Maoism to be Eradicated by 2026

• 10 Feb 2025

Why in News? 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the government will eradicate "Naxals" by 31st March 2026, ensuring that no citizen loses their life due to the insurgency.

Key Points 

• Bijapur Operation: 
  • The Home Minister highlighted that security forces achieved a significant victory in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, by eliminating 31 Maoists and recovering a large cache of arms and explosives. 
  • Chhattisgarh Chief Minister affirmed that Maoism in the country and the state will come to an end.  
  • It is also emphasized that efforts are underway to remove Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) laid by Maoists and to provide essential infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, roads, water supply, anganwadis, and mobile towers, across the Bastar region. 
• Maoist Casualties in 2024: 
  • According to police records, security forces neutralized 219 Maoists in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh.

Maoism 

• About:  
  • Maoism is a form of communism developed by Mao Tse Tung. It is a doctrine to capture State power through a combination of armed insurgency, mass mobilization and strategic alliances.  
    • Mao called this process, the ‘Protracted People's War’, where the emphasis is on ‘military line’ to capture power.  
• Maoist Ideology:  
  • The central theme of Maoist ideology is the use of violence and armed insurrection as a means to capture State power.   
    • ‘Bearing of arms is non-negotiable’ as per the Maoist insurgency doctrine.   
• Indian Maoists:  
  • The largest and the most violent Maoist formation in India is the Communist Party of India (Maoist) formed in 2004.  
  • The CPI (Maoist) and its front organizations were banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.  
  • Front Organizations are the off-shoots of the parent Maoist party, which professes a separate existence to escape legal liability.