India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah warned that the country can’t defeat Naxalism through military action alone—it requires confronting the ideology fueling the movement.
Speaking at the closing session of the Bharat Manthan 2025 event in New Delhi, themed “Naxal Mukt Bharat: Ending Red Terror Under Modi Leadership,” Shah reaffirmed the government’s target to make India Naxal-free by March 31, 2026. “This country will be free of Naxalism by March 31, 2026,” he said. “Many people think the Naxal problem will vanish once armed activities stop, but that’s not true. We must understand why Naxalism started, grew, and spread here—who gave it ideological, legal, and financial backing? Until Indian society grasps this Naxal ideology and those supporting it, the fight won’t truly end.”
Shah stressed the need for stronger efforts on the ideological side. “We can get Naxalites to surrender or our security forces can neutralize them, but we have to work hard on the ideas behind it,” he added. “The discussions here on this are spot on and matter to me.”
He also addressed critics, like leftists who defend Naxalites and question why they face force. “We don’t want to kill them,” Shah clarified. “Out of encounters, 290 died because they were armed. We arrested 1,090 where possible, and 881 surrendered. That shows our approach—we push for arrests and surrenders, with a solid surrender policy in place. But if they pick up arms to kill innocent Indians, security forces have no choice. Bullets must meet bullets.”
Shah highlighted the Modi government’s bigger wins in internal security. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, India dealt with three major trouble spots: Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast, and the left-wing extremism areas hit by Naxalism. These regions sparked unrest for four to five decades, killing thousands and siphoning budget money away from helping the poor.
“Modi ji made these hotspots a top priority and rolled out a clear, long-term plan to fix them,” Shah said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, things improved dramatically after scrapping Article 370. Shah shared key stats: deaths among security personnel dropped by 65%, and civilian deaths fell by 77%. “Today, every law applies there,” he noted. “For the first time since independence, panchayat elections happened—voter turnout hit 99.8% in district and taluka levels. Back then, MPs got elected with just 10,000 votes because of boycotts.”
Shah tied this to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) roots. Internal security has been a cornerstone since the party’s predecessor, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. “From Bharatiya Jana Sangh to BJP, protecting our borders and internal peace is key to our ideology,” he explained. “Our journey focuses on three big goals: the nation’s internal and external security, cultural nationalism, and reviving India’s timeless cultural spirit.”
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