Shah Rules Out Ceasefire With Naxals, Asks Them To Lay Down Arms

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday firmly rejected a ceasefire proposal from Maoists, saying they are welcome to surrender and lay down arms, but there will be no truce.

“Recently, to spread confusion, a letter was written stating that past actions were a mistake, that a ceasefire should be declared, and that they (Naxals) want to surrender. I want to say there will be no ceasefire. If you want to surrender, there is no need for one. Lay down your arms, not a single bullet will be fired,” Shah said. He added that Maoists who surrender would receive a “red carpet welcome” under a lucrative rehabilitation policy.

Addressing the valedictory session of a seminar on ‘Naxal Mukt Bharat’, Shah also criticised Left parties for providing ideological support to Maoists and dismissed claims that underdevelopment was the root cause of Left Wing Extremism (LWE). “It was due to red terror that development could not reach many parts of the country for decades,” he said.

His comments came in response to a ceasefire call issued by CPI (Maoist) after intensified operations such as Operation Black Forest along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, where several top leaders were killed. Shah asserted that the fight against Naxalism will only end when society identifies and counters those who nurture its ideology with financial, legal, and ideological backing.

Declaring that India will be free of Naxalism by March 31, 2026, Shah said the Narendra Modi government had adopted a unified and “ruthless” approach after 2014, giving security forces a free hand. He noted that nearly 12 crore people once lived under the shadow of Naxal violence across the “red corridor” from Pashupati to Tirupati, but today “when Naxals chant that slogan, people laugh at them.”

Shah also highlighted security gains elsewhere. In Jammu and Kashmir, he said the abrogation of Article 370 led to a 65 per cent drop in security force deaths and a 77 per cent fall in civilian casualties. Panchayat elections witnessed record turnout, he added.

In the Northeast, Shah reported a 70 per cent reduction in security force casualties and an 85 per cent drop in civilian deaths since 2014, with 12 peace agreements signed and over 10,000 militants surrendering. The region, he said, is now advancing with major development projects.