New Delhi: A day after a group of Naxal violence victims from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar staged a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding justice and peace for their region, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah made a clear statement about launching an all-out operation against the Maoists if they did not listen to his appeal of giving up violence.
On Thursday, 55 victims of Naxal violence from Chhattisgarh demonstrated at Kartavya Path under the banner of ‘Bastar Shanti Samiti’, making their way to Jantar Mantar by noon. “We demand that the voice of Bastar be heard and that our people be freed from this relentless violence,” Manguram Kawade, the coordinator of the Bastar Shanti Samiti, said.
Gudduram Lekam, 18, who was returning home after harvesting chillies stepped on a landmine in the jungle and lost his leg to a landmine laid by the Naxals in March. The bomb exploded and he lost his leg in the incident. Mamta Sori (35), a mother of three said, "Women in our village are not safe, they cannot even step outside our homes alone, and girls from our area have no access to proper education,”
Reacting to this, Shah on Friday appealed to Naxals to give up violence, lay down arms and surrender. Addressing the victims of Naxal violence from Chhattisgarh at his residence in the national capital, Shah assured that Maoists would be wiped out of India by March 31, 2026.
Shah announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to put an end to Naxal violence and ideology in the country. "I appeal to Naxals to give up violence, lay down arms and surrender as the militants in the northeast have done. If you do not listen, then an all-out operation will be carried out soon to end the menace," Shah said.
The Maoist issue has been confined to just four districts in Chhattisgarh, asserted the Union Home Minister, adding that security forces have made great progress in their operations against the Maoists. He said that the Modi administration had destroyed the Maoists' plans of building a corridor between Pashupatinath, Nepal, Tirupati, and Andhra Pradesh.
Soon, in close collaboration with the state administration, the Ministry of Home Affairs will develop a welfare programme for Chhattisgarh residents impacted by Naxal violence, Shah said.
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