Maoist Committee Makes Historic Offer: Arms Surrender in Exchange for Security Guarantees

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In a landmark move, the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) Special Zonal Committee of Maoists has expressed its willingness to give up arms and reintegrate into society by January 1, 2026. However, this decision is contingent on receiving security guarantees and a transparent rehabilitation process from the governments of the three states. The offer was made in a letter to the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh, in which the committee's spokesperson, Anant, emphasized the need for a peaceful transition. He cited previous rehabilitation efforts as failures, as they 'remained on paper' and failed to protect surrendered Maoists and their families. This move comes at a time when anti-Maoist operations have intensified, with the Union government setting a deadline of March 31, 2026, to end the Left-wing insurgency. Over the past year, security forces have killed over 270 Maoists and arrested 680, including top leaders, while 1,225 have surrendered. The Union government has reported a decline in the number of Left-Wing insurgency-hit districts, from 18 in April to 11 currently. Anant requested the state governments to create a conducive atmosphere for peaceful transition and proposed a temporary halt to security operations in Maoist-affected areas until the surrender process concludes. The MMC committee, which has been active in the tri-junction forests of Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh), and Rajnandgaon and Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh, has offered to establish a coordination mechanism via radio frequency 435.715 between 11 am and 11:15 am daily for the next month. They have also appealed to journalists and opinion makers to maintain trust in the process. The state governments have yet to respond to the committee's offer, which remains a crucial step towards ending the decades-long Left-wing insurgency in the region.