Security forces deliver major blows to the Maoists, but must avoid repression With 159 Maoist cadres having been killed in anti-Naxalite operations led by security forces in 2024, the year so far has been one of major setbacks to the long-standing, left-wing extremist movement in India. After suffering major casualties in ambushes in April 2021 and April 2023, paramilitary and police forces are coordinating better and firming up a no-holds-barred approach towards the militants. This has resulted in the Maoists experiencing blow after blow in what is perhaps their only remaining bastion — south Chhattisgarh — even though they retain a presence in other forested districts in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra. The success in taking on the Maoists is also a consequence of the weakening base of support for the insurgents as intelligence is a vital component of the operations. This should not come as any surprise. Notwithstanding grievances against the Indian state among tribals in one of India’s most forested and under-developed regions, there were always going to be fewer takers for the idea of a “protracted” war as espoused by the Maoists. The insurgency and the counter-operations have taken a huge toll on the tribal population, bringing in more fatigue for them. That most of the dead among the Maoist cadres are tribal youth points to the tragedy that has befallen one of India’s poorest States.The no-holds barred approach of what the Chhattisgarh government calls “Operation Prahar” might have succeeded in eliminating scores of Maoist cadres, effected surrenders and arrests, but it has also targeted peaceful activists fighting for tribal rights. Civil society organisations have complained that the attacks on the Maoists have coincided with repression against activists and tribals. Chhattisgarh and the Union Home Ministry must be mindful of these grievances as such actions could also increase disenchantment and play into the hands of the Maoists. That streams of the Maoist/Naxalite current have lasted for more than five decades shows that left extremism is still resilient in regions where governance by the Indian state is either absent or seen as detrimental to the marginalised sections. Yet, despite its resilience, the Maoist movement — as experiences of similar currents across the world show — remains an anachronistic one. Far from reaching any of its lofty goals, the Indian Maoist movement has only brought misery for those whom the insurgents claim to fight for. The earlier they realise the futility of their ideology and work towards using spaces in the Indian democratic system to articulate concerns, the better it would be for the tribals who are caught in this never-ending crossfire between security forces and the Maoists.