In what might come as a blow to Maoists and their sympathizers, the Maoist movement in the state of Karnataka looks to be on the verge of extinction with the left-wing terrorists associated with various outfits choosing to surrender to the authorities rather than carry on with their violent ways.
As reported, three suspected Maoists named Kanyakumari, Suma, Shivu surrendered to the Chikkamagaluru district administration on Monday in the presence of the representatives of a state level committee which oversees the implementation of the surrender policy. So far 13 such extremists have surrendered in the state since 2010 and it is believed that the number of active Maoists has come down to a measly 3. Kanyakumari at the time of her surrender had 33 pending cases against her.
The SP of Chikkamagaluru was quoted as saying that the number of Maoists has come down drastically and fresh recruitment has also been stopped. The SP further stated that the Maoists are choosing to return to the mainstream and the government’s decision to develop the Maoist affected areas plus the surrender scheme is aiding in this regard. Even though the state of Karnataka is almost free of the menace, some Maoists who are choosing not to surrender seem to be moving to nearby Kerala.
The cases of Maoists surrendering seems to be on the rise in recent days. Recently we had reported how Kundan Pradhan a dreaded Maoist leader who had about 125 cases pending against him had surrendered to the Jharkhand police in May. His surrender had also punctured the “oppressed poor tribal becoming Maoist” narrative as it was found that he had joined the movement so that he could reoccupy 1350 acres of his whooping 2700 acre family estate which was illegally grabbed by his uncle.
The surrender is also happening in the so called Maoist bastion of Bastar in Chhattisgarh. In 2016 it was reported that 56 Maoists had surrendered in various parts of the region taking the total surrender tally in the region to 182 since December 2015.
