New Delhi, Aug 24 (UNI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday described the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) as a menace to human and national security and declared that it will be completely eradicated from the country before March 2026.
Noting that the LWE is now at a decisive stage, he said that the entire ecosystem of left-wing extremism will have to be destroyed with a ruthless approach and called upon all the states to work together to take this campaign forward in a comprehensive manner.
"We will have to fight against those who support the ideology of leftist extremism and convey our views to all sections of society with humility and firmness. Victims of left-wing extremism also have human rights," Shah said while chairing a review meeting on left-wing extremism and an inter-state coordination meeting with the Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states in Raipur, as per an official statement.
The Minister further said that the 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.
Shah said that due to the steps taken by the Chhattisgarh government, this problem is now limited to a few pockets of Chhattisgarh.
He congratulated the Chhattisgarh government, saying that after the formation of the new government, the operation against left-wing extremism is progressing very well.
In the last seven months, the maximum number of Naxalites have been neutralised and a large number of Naxalites have surrendered and been nabbed.
Shah further said that to give more impetus to the campaign against LWE, all the DGPs should prepare an action plan by holding meetings with the team engaged in Naxal operations in their states every week.
Adding to this, the Chief Secretaries should hold a review meeting of the development works related to the Naxal-affected areas every fortnight.
"Unless the Naxal operations are monitored continuously, we will not be able to achieve the desired outcome," the Home Minister said.
He said that the Joint Task Force (JTF) should have experienced and suitable forces available in every state. 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 instructed the DGPs to themselves review and make changes in the JTF accordingly.
Shah called upon the Special Investigation Agency (SIA) of the states to be prepared and trained for investigation and prosecution on the lines of the NIA. Unless the extremists who have reached a non-returnable point are punished, this problem cannot be controlled.
The Home Minister said that states should hand over investigations of interstate cases related to naxalism to the NIA, as it is necessary to strictly prevent the financing of left-wing extremism, the supply of weapons and their manufacturing.
He emphasised that the focus should be on coordination through Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to better prepare the prosecution in Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) cases.
Stressing that a holistic attack on the supply chain of left-wing extremism and its financing, Shah said that the states affected by left-wing extremism should work on eradicating the Naxal problem as soon as possible instead of waiting until March 2026.
The Home Minister expressed confidence that by December 2025, the entire country, except for limited pockets of Chhattisgarh, will be free from left-wing extremism.
Shah also asked the Chief Secretaries of the states to continuously monitor the development works so that 100 per cent of the of the benefits of government schemes reach the left-wing extremist-affected areas. Adding to that, the states need to formulate a policy for the education of people who have become illiterate due to left-wing extremism.
The meeting was attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Directors of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and National Investigation Agency (NIA), and Director Generals of CRPF, BSF, SSB, and ITBP.
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