As Operation Kagar has thousands of security forces surrounding the last few 100s of Naxals, Opposition parties, Urban Naxals and media try to stop it, begging for ‘peace talks’
India is fighting terrorism on many fronts. Be it Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir or Naxalism (left-wing terrorism) spread across multiple states, the Indian security forces are working untiringly to ensure that peace, not violence, prosperity, not fear and unity, not division, prevail in the country. One such large-scale initiative aimed at eradicating Naxalism and its Maoist ideology in India is Operation Kagar.
Operation Kagar: Bringing Naxalism to the edge of total extermination
Operation Kagar is a part of the Modi government’s multi-pronged strategy combining aggressive military operations, enhanced coordination between Central and State forces, and development efforts to address the root causes of Naxalism.
Under this operation, around 1 lakh para-military troops, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its elite CoBRA units, District Reserve Guards DRG), and state police have been deployed in the left-wing terrorism affected areas. These security personnel are equipped with modern technology like drones for information gathering, AI for intelligence gathering, and satellite imagery, among others.
Since its inception in January 2024, Operation Kagar gave an unprecedented intensity to the anti-Naxal efforts, especially in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, with remarkable results in 2024 alone. In the year 2024 alone, 287 Maoist terrorists were neutralised, thousands were arrested, and around 837 surrendered.
Notably, security forces have gunned down over 150 Naxals in 2025 in Chhattisgarh alone. Similar operations in Jharkhand have also seen several deaths of the Left-wing extremists. On April 21, eight Naxals, including a top leader with a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head, were killed in Jharkhand’s Lalpania.
Operation Kagar seeks to eradicate Naxalism in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (Gadchiroli), Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana as well as installing new camps as part of the military offensive by security forces.
It must be recalled that until 2015, around 106 districts in 10 states were marked naxal-affected. By 2024, this number came down to 38 and then to 18. Of these, 12 were most naxal-affected, however, this number has further dropped to just 6. These 6 “most affected districts” include Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Sukma in Chhattisgarh, West Singhbhum in Jharkhand and Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra.
Similarly, the number of “districts of concern” has also plummeted to 6 from 9. These 6 districts are: Andhra Pradesh (Alluri Sitarama Raju), Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat), Odisha (Kalahandi, Kandhamal, and Malkangiri), and Telangana (Bhadradri-Kothagudem).
The rapid improvement in the LWE scenario in the last year is primarily due to the establishment of new security camps in the insurgency-affected core areas and development-oriented works such as expansion of roads, transport facilities, water, electricity and other welfare schemes of the government reaching the villagers.
Reports say that the security forces have established over 302 new Forward Operating Bases (FOBs), and 612 fortified police stations in recent years to curb security vacuums and secure reclaimed areas.
Operation Kagar in Karguetta, one of India’s largest anti-Naxal operations underway along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border
Currently, security forces from three states—Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra—have cordoned off a large group of Naxals, estimated to be about 1000, in the dense forested region. The Karrguetta Hills area on Chhattisgarh-Telangana border have been surrounded, to prevent the escape of Naxals through this route.
Targeting the last remaining Maoist strongholds, over 20,000 security personnel from Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have been eliminating Naxalites this month.
The security forces, including DRG, Bastar Fighters, Special Task Force (STF), alongside CRPF’s CoBRA units, are reported to have encircled the left-wing terrorists in Bijapur’s dense forests. Using advanced surveillance, the forces are ensuring that the Maoists are not only tracked but also prevented from escaping.
Earlier, Naxals had released a press note asking the people in these forest regions to avoid certain areas, as they have planted IEDs. Notorious Naxal leaders like Hidma and Deva are said to be inside the area. The Naxals are said to be from Battalion 1 of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA). Around four helicopters, 20 drones equipped with satellite imagery tech and maps by NTRO, and many other equipment are being used in the current operations.
BRS’s KCR, Communist Party, leftist groups invoke ‘democracy’ and ‘peace’ to deter the Centre from finishing the Naxal menace once and for all
While Union Home Minister Amit Shah has on multiple occasions reiterated the Modi government’s ambition to completely annihilate the “cancer” of left-wing terrorism in India by 31st March 2026, the opposition parties are calling for a halt to Operation Kagar. This comes when the operation is in its final phase.
In this vein, Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC Kavitha on Monday urged the central government to “call for a ceasefire” in Operation Kagar in Chhattisgarh and find a “political solution” to Naxalism by inviting Naxalites for talks, stressing that the issue should be addressed through dialogue, not force.
“Operation Kagar is being carried out in Chhattisgarh and our party, and we firmly believe that the ideology of Naxalism should be eradicated only through dialogue and not by the use of force… India must find a political solution to Naxalism. I believe the central government should immediately call for a ceasefire, invite the Naxalites for talks, and I am very confident that every party in this country will support this cause,” Kavitha said.
Meanwhile, former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) accused the government and security forces of going on a killing spree against tribals in Chhattisgarh under the pretext of eliminating Naxalites. Appearing nothing less than an advocate of the left-wing terrorists, KCR invoked ‘democracy’ and said that the government should hold peace talks with the Naxalites as the latter is willing to engage in dialogue.
“Today, the Centre in the name of Kagar operation in Chhattisgarh, is massacring youth and tribals. This is not right. Naxalites (Maoists) are proposing that they are ready to hold talks with the government. I am appealing to the central government to immediately halt Operation Kagar. Just because you have power, you cannot go on a killing spree. This is not democracy. Invite them, create a democratic space and be open to listening to them.” KCR said, adding that this was his party’s resolution and the same would be conveyed to the Centre.
Meanwhile, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy recently had a meeting with the Peace Dialogue Committee. This committee requested CM Reddy to take initiative and start peace talks with Naxalites and the Central government. On Monday, Reddy said that he will take a decision about initiating peace talks after discussing the matter with the Congress party’s top leadership.
This comes as several Maoist ‘leaders’ are coming forward seeking peace talks with the Central government and calling for a ‘ceasefire’. Earlier this month, Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias ‘Abhay’, a leader of the banned outfit Communist Party of India (Maoist), wrote a letter offering ceasefire and peace talks with the Central government.
Before this, a broad coalition comprising 150 alleged activists, more than 50 trade unions and leftist organisations called for an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations between the two sides
OpIndia reported how the leftists in an open letter blatantly sided with the Maoist terrorists and emphasised that the government should discontinue its anti-Naxal crackdown. They adeptly included references to indigenous groups, known as “Adivasis” and local villagers, to create an emotional appeal rooted in humanitarianism while invoking terms such as constitution, democracy, and human rights.
The letter was released in the name of groups like All India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA), All India Krantikari Kisan Sabha (A.I.K.K.S), All India Lawyers Association for Justice, Association for Protection of Civil Rights and 50 such organisations. Notorious individuals like former Amnesty India supremo and Umar Khalid fan Aakar Patel, Delhi riots accused Harsh Mander, along with Ashima Roy Chowdhury, Dr. Walter Fernandes, Dr. Sebastian Joseph, Professor and Fawaz Shaheen, were among 149 “concerned citizens” who were also behind the letter.
Last week, CPI (M) district secretary Nunna Nageswara Rao, educationist Ravi Maruth, CPI district leader Singu Narasimha Rao, CPI (ML) New Democracy State leader A Madhu, Telangana Jana Samithi State general secretary G Shankar Rao, Aam Aadmi Party district secretary S Subba Rao, BSP district secretary Nagaraju, Telangana People JAC district convener D Vijay and others participated in ‘peace rally’ in Telangana’s Khammam district.
This rally was held to demand an immediate pause on the ongoing Operation Kagar (also spelt as Kagaar) in the Dandakaranya region. The ‘eminent’ leftists called for a ceasefire to hold peace talks with the Naxalites. The entire Maoist-sympathising cabal argues that Operation Kagar is ‘undermining’ democracy. They have been shooting off the shoulders of Adivasia, contending that the ongoing operation being undertaken by the security forces is causing distress to Adivasis residing in the Dandakaranya region as Maoists have been showering rose petals on them all these years.
On 27th April 2025, a broad coalition of ‘civil society’ organisations and individuals held a virtual press conference-cum-public meet to call for urgent peace talks between the Government of India and the CPI (Maoist).
From Maharashtra’s Dharavi slum to Maoist-infested Dandakaranya region, leftists have the same playbook, invoking all high-sounding terms like democratic values, environmental damage, and whatnot to deter the government from breaking the spiral of the status quo and bringing development to such areas.
Leftist media joins in to peddle victimhood of Maoist terrorists, blames Central govt for anti-Naxal Ops
In her article published in Frontline magazine on 9th April, writer and Naxal-sympathiser Meena Kandasamy painted Maoist terrorists as ‘oppressed’ groups while the Central government and the security forces as ‘oppressors’. Kandasamy claimed that the security forces are killing Adivasis, torturing and raping them. She accused the state of ‘manufacturing’ crisis and solution as if the Modi government requested Maoists to become terrorists, oppose development, kill innocent people and divert locals from mainstream, so that they can deploy military to obliterate Maoists and then present it as an achievement. Invoking the ‘Salwa Judum’ army, they presented the Naxal versus India conflict as a strategy of the Indian government to pit Adivasi against Adivasi, implying that all Adivasis are Maoists and all Maoists are Adivasis.
It must be recalled that Salwa Judum was a militia deployed for counterinsurgency operations in Chhattisgarh. This unit, active from 2005-2011, mostly comprised of local tribal youths, who received training and support the Chhattisgarh state government.
Unsurprisingly, Kandasamy’s social media pages are replete with pro-Naxal propaganda.
Just as Frontline, the Nazariya magazine also maligned Operation Kagar and claimed that security forces are not only killing Maoist terrorists but also killing and raping Adivasis. It went on to equate the military action in Dandakaranya to crush left-wing terrorism to ‘genocide’.
From bolstering security infrastructure in former Maoist strongholds, including setting up numerous security camps to restrict Naxalite movements and enable development projects, to launching initiatives like Bastar Olympics housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the central government and the security forces are working tirelessly to reintegrate the LWE-affected locals and crush Maoist appeal. On one hand, surrendered Naxalites are being financially and in other ways supported by the government to live a normal and dignified life, on the other, security forces are eliminating Naxalites who prevent development in tribal areas, forcibly denying access to a better life, livelihood, education and healthcare to Adivasis and often torture them for their own politics.
However, the leftist groups, media and politicians are continuously portraying the Central government and security forces as ‘oppressors’ while downplaying the Maoist atrocities, including forced recruitments, ambushes, and extortion, all aimed at terrorising the local tribal communities. Their flawed narrative of corporate collusion and the supposed Adivasi victimhood dismisses the Centre’s rehabilitation efforts and development initiatives as mere propaganda. By presenting an oversimplified framing of the situation, Naxal-sympathisers are undermining the sacrifices of the security forces who have lost their lives in Maoist attacks. The leftists, for their own ideological gains, want to prolong a Naxal cancer that has already claimed countless innocent lives.
While Naxalism is at its weakest, with only its last fortress left to be obliterated, allowing it to regroup and regain strength under the garb of peace talks and dialogue would be a huge disservice to the tribal communities and all the victims of left-wing terrorism. The Adivasis and the Dandakaranya region deserve peace and progress, not perpetual subjugation and terror by Maoist terrorists.
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