Chhattisgarh: Shah appeals to ‘Maoist brothers’ to lay down arms

Raipur: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday made an appeal to the Maoists to lay down arms and join the mainstream, saying that ‘No one feels happy if a Naxal is killed’.

Mr. Shah, for the first time, addressed the Naxals as ‘brothers’, calling them as ‘one of us’, while assuring them of their security and safety if they shun the path of violence and join the mainstream.

“The era of firing and bomb blasts in Bastar is gone. Bastar has already embraced the path of development. I appeal to the Maoists, those who are armed and those who are not armed, to lay down weapons and join the mainstream. No one feels happy when a Naxal is killed. You people are one of us”, Mr. Shah said while addressing the closing ceremony of ‘Bastar Pandum’, a 45-day long tribal culture festival, in Dantewada in south Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

Reiterating his resolve to end Maoism by March 2026, Mr. Shah said that the Maoists cannot stop development of Bastar with guns and warned that those who still wielded weapons will be dealt with by the security forces.

“Whatever happens, the entire country will be Naxal-Mukt (free) by March 2026”, he said.

When there is peace in Bastar, children will go to school, hospitals will be opened, welfare schemes will reach every beneficiary and this can happen only if Bastar is Naxal free, he said.

He said that the surrendered Naxals now understand the importance of development in Bastar and they realize that ‘We need computers, not guns, and we need pens, not IEDs or bombs’.

Mr. Shah said that in 2024, 881 Naxals surrendered. But in 2025, in the last three months alone, 521 Maoists surrendered.

Bastar could not see development in the last 50 years. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to develop Bastar in the next five years.

“Bastar is on the verge of being Naxal free. Schools and hospitals which were closed have now reopened. Tribals in Bastar want development”, he said.

Mr. Shah announced that a village in Bastar will be given Rs one crore if it is declared Naxal free and exhorted the villagers to persuade the militias in their villages to surrender to make their villages Naxal free.

The money will be used for development of the village, he said.

Mr. Shah declared that the Bastar Pandum festival will come in a bigger scale in the next year and it will be showcased globally.

Envoys of foreign countries will be brought to Bastar to have a taste of the culture, art, traditions and cuisines of local tribals and the beauty of the region.

He hailed chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s decision to directly procure the tendu patta from the tribals by the state government and pay them at the rate of Rs 5,500 per quintal through direct benefit transfer (DBT), calling it a ‘historic step’.

The Maoists would no longer be able to extort the tendu patta collectors, he said.