New Delhi, Sep 6 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said on several occasions that India would witness an end to the Maoists menace by March 2026. While the security forces are on course to achieve that deadline, the Maoists are doing their level best to recruit people into their fold.

However, the pattern this time around, where the recruitment is concerned, is vastly different. These are now forced recruitments, which are either made through threats or with the lure of some money.

The people may be coming in for the Maoists, but there is a huge difference when compared to the recruitments of the past. The recruits have no ideology and are just remote-controlled foot soldiers who act on the instructions of their commanders.

Naxalites in the past had succeeded owing to a variety of reasons. They had a very strong ideology, and their belief was firm. This automatically ensured that they fought their so-called battle with all their heart. The recruits have no ideology and have no idea what exactly they are fighting for, and this has made the battle against the Maoists relatively easier for the security forces.

Moreover, the new recruits do not fight with their hearts, and hence they are susceptible to surrendering easily. This too has worked in favour of the security agencies.

However, these are not the only aspects which has helped the security forces achieve the kind of success they have. The government at the Centre had a strong will to end the menace. The governments also focused heavily on development and communication in the remotest of areas.

With development and enhanced security came a change of heart, and the villagers stopped being scared, and in the bargain, the Maoists had to face an information drain. The Centre-State coordination was also a major factor.

While at first the Maoists were ideologically charged, over the years, the lure of money took over for a few. This was thanks to their sympathisers in the urban areas who raised money in huge amounts for the Maoists, while also funding their lavish lifestyles.

This meant that the Maoists still had a cause to fight for. For many years, it was a combination of money and ideology which kept the battle for them alive. Then came the fund squeeze and investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) tracked down the funding sources. Gradually, that too came to a halt.

Today, the very few Maoists who believe in their so-called ideology do not even have funds. The arms have reduced, and more importantly, they are not able to recruit the right persons for the job.

Security officials say that the newer recruits do not have an iota of connection with the ideology. Even if they have been offered money, the amounts are very less and this is hardly inspiring, especially when they have to put their lives on the battlefield.

The action by the security forces was so swift and precise in recent years that the senior Maoists with strong ideologies were unable to nurture a next generation. Today, if one looks at the scenario, the existing Maoists are the ones who remain. There is no second generation, let alone a second rung.

In recent times, top Maoist leaders have either died or been arrested. In 2023, a top Maoist leader, Katakam Sudarshan, died due to illness. Kishen Da, originally known as Prashanth Bose, was arrested in 2021. Kobad Gandhi was who was expelled, was arrested in 2019. The other top Maoist leaders with strong ideologies that the Maoists lost are Cherukuri Rajkumar, Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, Sushil Rao, Narayan Sanyal, Ramanna, Yapa Narayan, Bansindhar Singh, Akkiraju Rajgopal, Lakhmu Mallaraji Reddy, and Deepak Milind Teltumbde in Gadchiroli and Ramachandra Reddy.

Sheela Marandi, Santa Deepak Rao, Mithilesh Mehta, Arun Bhattacharjee, Balraj and Vijay Krishnamurthy were arrested. This means that the politburo of the Maoists has shrunk to almost nothing.

/IANS