End Of Naxalism In Chhattisgarh Soon? Movement Struggles With Ageing Leadership

The top Moist leaders, the majority of whom are septuagenarian and hail from Telugu-speaking states, face serious age-related ailments raising doubts about the survival of the movement. As the security forces are tightening the noose around the Maoist bastion in Abujmarh, it's only a matter of time before the leadership either succumbs to their ailments or is put behind bars.

Hyderabad(Telangana): The dense forests of Dandakaranya in Chhattisgarh have long been an impregnable Maoist bastion. Known as Abujmarh or "unknown hills" in the Gondi language, the mire of the jungles can only be navigated by the local tribes dwelling for ages.

However, this once impenetrable Maoist stronghold is now gaining the attention of the security forces as the top Maoist leaders are camping there. To encircle the Left-Wing extremists, base camps have been set up around the four-kilometre radius of the epicentre of the nefarious activities and security personnel are gradually inching towards to corner the ultras.

The CRPF established 20 new camps between January and April this year while the Border Security Force (BSF) operates three camps in the critical Kanker district. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has deployed three battalions of 3,000 personnel. Additionally, the District Reserve Guards (DRG) and local police are actively hunting for Maoists in the area. It seems only a matter of time before forces impregnate the Maoists’ territory.

The Central government is proactively focused on eliminating Naxalism from the country with special attention to Chhattisgarh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have repeatedly expressed their intent for the same. In line with this goal, security forces are making concerted efforts in Chhattisgarh through continuous combing operations and close surveillance, yielding visible results.

The Naxalite movement, led predominantly by Telugu-speaking people for half a century, now battles with ageing leadership. Namballa Keshavrao alias Basavaraj is the present secretary of the Maoist Central Committee, and 11 of the 16 committee members, all of whom are septuagenarians, hail from Telugu states. Leaders like Keshavrao, former secretary Ganapathy and others such as Tippiri Tirupati, Malla Rajireddy, Kadari Satyanarayana, Pulluri Prasad, and Modem Balakrishna are having serious age-related ailments. Navigating the difficult terrain has become increasingly difficult for them, raising questions about how they will continue to evade the grip of security forces.

The situation of the top Maoist leaders is further complicated by the gradual advancement of combing operations across state borders with Telangana, Maharashtra, and Odisha, raising doubts about their survival as their arrests could mark the end of the Maoist movement.

The security forces have gunned down 120 Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Around 250 ultras have laid down arms and 223 are behind bars. As operations intensify, these numbers are expected to rise further, weakening the Maoist grip on the region.