Dipanjan Mondal
10 June, 2025:
In a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, five Left parties urged him to immediately halt the extra-judicial killings being carried out in the Chhattisgarh region under the banner of Operation Kagar, emphasizing the need for dialogue.
The following leaders of the Left parties—M. A. Baby, General Secretary, (CPI(M)), D. Raja, General Secretary, (CPI), Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, (CPI(ML)-Liberation), Manoj Bhattacharya, General Secretary, (RSP), and G. Devarajan, General Secretary, (AIFB)—have jointly addressed a letter to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
On the same day the appeal was made, the government, marking 11 years in power, shared a post on X praising Operation Black Forest — a military operation against Maoists in the Chhattisgarh region. According to the post, it was the most significant blow to Naxalism in three decades, with 27 notorious Maoists neutralized, 54 Naxalites arrested, and 84 Naxalites surrendering. According to the government data, earlier, there were 126 Naxal-affected districts in the country, which have now reduced to 18. Violence has decreased by 53%, casualties among security forces by 72%, and overall mortality by 70%. India is rapidly moving towards the elimination of Naxalism.
In this joint letter they have urged PM Modi to stop the “militaristic approach” that treats the Adivasis with unmitigated hostility. “We, on behalf of the five Left parties of the country, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M), Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), write to you to put an immediate halt to the extra-judicial killings in the region around Chhattisgarh in the name of Operation Kagar. There are reports that several senior Maoist leaders are currently in the custody of the security forces. We demand that they should all be produced in court and dealt with as per the rule of law,” they said.
According to their letter, the Maoists expressed a desire to engage in dialogue with the government, and the government should seriously consider their appeal. The five left parties said that, “The Maoists have repeatedly urged the government to consider their appeal for dialogue. Unfortunately, the union government and the BJP-led Chhattisgarh state government have chosen not to pursue a solution through talks. Instead, they are following an inhuman policy of killings and annihilation.”
“The statements made by the union Home minister, reiterating the deadline and the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister’s assertion that there is no need for talks, reflect a mindset unwilling to resolve issues through dialogue. The government should not be intransigent and celebrate the taking of human lives against the spirit of the law of the land and principles of democratic governance,” they have further stated.
