Weeks after March 31, the Centre’s deadline for eliminating Naxalism in the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region over Monday and Tuesday to mark the symbolic conclusion of the “Naxal Mukt Bharat” mission.

In his public addresses during his two-day visit, Mr. Shah’s tone was steeped in realism: the issue is not merely of internal security but of ideology as well. “I can proudly say that India has now become free from Naxalism,” he said on May 18 during a meeting with the families of those felled, CAPF personnel and victims of Naxal violence in Jagdalpur, the administrative headquarters of the Bastar region that has seen a bloody battle between the Left-Wing Extremists and the state for decades.

The Home Minister described Naxalism as a “nightmare marked by bloodshed, underdevelopment”, and one that only offered a bleak future for the youth in affected regions. He asserted that India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had largely overcome the country’s biggest security challenges that it faced in regions like Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast besides Naxalism and underlined how the BJP-led Central and State governments had chalked out a strategy to eradicate Maoism swiftly by the deadline.

Living with dignity

He also spoke of the road ahead, saying Bastar would welcome 3,000 surrendered Naxals with compassion and help them live with dignity.

“While Naxalism has ended, the responsibility of the government is to compensate for the losses of the last 50 years within the next five years and bring Bastar on a par with the rest of the country… The Ministry of Home Affairs will ensure all necessary infrastructure and services, including roads, rural development, banking, postal services, gas supply, clean water, electricity and food security,” he said.

At a press conference the next day after the 26th meeting of the Central Zonal Council (CZC) that he chaired, Mr. Shah’s appeal – that people must be watchful of those inspired by Maoist ideology coming in disguise with guns to destroy – underlined that an ideological fight can carry on long after a security pushback.

The CZC comprises Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh besides Chhattisgarh.

Holding a high-profile meeting attended by the Chief Ministers of four States in the Bastar region was unthinkable even three years ago.

In the context of Maoism in Bastar, the security successes have come in the wake of a long-drawn ideological war.

The region has seen various phases of the Maoist challenge. In the decades gone by, there have been major attacks like the Tadmetla ambush of 2010 in which 76 security personnel were killed or the Jheeram Valley violence of 2013 in which almost the entire top brass of theState Congress leadership lost their lives.

There have also been questions on the state’s attempts to deal with the challenge – such as Salwa Judum, a vigilante movement started in 2005 and sponsored by the Chhattisgarh and Central governments, which was banned by the Supreme Court, or several encounters during the Raman Singh-led BJP government when human rights activists questioned the “encounter killings” by security forces.

Consistent stance

Even during his earlier visits to the region ahead of the March 31 deadline, Mr. Shah in his public addresses had squarely blamed the Maoist ideology for the lack of development.

This time, too, he claimed that intellectuals supporting it have argued that Naxalism arose because development failed to reach certain areas. He said this was not true, as there were many parts of the country that were even more backward than the Naxal-affected areas, but Naxalism did not spread there, and all those areas gradually moved towards development.

A significant announcement on this tour was the newly inaugurated Veer Shaheed Gundadhur Seva Dera, under which nearly one-third of around 200 existing police camps in Bastar will be converted into public service and livelihood centres.

“Citizens who had been deprived of development for 50 years will now receive 100% benefit from all schemes,” Mr. Shah said.