Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the drive to rid the country of Maoist insurgency is on the right track and will be completed by the end of March this year.
Speaking as the chief guest at the 87th CRPF military parade in Assam’s Guwahati, he lauded the force for its role in ensuring that the campaign against the Maoist insurgency moves towards a decisive end.
“I cannot even imagine how this huge and historic mission with enormous challenges is coming to an end in just three years. Based on the brilliant work done by CRPF, I want to assure the nation that the Maoist insurgency will be completely eradicated by March 31,” Shah said.
Shah mentioned Operation Black Forest, carried out by the CRPF in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh in May last year, which led to the killing of 27 senior Maoist leaders including CPI-Maoist General Secretary Nampala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju. At the end of the operation, 54 Maoists were arrested and 84 of them surrendered in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra.
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“When the country finally gets rid of the Maoist insurgency, I will mention without any hesitation that a major role has been played by the CRPF and its Resolute Action Cobra Commando Battalion,” he said.
Shah also praised the force for its role in maintaining internal security over the past 86 years.
“Ten-twelve years ago, there were three hotspots threatening the internal security of the country – Jammu and Kashmir, the North-East and the left-wing Maoist insurgency. At present, we have been able to bring peace to a large extent in these areas,” he said.
Shah mentioned that these three regions have now become the growth engine of the country thanks to the ultimate sacrifice made by the CRPF, which has lost 2,270 of its personnel so far – 700 in the North-East, 780 in Maoist insurgency-hit areas, 540 in Jammu and Kashmir and around 250 in the rest of the country.
“CRPF, Border Security Forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police have a major role to play in ensuring that no major violence or stone-pelting incidents take place in Jammu and Kashmir after the removal of Article 370… CRPF has also played a major role in controlling ethnic violence in Manipur.”
Shah, who is on a two-day visit to Assam and Tripura, will attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Assam Police’s 10th Battalion headquarters later in the day before leaving for Delhi.
