3 min readNew DelhiMar 31, 2026 05:20 AM IST
QUESTIONING THE government’s approach in dealing with Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), the Opposition on Monday said “an ideology cannot be defeated only by force”.
While the Congress underlined that the “state should be a welfare provider and not a coercive force”, the TMC cautioned the government against “patting its own back” until trust of the people in Maoist-hit areas is won. Some Opposition parties also sought to equate “right-wing extremism” with LWE.
Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on ‘Efforts to free the country from Left Wing Extremism’, Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, who represents Koraput in Odisha, asked, “Why are there so many ceasefire agreements, suspension of operation, negotiation with armed groups?… I am not saying we are against the discussions. When you talk about autonomy, culture, rights in the Northeast, why can you not talk in the same way about those in Central India?”
“You cannot defeat an ideology only with force. You defeat it by addressing injustice…You defeat it by ensuring that development is done and not as an exploitation…ultimately, this is not a battle for land. It is a battle for trust,” he said.
Among the Opposition MPs who sought to take on the Centre over the issue, TMC’s Mahua Moitra underlined that it was important to win the trust of the local tribal population in LWE-affected areas.
“To really remove the threat of LWE we need to win trust; it’s not about winning terrain. People need to give up fear, they don’t just need to give up guns…please do not pat yourself on the back until this is done,” she said.
“LWE did not just happen overnight; Its roots are socio-economic, political, exploitation of native lands, displacement of tribals, looting of natural resources which rightfully belong to tribals, and historical neglect of poor and tribal areas by successive governments,” she said, adding that LWE can’t be viewed as “just a law-and-order problem, and it cannot be solved as just a law-and-order problem”.
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SP MP Zia Ur Rahman demanded whether the definition of extremism was “limited to the forests”, adding that the solution to all problems was neither the gun nor jail. “Where there is extremism, what is the real reason? Poverty, unemployment, lack of education and healthcare, the snatching away of land and rights are the real cause. If these issues are not solved, the problem will not end. Security is necessary, but justice is more important,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said, “On one hand, it is good you are ending terrorism…but the way you are doing it and if they have not got justice, do not think…that they will remain quiet…Ideology never ends.”
