Over 300 Maoists Surrender: PM Modi Highlights Progress in India's Fight Against Naxal Terrorism

New Delhi:

Over 300 Maoists surrendered in the past 24 hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at the NDTV World Summit 2025, emphasizing his government's efforts against domestic terror groups and expressing his personal distress over the violence and bloodshed resulting from the conflict.

"In the last 50-55 years thousands were killed by Maoist terrorists. These Naxals would not allow schools or hospitals to be built... they would not let doctors enter clinics... they would bomb institutions. Maoist terrorism was an injustice to the young people," he stated.

"I used to feel agitated... this is the first time I am expressing my pain to the world," Modi revealed to an audience including Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The Prime Minister explained that his administration has made concentrated efforts to reintegrate "these wayward youth" into society. "Today the country is seeing the result of these efforts," he said, referencing the recent mass surrenders.

"Now, 303 Naxals have surrendered. These were not normal people... they were carrying bounties on their heads, and a huge cache of arms was recovered from them," Modi reported.

As a consequence of these surrenders, Modi claimed his government has reduced Naxal-affected districts across India from 125 a decade ago to just 11 currently.

The Prime Minister's comments follow Thursday's surrender of 170 Maoists in Chhattisgarh, a region historically plagued by Maoist insurgency.

"Earlier, the headlines were about vehicles blown up in Bastar and security personnel killed. Today, youth there are organising 'Bastar Olympics'. This is a big change," Modi observed, "Now, they will be able to celebrate Diwali."

Bastar experienced what could be a turning point this week when over 150 Maoists, led by Central Committee member Rupesh alias Satish Kofa, laid down their weapons and rejoined mainstream society, though Kofa told NDTV his priority is less about "surrendering" and more about "changing the way of struggle for the people".

Modi criticized previous administrations for enabling what he termed an "ecosystem of Urban Naxals" that suppressed discussion about Maoist violence.

"During the Congress regime, the ecosystem of 'Urban Naxals' was so dominant that no incident of Maoist terrorism would reach the people of the country. A very large censorship mechanism was in operation... Those who flourished under Congress rule, who captured institutions and called themselves Urban Naxals, worked to draw a curtain over Maoist terror," he asserted.

Recalling a recent visit to Delhi by victims of Maoist attacks, Modi said, "Some had lost their leg, some their hand, some their eye. They stayed in Delhi for seven days, begging with folded hands to tell their story to the people of India. They held a press conference, but none of you saw or heard it."

Modi sharply criticized the Congress party, saying "no one noticed them" and that during Congress governance, "discussion on this ecosystem was completely suppressed".

Concluding on an emotional note, the Prime Minister stated that areas long trapped in fear would now celebrate their first peaceful Diwali in decades.

"This Diwali will be different in the areas freed from Maoist terror. Mothers will see the festival of lights after 25 or even 50 years. The tricolour will fly there, and the lamps of happiness will burn once again," he said. "That day is not far when the country will be completely free from Naxalism, from Maoist terror. And this too, this too is Modi's Guarantee," he concluded.