India, June 26 -- For nearly sixty long years, an armed insurgency hollowed out the Republic's core. The Maoists proclaimed a "people's war" and, in the deep forests of India, governed in the shadows. They extracted dues, delivered their version of justice, and struck at those loyal to the Constitution. Naxalism kept the heartland in its hold while State responses in the past either faltered or fell short. That long and dark chapter is now ending. The goal of a Naxal-Mukt Bharat is well within reach.

The movement peaked with alarming reach. A 1967 spark at Naxalbari in West Bengal grew into an insurgency that spread through tribal heartlands of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The 2004 formation of ...