Families of Maoist leaders appeal for surrender as ‘red sunset’ looms

It was in 2009 that then prime minister Manmohan Singh had called Naxalism India’s “gravest internal security threat”. Seventeen years since then, the insurgency’s fate has undergone a sea change, with the Centre bent to hasten a ‘red sunset’ by March and unleashing its forces towards that direction, leaving the movement gasping for breath.

Even as the security personnel eliminate the insurgents or several of their top leaders surrender, what is interesting is that the families of many of these rebels are now appealing to them to shun such lives and return to the mainstream by surrendering.

Ganapathi's family wants him to come home

Take, for example, the case of senior Maoist leader Ganapathi from Karimnagar district of Telangana. He has stayed away from home for 43 years now, fighting for his ideology, but his family is waiting as eagerly for his return.

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Ramachandra Rao, brother of Ganapathi, whose real name is Muppalla Lakshman Rao and is a member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) or CPI(Maoist), recently appealed to the latter and other Maoist leaders like him to come back to lead a normal life. Ganapathi, who led the Maoist insurgency for decades and is now suffering from health issues, has been advised by his brother to surrender before the police and fight for his country and ideology democratically.

Ramachandra, who said his family and the entire village want to see Ganapathi return safely, also urged the police not to cause any harm to the veteran. Ramachandra said he came to know through media reports that his elder brother was in Nepal and was detained by the police.

“Many Maoists have surrendered. You should also surrender,” Ramachandra appealed to Ganapathi.

Ganapathi’s family is no exception. Even though the ‘red menace’ had once rattled the administrative authorities by boasting of running a parallel administration in several parts of the country, it has now crumbled under ceaseless offensive by the government, which has given them a clear choice to make: surrender or perish.

Top Maoist leaders have laid down arms

Surrendering has come easier for many of the leaders of the revolutionary brand, including the top ones. On Tuesday (February 24), senior leaders such as Tippiri Tirupati alias Devuji, Bade Chokka Rao alias Jagan, Malla Raji Reddy alias Sangram, and Noone Narasimha Reddy alias Ganganna, surrendered before the Telangana Police and met their respective family members. All of them were underground for several decades.

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Devuji, who hails from Korutla in the state’s Jagtial district and is a former member of the CPI (Maoist) Politburo, met his loved ones, including his daughter, for the first time since 1982. It even took time for him to recognise them.

Gangadhar, his younger brother, was elated with the emotional reunion, but said, “After 40 years, my brother could not recognise us at first.” He added that Devuji, like a family man, enquired about the relatives and neighbours and also promised to discuss his plans with the family. Devuji said he gave up the path of extremism due to deteriorating health, but showed a resolve to work for people’s problems, albeit within the legal framework.

“My brother appeared to have some health problems, but he appeared healthy. He is still interested in serving the people,” Gangadhar told The Federal.

The surrender of the abovementioned leaders has dealt a body blow to the CPI(Maoist)’s apex and state leadership structures, hastening the overall collapse of the movement since undivided Andhra Pradesh (and later largely undivided Karimnagar district of Telangana and those formed after its division) was once the cradle of India’s radical left movement.

But hunt for more leaders continues

But not all are yet on the same page, and the government has taken stern measures to hunt them down. Personnel of the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force), DRG (District Reserve Guard) and other central forces have now launched a search operation to track Misir Besra alias Sunir Mal, the lone surviving member of the Maoist outfit’s Politburo after Devuji’s fall, and senior leader Pasunuri Narahari alias Vishwanath, along with his team members in Jharkhand’s Saranda Forest area. Both the leaders are from Telangana.

The central forces are currently combing numerous hills (Saranda literally means the “land of 700 hills”) in the expansive and dense forests on foot.

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The government has shown urgency in hunting the last few remaining prominent Maoists to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s stated March 31 deadline to wipe them out. In 2024, the Centre launched ‘Operation Kagar’ to eliminate the radical movement from India’s soil once and for all.

As the deadline is fast approaching, the central forces have intensified the operations — from Abujmarh in Chhattisgarh to Karreguttala in the Dandakaranya region near the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border to the Saranda forest.

According to the police, other members of the outfit, including Madavi Adimi alias Sangeetha, Badse Yanka and Podium Lakshmi from Telangana’s Bhadrachalam Agency Area are also in Saranda Forest.

The Telangana Police has reiterated its appeal to those Maoist leaders who have not surrendered to do so. The state’s Director General of Police, B Shivdhar Reddy, said, “So far in Telangana, 591 Maoists have surrendered before the police since 2024. The Maoist movement has reached its end. I am calling out once again, leave the forest and come out to the people. Live comfortably in your villages with your families.”

“The doors are open for the Maoists who are still underground. Reunite with your families. Be a part of Telangana’s progress,” he added.

Maoism far from over, says CPI leader

But not everybody is convinced that Maoism has met its death, even those from the mainstream Left parties. Chada Venkata Reddy, a top member of the Communist Party of India in Telangana and former member of the Assembly of undivided Andhra, said the Centre’s mission to end Maoism would be impossible to accomplish.

Also read: Battle for Bastar Part 1: How Maoist citadel was breached

He also called setting a deadline to exterminate Maoism undemocratic and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in New Delhi for coming up with such a plan.

Maoists merging with mainstream politics is not new in the subcontinent. In the mid-2000s, the same thing was seen in Nepal, where Maoists joined democratic politics and a Maoist leader even went on to become the country’s prime minister more than once.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Telangana)