Being a Naxalite is not a Crime

Sumeet Singh

In recent months, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly announced the complete eradication of Naxalism from tribal-dominated areas by March 31, 2026. The Modi government has made such dictatorial declarations, which amount to a direct threat of genocide against Adivasis. Even more shameful is the silence of the Supreme Court, national political parties, and the mainstream media, which, instead of strongly opposing such fascist announcements of human massacres, are acting as mute spectators in favour of big corporate houses and the Modi government.

The Modi government has launched “Operation Kagaar” in Chhattisgarh and “Operation Clean” in Jharkhand under the pretext of eliminating Naxalism. However, in reality, this amounts to a declaration of war against the country’s own citizens–Adivasis–and a strategy to displace them by turning tribal areas into military cantonments. Over the past few months, innocent Adivasis have been targeted in police encounters under the guise of counter-Naxal operations. The brutal massacre of innocent Adivasis, including women and children, in Chhattisgarh, under the pretence of them being Naxalites, is a shocking example of this tyranny. Given this trend, it is expected that government-led violence, such as the killing of Adivasis and their imprisonment under false cases, will intensify in the coming months.

For decades, central and state governments, serving the interests of imperialist forces, have signed anti-people agreements to set up ‘development projects’ in tribal areas. These agreements have facilitated the illegal sale of natural resources–forests, land, water, mountains, and coal mines–at throwaway prices in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. In reality, these development projects have nothing to do with the prosperity of Adivasis.

For centuries, poor Adivasi and tribal communities have survived using the natural resources of their regions. They have consistently opposed these exploitative agreements through democratic protests, only to be suppressed by government violence. The “MoolvasiBachaoManch,” which has been resisting such oppression for years, has been banned, and its leaders have been imprisoned under false charges. Adivasi youth are being recruited as temporary employees in the District Reserve Guard and central security forces under the pretense of employment and rehabilitation, only to be used against their own people in brutal conflicts.

To instil fear among Adivasis, since 2019, hundreds of paramilitary security camps have been established in Bastar, with heavy police deployment every three to four kilometres. The Indian Constitution’s Fifth Schedule and PESA act (Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 legally protects the autonomous lifestyle of Adivasis, granting them natural and hereditary rights over their land and resources. However, state governments are disregarding these laws, forcefully acquiring land through fraudulent Gram Sabha approvals under the threat of violence. Under the name of development, forests, mountains, and lakes are being destroyed, and environmental protection laws are being blatantly violated.

Under “Operation Green Hunt,” security forces burned, looted, and massacred people in more than 650 villages, displacing hundreds of thousands of Adivasis and Dalits. Thousands of innocent Adivasis who resisted government oppression have been jailed without trial, falsely accused of sedition, and executed in fake encounters. Women and girls have been subjected to heinous crimes, including rape, while even children have been targeted with bullets. In 2024 alone, 229 so-called Maoists were killed in police encounters. Despite demands from human rights organisations for independent investigations, no impartial inquiry has been conducted, nor has any report been made public. Journalists and human rights organizations are barred from investigating police encounters or accessing tribal areas. This is not democracy–it is dictatorship.

The most shameful aspect of this situation is that instead of exposing the atrocities committed by police and paramilitary forces, a large section of print and electronic media serves the ruling classes and corporate sector, presenting a one-sided narrative that misleads the public by labeling defenceless and innocent Adivasis as Maoists.

The ruling classes falsely portray Maoists as armed rebels against the Indian state, but do they not realise that the real state terrorism is their economic policies? These policies have displaced millions of poor and marginalised people, snatched their land and employment, looted their natural resources, polluted the environment, thrown innocent people in jail under false cases, and carried out mass killings through fake encounters and drone attacks. Villages have been burned, women have been raped, and draconian laws have been imposed to suppress democratic rights. This state-sponsored terrorism, enforced by central security forces and state police, is the real fascism being inflicted on tribal and indigenous areas.

Given these realities, how does the Modi government shamelessly ask for the votes of Adivasis after committing such atrocities? India, which claims to be the world’s largest democracy, is suppressing minorities in Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, the Northeast, and tribal-dominated states through colonial laws like AFSPA and UAPA, systematically violating democratic rights and eliminating dissenters through extrajudicial killings. The mainstream media plays a crucial role in concealing these crimes from the Indian public, the international community, and human rights organisations.

In truth, Naxalism/Maoism is not a sudden phenomenon or merely a law-and-order issue. Being a Naxalite is not a crime but rather a collective, people-driven revolutionary movement against decades of state-sponsored plunder, oppression, corruption, and injustice. Instead of politically addressing this movement, the ruling elites–including the police, military, judiciary, corporate houses, political parties, and communal forces–are conspiring to crush it through brute force. However, despite all these brutal tactics, the government has failed to eliminate Naxalism.

A few years ago, filmmaker Prakash Jha’s Hindi movie Chakravyuh examined the Naxal issue, concluding that “until the looting and inequality in tribal areas end, and the democratic rights of citizens–freedom, security, justice, and development–are ensured, it will be extremely difficult to establish peace in these regions.” The film also delivers a clear message to governments: “Naxalism has always been deliberately presented as a mere law-and-order problem. There has never been a sincere political will to resolve it. Instead, governments have always emphasised a military solution, treating their own citizens as enemies in an undeclared war. As a result, frustration and anger against the central and state governments have grown among Adivasis. Rather than wasting more time, the issue should be resolved through dialogue.”

For several years, prominent intellectuals, retired judges, human rights organisations, social activists, and sociologists have been making strong appeals to both the government and Naxalite groups to cease hostilities and engage in dialogue. Unfortunately, instead of taking any positive action, central and state governments have labeled these intellectuals as “Urban Naxals” and traitors.

Now once again, the Central Committee of the Maoist party and intellectuals, legal experts, and sociologists from various sections of society have strongly appealed to the central and state governments to stop the military operations and initiate peace talks, but the central government has not given any positive response to this appeal.

As a result, democratic voices raising concerns about illegal actions by central security forces and police in Naxalite-affected areas are being silenced. Journalists, lawyers, writers, intellectuals, and human rights organisations face an unofficial ban on investigative reporting. Many are falsely implicated under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and imprisoned indefinitely to prevent them from providing legal and moral support to the affected tribal communities.

The ruling elite, opposition parties, judiciary, media, and the general public need to understand that Naxalites are not enemies of the nation. They are not rebelling against the Indian Constitution or demanding a separate state or region. Instead, they are fighting for the economic and social development, equality, security, and democratic rights of the oppressed Adivasis and tribal communities in these regions. Their struggle is directed against corporate agreements and policies that harm the people.

A critical question arises: When successive central governments ignore even peaceful and democratic struggles, what alternatives remain for the starving and oppressed Adivasis other than armed struggle? A prime example is Manipur’s social activist IromSharmila, who went on a 16-year hunger strike to demand the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Yet, the central government and mainstream media completely ignored her legitimate demand. This shows that the very economic exploitation, oppression, and injustice imposed on Adivasis by central and state governments have forced Naxalite groups into armed struggle.

Therefore, instead of waging a bloody war against its own citizens, the central and state governments should adopt a people-centric approach and engage in sincere dialogue to find a permanent solution.

The government must acknowledge that Naxalism is purely a political issue. Suppressing the poor Adivasis and marginalised communities through state violence will neither provide a permanent solution nor bring peace to these regions. The only viable resolution lies in political dialogue between the Government and Maoists which should be initiated without any further delay.

(Sumeet Singh based in Amritsar [7696030173] is a Social Activist in the field of human rights)

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Frontier
Vol 58, No. 1, June 29 - Jul 5, 2025