New Delhi, April 5. Imagine the forests of Bastar in 2013. There were no roads, no mobile phone signals, no banks, and no schools of any kind. A parallel government, complete with its own courts, tax collectors, and executioners, ruled these jungles through absolute terror. Tribal families buried their dead in silence, fearing that even expressing grief would raise suspicion. Security forces moved in convoys because travelling alone was a death sentence.
India, the world's largest democracy, had essentially ceded sovereign territory to a Maoist militia operating under the instructions of a long-dead Chinese dictator. This situation persisted for 57 years. Twenty thousand people were killed. Twelve crore citizens were effectively held hostage by an insurgency that previous governments had quietly accepted as a permanent feature of the national landscape. Then, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office. And everything changed.
Sixty years of failure: The Inheritance PM Modi inherited
Naxalism persisted because it was seen as unbeatable. It persisted because successive governments refused to muster the political will to defeat it. The Congress party, which had governed India for most of its post-independence years, found it more useful to exploit tribal grievances as a narrative than to address the underlying problem. The result was catastrophic: 20,000 lives lost, including 5,000 security personnel, and 12 crore citizens permanently outside the protection of the law. When PM Modi took office in 2014, he inherited not just an insurgency, but also half a century of institutional betrayal.
The Masterstroke: PM Modi fuses welfare and security into one doctrine
PM Modi's key contribution was recognizing that tribal welfare and national security are not separate issues. They are interconnected. Previous governments had operated security operations in one area while developing the region in another, often with conflicting priorities. PM Modi brought these two areas together into a single, non-negotiable strategy.
For the first time, the constitutional promise reached the people. Proper houses were built. Gas cylinders were made available. Clean water was accessible. Jan Dhan accounts were established. Food security was ensured. Insurance was provided. The government didn't just send in security forces; it brought the Constitution to every household and village. PM Modi understood that the vacuum created by the state was exploited by insurgents. When this vacuum is filled, the insurgency loses its power. Twelve years of this approach yielded results that sixty years of managed ambiguity could not.
HM Amit Shah: The Man who set a deadline and kept it
Effective strategic vision requires someone to execute it. In Home Minister Amit Shah, PM Modi found that person. Amit Shah brought a combination of decisiveness and patience to the Home Ministry.
In August 2024, HM Shah publicly announced that India would be free of Naxalism by March 31, 2026. This was a firm commitment, not just a hope or aspiration. A deadline set by a minister with a proven track record created a sense of urgency and sent a clear message to all those involved in the insurgency: the endgame had begun.
A Parliamentary address that history will record
Home Minister Amit Shah's ninety-minute address to Parliament on March 30 was one of the most impactful speeches by a minister in recent memory. Having reviewed over two thousand articles supporting Naxalism in the preceding six days, he cited specific operational dates, committee structures, and surrender numbers with precision. He paid respect to the fallen with dignity, without exploiting their sacrifice for political gain. PM Modi described it as a speech filled with important facts, historical context, and a decade of governmental effort. That commendation, from a Prime Minister, spoke volumes.
The numbers that no propagandist can spin away
The data speaks for itself. In three years: 706 Naxalites were neutralised, and over 4,800 surrendered. In 2025 alone: 270 were neutralised, 680 were arrested, and 1,225 laid down their arms. The extremist Maoist Politburo was dismantled: 12 top leaders were killed, and the sole remaining fugitive was in active surrender talks. The 27-member state committee of the affected region was completely eliminated. Over the decade, more than 8,000 cadres abandoned the armed movement.
The development record is equally clear. 14,902 kilometres of roads were built through Maoist-controlled areas, which had been deliberately inaccessible for decades. 8,640 mobile towers were commissioned, ending the communication blackout that the insurgents had used to control the region. 179 Eklavya Residential Schools were established. 5,899 post offices with banking services were opened in LWE districts. These are not just statistics; they represent the Constitution, delivered on a large scale, in the most neglected areas of India.
Compassion as a weapon: Exposing the propaganda
Even as this transformation was taking place, international platforms aligned with Maoist networks described security operations as genocide and portrayed killed armed commanders as martyrs of tribal India. HM Amit Shah exposed this by highlighting that none of the two thousand articles mourned the widows of security personnel. None grieved for the civilians killed in Maoist ambushes. None acknowledged the tribal families whose children were forced into the conflict.
This silence is structural, not accidental. The Naxals never represented Adivasi India. It was necessary for the Adivasi people to remain in a state of unresolved grievance to justify their own existence. Every road built and school opened under PM Modi directly challenged this argument. Selective compassion towards armed insurgents, while neglecting their victims, is not humanitarianism. It is insurgent propaganda disguised as humanitarianism.
Consolidating the win: The work that must not stop
Rehabilitating surrendered cadres must continue with full seriousness. The remaining two affected districts must be fully integrated into the national mainstream. Development efforts in Bastar must continue, even after the security situation improves. The lesson of this decade is clear: comprehensive and consistent governance is the most effective counter-insurgency strategy. This lesson must become a permanent policy, not just a temporary measure.
A constitutional debt, finally settled
The forests of Bastar now have roads, schools, and mobile phone signals. Children there will grow up knowing that the Indian state is there to protect them, not exploit them. The Maoist Politburo has been dismantled, cadre by cadre, committee by committee. On March 31, 2026, HM Amit Shah stood before Parliament and closed a chapter that sixty years of governments had allowed to remain open.
PM Narendra Modi provided the structural vision and insight that national security and the welfare of India's most forgotten citizens are one indivisible obligation. HM Amit Shah provided the operational architecture, the public deadline, and the executive will to deliver it.
Together, in twelve years, the courageous leadership and vision of PM Narendra Modi, along with the diligent efforts of HM Amit Shah, have settled a constitutional debt that had accumulated over sixty years. This is not just a political achievement; it is a civilisational one.
(The author is a senior advocate practising in the Supreme Court of India)