Hidma falls, govt must address address Bastar tribals’ issues now

THE killing of top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma marks one of the most decisive breakthroughs in India’s decades-long fight against Left wing extremism (LWE). For nearly three decades, Hidma operated as the elusive ‘ghost of Bastar’, orchestrating some of the deadliest attacks on security forces and civilians. His elimination by Andhra Pradesh’s Greyhounds in the Maredumilli forests — along with his wife and several Maoists — signals the erosion of the CPI (Maoist)’s operational structure and a significant victory for India’s counterinsurgency apparatus. Hidma’s rise from a local foot soldier in Bastar to the commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army’s Battalion 1 embodied the insurgency’s capacity to recruit, indoctrinate and weaponise disenfranchised youth. He engineered attacks such as the 2010 Chintalnar massacre, the 2013 Jhiram Ghati ambush and numerous high-casualty assaults in Sukma. These operations reshaped India’s security calculus.

But while his death weakens the insurgency, it does not resolve the deeper tribal issues that enabled Maoism to take root. Much of Bastar continues to suffer from chronic underdevelopment, displacement due to mining and infrastructure projects and an enduring trust deficit between tribal communities and the state. Access to healthcare, quality schools, land records, and functioning welfare delivery remains patchy. Many villages still experience the administration mainly through the presence of security forces, not civil institutions. The disconnect between policy promises and lived reality keeps resentment alive, even if Maoist influence wanes. Unless governance becomes visible, accountable and culturally sensitive, the vacuum that once allowed the insurgents to project themselves as protectors may persist.

Security forces have done their job. The state now has an opening to turn this tactical victory into a durable peace. To achieve that, it must ensure that roads, schools, rights and livelihoods reach the forested heartland of Bastar.