Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Naxalism would be eliminated from the country by the March 31 deadline set by the government.
Addressing 87th CRPF Day Parade
Addressing the 87th CRPF Day Parade here, the first ever in the northeast, Shah said the force played an important role in Jammu and Kashmir, where the number of stone-pelting incidents has dropped to zero, besides being deployed to handle ethnic violence in Manipur and breaking the back of Maoists in only three years.
Naxalism had spread across 12 states and countless districts of the country, and when the Centre resolved to uproot the menace, the CRPF and CoBRA force personnel played the most crucial role in the effort, he said.
The home minister noted that such a huge, complex and difficult task was completed in just three years.
Because of the CRPF personnel, we can confidently say that by March 31, 2026, the country will be completely free from Naxalism,” he asserted.
CRPF history
The first battalion of the force was raised in 1939 as the Crown Representative’s Police (CRP) under British rule.
Post-Independence, in 1949, it was rechristened as the Central Reserve Police Force under the Indian Union by the first home minister, Vallabhbhai Patel.
