarh) and border areas of Telangana
MHA data (2010–2023): LWE-related violence incidents fell by over 77%; deaths fell by more than 90%

Connection to this news: Operation Kagar is the culminating phase of India's SAMADHAN strategy, converting decades of attrition into a final time-bound offensive.

SAMADHAN Strategy — India's Comprehensive LWE Framework

The SAMADHAN doctrine was formally enunciated by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2017 as an integrated counter-LWE strategy spanning security, governance, and development. The acronym stands for: S — Smart Leadership; A — Aggressive Strategy; M — Motivation and Training; A — Actionable Intelligence; D — Dashboard-Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators); H — Harnessing Technology; A — Action Plan for Each Theatre; N — No Access to Financing.

Dual approach: security operations (concurrent) with development delivery (ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS programme, road connectivity, banking, telecom in LWE areas)
Road connectivity: the Road Requirement Plan for LWE areas sanctioned construction of approximately 17,000 km of roads in affected districts
Mobile connectivity: approximately 2,343 mobile towers installed in LWE-affected districts under a special scheme
Banking: Jan Dhan Yojana and post-office banking extended to remote tribal areas to undercut Maoist parallel taxation

Connection to this news: Operation Kagar was the security spearhead of SAMADHAN; its declared success signals that the MHA views the institutional and kinetic components as having jointly succeeded.

UAPA and the Legal Designation of CPI (Maoist)

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) is India's primary anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency statute. CPI (Maoist) and all its affiliated formations — including People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) — are designated as banned terrorist organisations under UAPA. The Act criminalises membership, fund-raising, and support for banned organisations, and provides for detention without bail for up to 180 days during investigation.

CPI (Maoist) banned under UAPA: 2009, as a "terrorist organisation" under Schedule I
UAPA empowers security forces to prosecute individuals for membership, harbouring, or supporting a banned organisation — relevant to arrests of "over-ground workers" who provide logistics
UAPA amendments (2019): expanded the definition of terrorist to include individuals (not just organisations); NIA given enhanced powers
Legal controversy: human rights organisations and tribal rights groups have raised concerns about misuse of UAPA against bonafide tribal activists, journalists, and academics
Supreme Court oversight: habeas corpus petitions under Article 32 have been the principal check on UAPA detentions

Connection to this news: With Operation Kagar concluded, UAPA prosecutions of arrested cadre and commanders will form the post-operational legal phase — determining whether the insurgency is legally dismantled alongside its military defeat.

Fifth Schedule and Tribal Rights — The Structural Root Cause

The Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution (Articles 244 and 244A) provides for special governance in "Scheduled Areas" — predominantly tribal regions — through Tribal Advisory Councils and the power of Governors to direct that central laws do not apply. The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996, extended gram sabha powers to Fifth Schedule areas, giving tribal communities rights over minor forest produce, land acquisition consultation, and management of natural resources.

Fifth Schedule areas cover large parts of the former LWE-affected states: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan
Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006: recognises forest-dwelling communities' individual and community rights over land and resources — implementation has been contested
Land alienation of tribals — particularly through mining leases in Bastar and Jharkhand — has been a persistent grievance cited by Naxal movements as justification for armed resistance
Critics of Operation Kagar argue that military success without accelerated Fifth Schedule and FRA implementation risks leaving the structural conditions for re-emergence intact

Connection to this news: The government's narrative of LWE elimination must be read alongside the unresolved constitutional obligations under the Fifth Schedule and PESA — the degree to which these are addressed will determine whether the insurgency's defeat is durable.

Key Facts & Data

Operation Kagar launched: early 2024; declared concluded by March 2026
Security personnel deployed: 60,000–100,000 (CRPF + state police special forces + STF)
Red Corridor peak: ~180 districts across 10 states (late 2000s)
Red Corridor as of early 2026: 3 districts
LWE violence decline (2010–2023): incidents down >77%; deaths down >90% (MHA data)
SAMADHAN strategy: MHA, 2017; 8-component integrated doctrine
CPI (Maoist) designated as terrorist organisation under UAPA: 2009
FOBs established under Operation Kagar: deep-forest forward bases, exact number classified
Police stations built in liberated LWE areas: 612+
Road Requirement Plan for LWE areas: ~17,000 km sanctioned
Mobile towers in LWE-affected districts: ~2,343 installed under special scheme
Fifth Schedule areas: 10 states; governed by Governors + Tribal Advisory Councils
PESA, 1996: extends gram sabha powers in Fifth Schedule areas
FRA, 2006: tribal land and forest rights recognition — implementation remains contested