Today is a significant day in relation to the Maoist movement. Devji, a key leader of the Maoist movement, has surrendered. The previous Maoist chief, Nambala Keshav Rao, was killed by security forces last year. His surrender officially marked the end of the Maoist movement.

But for those affected by Maoism, another major development has taken place today. The government of Chhattisgarh has now acknowledged that more than 30,000 people migrated out of the state due to Maoist violence. You may ask, why is this such a big development? Most of these people were displaced nearly 20 years ago due to violence between security forces and Maoists, during the period when the anti-Maoist campaign known as Salwa Judum was launched with state support. After 20 years, there is finally hope that a ray of light may reach the lives of these victims.

Nearly 15 years after displacement, in 2019, these displaced people organized a cycle march to Raipur, the state capital. About 300 of them cycled 300 kilometers, but the then Chief Minister refused to even meet them. Later, the Congress Home Minister gave a written reply in the Assembly to a Congress MLA from Bastar stating:
“No person has been displaced to other states due to Maoist violence from Chhattisgarh; therefore, the question of their rehabilitation does not arise.”

The new BJP state government, under pressure from the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, conducted a survey and initially reported that about 13,000 people had been displaced. However, in the same meeting, the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh stated that around 32,000 displaced persons from Chhattisgarh were residing in their states. Now, Chhattisgarh has written again to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes acknowledging displacement of around 30,000 people and stating that a few thousand have returned. This is a major victory in the long struggle of the displaced.

In the next phase of the struggle, they will need to demand a rehabilitation policy from the government. Officials often say that displaced people do not want to return—which is largely true. Many of them say: “In Andhra and Telangana, we may eat two fewer rotis, but at least we are alive. In Chhattisgarh, the police beat us in the morning and Maoists at night.”

Will their views change now that the Maoist movement may officially end? Government officials also say that about half the displaced want to return, which aligns with my understanding.

Those who do not wish to return can also be assisted. Under Section 3(1)(m) of the Forest Rights Act, if a tribal person is displaced from forest land under their possession, they can be granted ownership of alternative forest land. Since 2019, displaced persons have submitted more than 1,000 forest rights applications to Chhattisgarh under this provision. However, the state government has neither rejected these applications nor initiated action on them. Officials now say they will begin work on them.

The economies of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are more developed than that of South Bastar, providing tribal youth with employment opportunities that are not available in Bastar. However, displaced tribals there do not own land, and both southern states do not recognize them as Scheduled Tribes. As a result, they do not receive reservation benefits in education and jobs. For their rehabilitation, references are often made to the Bru rehabilitation agreement between Mizoram and Tripura, led by the Union Home Ministry, under which Bru tribals were given options either to return to Mizoram or settle in Tripura with specific facilities.

Most displaced persons now say that if Chhattisgarh grants them ownership of 5–10 acres of land, makes that land cultivable (since their original lands have turned into forest over the past 20 years and are no longer farmable), installs solar-powered irrigation pumps so they can grow two or three crops like in southern states, provides fencing to protect crops from free-grazing cattle, and builds a permanent house—then they would consider returning.

Can the Chhattisgarh government promise all this in its rehabilitation policy? It should. And for those who do not want to return, will the state fight their 3(1)(m) claims with Andhra, Telangana, and the central government? It should.

With Devji’s surrender, the Maoist movement may officially end. But Madkam Devayya, a displaced leader living in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district, asks: “I am from a village neighboring Maoist leader Hidma’s village. When forest officials stopped us from cutting forests, Hidma became a Maoist. If we too are denied rights over our forest land, what will our youth do?”

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