The six Naxalites, who were active in the Malnad region, surrendered before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his home office, Krishna.
Published Jan 08, 2025 | 10:02 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 08, 2025 | 10:21 PM
Anti-Naxal task force combing forest area in Karnataka (Screengrab)
Karnataka declared itself to be a “No Naxalite state” after the surrender of six Left Wing Extremists on Wednesday, 8 January.
“The Karnataka government is very happy to announce that today we are declaring (SIC) as a no-Naxalite state, thanks to the efforts of the government, our police officers and the team constituted by the government for the rehabilitation and negotiation with Naxalites,” Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru.
The six Naxalites, who were active in the Malnad region, surrendered before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his home office, Krishna. Members of the Naxal Surrender and Rehabilitation Committee and the Citizens’ Forum for Peace were present. The big announcement comes weeks after the encounter of naxal commander Vikram Gowda.
The surrendered individuals have been identified as Mundagaru Latha from Chikkamagaluru district, Vanajakshi from Balehole, Sundari Kuthlur from Dakshina Kannada district, Marappa Aroli from Raichur, K Vasanth from Tamil Nadu, and TN Jeesha from Kerala.
Siddaramaiah welcomed the surrendered Naxalites to the mainstream by presenting them each with a copy of the Indian Constitution.
The surrender came a week after Siddaramaiah appealed to Naxalites to lay down their arms and join the democratic mainstream, and after the killing of Vikram Gowda, commander of the Kabini Dal, in an encounter with the Anti-Naxal Force in Udupi’s Kabbinale forest on 18 November.
Siddaramaiah said the surrendered six were active in the Naxal movement for more than 25 years. “They have been struggling in the forests to get justice,” he said.
“As Dr Ambedkar had put it, we have to get justice through constitutional methods, not unconstitutional methods. Now, they are convinced that they have to pursue their demands through constitutional methods, and decided to join the mainstream,” he said.
The surrender was made possible after the members of the rehabilitation committee negotiated between the government and the Naxalites, the chief minister said while thanking the rehabilitation committee.
Welcoming the Naxalites’ decision to surrender, Siddaramaiah said the government would look into their demands sympathetically. “If necessary, we will constitute special courts to try and dispose of cases against them as early as possible,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, Shivakumar also said the government must respect the Naxalites’ demands.
Home Minister G Parameshwara, however, did not reveal their demands and the promises made to them.
A late evening media statement from the office of the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate in Chikkamagaluru said the surrendered Naxalites would be given ₹3 lakh each. The amount will be deposited to their bank accounts.
BJP state general secretary Sunil Kumar termed the government facilitating the surrender a package designed to convert forest Naxals into urban Naxals. Referring to the monetary grant, he said the development was not a surrender but a move to boost the number of urban Naxals.
Responding, Shivakumar said the BJP would have claimed credit if the surrender had taken place when it was in power.
The Karnataka government, on 15 March 2024, revised the surrender policy for Left-wing extremists (Naxalites/Maoists) by enhancing the financial support offered as a part of their rehabilitation package.
According to the revised policy, Naxalites holding positions in prominent proscribed extremist groups and facing more than one criminal case could get financial support of up to ₹7.5 lakh upon their surrender.
In the earlier surrender policy, notified in 2015, the maximum amount was ₹5 lakh.
The revised policy divides the Left-wing extremists into three categories. Naxalites who are residents of Karnataka, holding positions in armed groups, and facing at least one criminal case fall under the A category. Outsiders holding positions in banned extremist groups with one or more criminal cases come under the B category.
People who do not belong to either A or B category, but support or sympathise with the extremist groups — for example, informants and recruiters — have been put in the C category.
The A-category people who surrender would be eligible for financial support up to ₹7.5 lakh, those in the B-category would get ₹4 lakh, and those in the C-category would get ₹2 lakh — all in three installments.
People from all three categories would receive additional financial support if they surrendered their weapons and gadgets.
Besides the financial assistance, the surrendering Naxals would also be trained if they showed interest in starting businesses or improving skills. For this, they would also get additional financial support of ₹5,000 per month for training at a recognised institution.
The revised policy also made it clear that serious cases involving Naxals would continue in court. The government, going forward, might consider withdrawing cases after following the due legal procedures.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
