I am in Jagdalpur for office work. For people who are not aware, Jagdalpur is the headquarters of the Bastar District and Bastar Division. It is also the capital of erstwhile princely state Bastar. Thanks to my job, I was able to meet numerous people who can give the information on the Bastar region and Jagdalpur city, which is generally not available to the public unless they do a deep study on the region. I would like to give my inputs about the area, which I have collected from multiple sources, which include journalists, politicians (INC & BJP), and the general public. I am proud of the resource panel, which I am fortunate to meet, but I couldn't mention them to protect them. This information note would not be possible without their help.
When I reached Jagdalpur, it was purely for the work, and I had no interest in the region. Also, the frustration of frequently working with the tribal dominant states is filling me with resentment over job life. Nothing much revealed when I searched online about Jagdalpur and Bastar, except that the Dushera festival, which is celebrated in the region, is famous across the country, the region is facing the problem of Naxalism (yes, it is a problem, at least from my experience and observations), and the development is yet to reach the city. My first impression is being shocked, as the city has quite the modern culture mingled with tribal clout. Maybe the reason for that is because almost 70% of the city is filled with migrants who came here some 100 to 200 years ago. The Telugu population is first to migrate along with the Kakatiyan King Shri Anna Deva (feudal lords of the Chalukya dynasty who later declared independence). Later on, the Bihar and UP populations migrated down. My local driver gave a different reason for north migration to Bastar, which is that North people did different illegal activities in their respective states and came to the South to hide; of course, this is not true (but the fact that the local tribal are thinking in such a manner gives an idea to think about).
On account of the Naxal issue, two developments happened after I came to Jagdalpur. One was the ID blast by Naxals, which killed around 6 security officials in nearby Bijapur and killed two Naxals during an attack by officials. When I inquired about the Naxal issue with a senior journalist, they mentioned that Naxalism will not die, as the government needs the Naxalism to secure the central funds, which are again unaudited. They mentioned that it is the government that created the naxalism, and it is the government that can end it whenever it is needed. The Indian government started taking a serious step against the Naxals since 2013 when they killed Shri Mahendra Karma who is a multiple time MP from INC representing Bastar. What other argument I heard during the discussion was that Shri Amit Shah wants to allocate the resources (mines) to the business head for which the Naxals have become a serious issue. The redistribution of existing mines is causing the differences between the business community, which in turn is hurting the political funding for the parties. So, to solve the issue, the government is planning to develop new mines through which all the business community can be satisfied. Only the leaders know the truth behind this argument.
The rough estimate I received regarding the Naxals is that there are around 2000 Naxals in the region of which around 1200 are armed. There are atleast 13 battalions of them having significant ground in Sukma, Bijapur and Narayanapur districts. While Malvi Hidma is popular as the dangerous naxalite in the region, I heard that he was only popularised by security officials to make his demise a significant milestone in eradicating Naxalism. There are many more important leaders, but he was popularised as strategy by the security officials. This information is received by a surrendered naxalite, so I think this holds some ground.
I have more information about the region, but I am too lazy to write now and will update later.
