RAIPUR: Home minister Amit Shah referred to Maoists in Chhattisgarh‘s Bastar as “brothers” and urged then to surrender their weapons and join the mainstream, assuring them protection and integration into the country’s development. “I’ve come to request all Naxalite brothers: lay down arms, join the mainstream. You are our own. No one rejoices at the death of a Naxalite,” he said Saturday.
Shah stressed the need for peace in Bastar to facilitate development. “What could not happen in past 50 years, PM Modi wants to give everything in five years. This can only happen when there is peace,” he said at the closing ceremony of Bastar Pandum festival in Dantewada – once a stronghold of Maoist insurgency but now an area where security forces are gaining an upper hand.
In past three months, 521 Maoists have laid down arms, while 881 surrenders were recorded in 2024, Shah said.
He highlighted govt’s vision for schools, healthcare, and food security. “Every village should have a small clinic, every tehsil a small hospital. The district centre should have treatment facilities for every disease. Every household should receive 60kg of rice for free, everyone should have a ration card, an Aadhaar card, and a health insurance card,” Shah said at the event that saw a gathering of over 50,000 tribal people.
Reaffirming govt’s resolve to eliminate Maoist insurgency, Shah vowed that Bastar would be free from “red terror” by next Chaitra Navratri (March-April 2026).
Shah lauded Chhattisgarh’s new surrender and rehabilitation policy, which grants Rs 1 crore to villages that declare themselves “Naxal-free”. He urged local communities to hold village meetings and convince Maoists to surrender, saying: “Forces will continue to take the fight to those who choose the path of violence, but those who surrender will be welcomed with dignity.”
