The Naxalites are Maoist insurgents named after Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal where their insurrection began in 1967. A police crackdown almost wiped them out, but during the 1980s they repaired to remote, densely forested districts, where they thrived. Though the early Maoist leaders were students and middle-class, the movement drew most recruits from tribal peoples—among the poorest and most neglected in India. The fighters promised to protect tribal people who risked losing land to big projects such as mines and dams.
Since 2000 more than 12,000 Indians have died in Naxalite-related violence. Rebels have blown up politicians and police, sabotaged mining projects and torched mobile-phone towers. At a peak around 2010 there were claimed to be 20,000 fighters operating in a third of India's districts. For years Indian governments considered the Naxalites the biggest threat to domestic security.
By February 2026, the number of districts with Maoist activity had fallen to only seven out of some 800. Indian forces say they have killed 748 guerrillas since 2024, a record tally, with particular success picking off the most senior figures. Disheartened foot soldiers have surrendered in big batches. Amit Shah, India's home minister, vowed that India would be Maoist-rebel-free by March 31st 2026, though counter-terrorism experts called the deadline political rhetoric.
The village of Kutul in Chhattisgarh was sometimes described as the Naxalites' unofficial capital until they were pushed out in 2025. Locals say the Maoists forced villagers to run errands, donate food and attend classes in Marxist theory. They blocked construction of health centres and roads and prevented people gaining more than five years of education—enough to be useful foot soldiers but no more. Locals who joined the Maoists and wished to marry were supposed to get vasectomies. Fighters expecting radical equality were surprised to be bossed around by high-caste cadres from out of state. Kutul was connected to the internet in January 2026.
The state operates a 5,000-strong District Reserve Guard drawn from tribal people, many of them former Maoists; it infiltrates and attacks the rebels. Security officials say intelligence from this force is the main reason for recent successes. But observers worry it resembles Salwa Judum, a state-sponsored militia from the 2000s that enlisted defeated rebels instead of prosecuting them. Salwa Judum came to be as much resented by local people as the Naxalites themselves.
Buried under the tribal groups' land lie some of India's most lucrative reserves of iron ore and other minerals. Many villagers fear the government wants to clear the hills of insurgents so that companies can grab that treasure, displacing communities.
Carswell's Corollary: Whenever man comes up with a better mousetrap, nature invariably comes up with a better mouse.