Jagdalpur, 8 November

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the end of Maoist terror and Naxal menace was a victory of the country’s right policies and a strong political will.

“Our government took decisions which dealt very big blows to the funding of Naxals and secessionists,” Modi said, while celebrating Diwali with security personnel at a CRPF camp in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district.

Decisions taken by the government destroyed fake currency nexus and choked the supply line of Naxals and secessionists, Modi said.

“The fight against Maoist terror and Naxalism was not easy; there was a time when more than 230 districts in nearly 20 states were affected by Naxalism,” he said.

To move the country forward, the nation’s enemies must be crushed with unwavering determination and a well-planned strategy, Modi said.

“The lack of political will that the country had faced was addressed in 2014, when you gave this Pradhan Sevak the opportunity to serve Mother India,” Modi said.

For the first time in 47 years, not a single CRPF jawan lost his life in the line of duty over the past year, he said.

Bastar, long known as the epicentre of Left-Wing Extremism (Naxalism) in Chhattisgarh, has undergone a major transformation following aggressive counter-insurgency operations, massive surrenders, and development push.