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Raipur, August 24, 2024: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today chaired a review meeting on Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and inter-state coordination meeting with Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states in Raipur.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, Deputy Chief Minister-Home Vijay Sharma, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Directors of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and National Investigation Agency (NIA), Director Generals of CRPF, BSF, SSB and ITBP attended the meeting.
Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana also attended the meeting.
Strategy for tackling Left Wing Extremism, Inter-State Coordination, capacity building of Security Forces, expeditious investigation and prosecution of LWE cases and comprehensive development of LWE affected areas were some of the important issues discussed during the meeting, official sources said.
In his address, Home Minister Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the campaign against Left Wing Extremism is now at a decisive stage and “we are committed to completely eradicate Naxalism from the country before March 2026.”
We now need to work for two more years with twice the speed and intensity than what was there at the beginning of the campaign against Naxalism, only then this problem can be completely eradicated, he added.
Union Home Minister said that the Modi government is fighting a successful battle against Left-Wing Extremism with a strategy on all three fronts of development, prosecution and operation, as a result of which this problem has now been reduced to a great extent.
Now this problem is limited to a few pockets of Chhattisgarh, Shah said.
Because of the steps taken by the Chhattisgarh Government, it has done much better work in the last 7 months. He said that in these 7 months, maximum number of Naxalites have been neutralised, maximum number of Naxalites have surrendered and have been nabbed. The Home Minister congratulated the Chhattisgarh Government that after the formation of the new government, the operation against Left Wing Extremism is progressing very well, he said.
To give more impetus to the campaign against LWE, all the Director Generals of Police should prepare an action plan by holding meetings with the team engaged in Naxal operations in their states every week, Shah said.
Along with this, the Chief Secretaries should hold a review meeting of the development works related to the Naxal affected areas every fortnight. He said that unless the Naxal operations are monitored continuously, we will not be able to achieve the desired outcome.
Union Home Minister said that the fight against Naxalism is not just a fight of ideology but also of areas which are lagging behind due to lack of development. He said that people spreading left wing extremism mislead the tribal brothers and sisters and the entire community emotionally.
Shah said that the Joint Task Force (JTF) should have experienced and suitable forces available in every state. He said that this operation is a task that requires a specific sort of skill and only those officers should be deployed in it who are suitable for it and have knowledge of the area. He said that the Director Generals of Police should themselves review and make changes in the Joint Task Force accordingly.
Union Home Minister said that the Special Investigation Agency (SIA) of the states needs to be prepared and trained for investigation and prosecution on the lines of NIA. He said that unless the extremists who have reached a non-returnable point are punished, this problem cannot be controlled.
Shah said that the surrender policy should be flexible but efforts should be made to ensure that it is not misused.
Shah said that states should hand over investigation of inter-state cases related to Naxalism to NIA. It is necessary to strictly prevent the financing of Left-Wing Extremism, supply of weapons and their manufacturing. He emphasized that the focus should be on coordination through Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to better prepare the prosecution in Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) cases. Shah emphasised on getting the investigation and prosecution teams involved in Left Wing Extremism cases trained by NIA.
Union Home Minister asked the Chief Secretaries of the states to continuously monitor the development works, so that 100% benefits of government schemes reach the Left-Wing Extremism affected areas. He added that the states need to formulate a policy for the education of people who have become illiterate due to Left-Wing Extremism.
Shah stressed on a holistic attack on the supply chain of Left-Wing Extremism and its financing. He said that the Modi government is committed to eliminate the entire ecosystem of left-wing extremism. He said that all the states have to jointly take this campaign forward in a comprehensive manner. Shah said that along with fighting those who support the ideology of left-wing extremism, we will also have to convey our point of view to all sections of the society with humility and firmness. He said that the victims of left-wing extremism also have human rights.
Union Home Minister said that to achieve the goal that Prime Minister Modi has set before us of freeing India from Left-Wing Extremism, we have to take this campaign forward together at a faster pace. He said Left-Wing Extremism is a menace related to human and national security, against which there is a need to work with double the speed and intensity to completely eradicate it before March 2026.
Amit Shah said that the Chhattisgarh Government has started a campaign of 100 per cent saturation of government schemes and along with this, it has worked to increase the respect for Bastar Olympics, Paralympics, local art, culture and food.
