Your cover story offered a sobering reflection on a movement that was once India’s gravest internal security challenge (‘The last guerrillas’, May 3). Sustained pressure by security forces in states such as Chhattisgarh and Telangana has undeniably constricted the Maoist movement.
Yet, military success alone does not tell the full story. Gradual disillusionment within the ranks, dwindling local support and the shifting socio-economic aspirations of tribal communities have been equally decisive.
The real challenge now is in ensuring that governance, development and justice effectively fill the vacuum.
Sanjay Chopra,
On email.
Maoist insurgency was indeed a serious menace. The sustained and coordinated efforts by security forces have significantly weakened left-wing extremism in recent years.
Development initiatives—improved infrastructure, better connectivity, expansion of schools and rising employment opportunities—are slowly addressing some of the long-standing gaps that once fuelled unrest.
Anil Deshpande,
On email.
Maoist violence has no place in a democracy and has, over decades, inflicted immense human and developmental costs on some of India’s most vulnerable regions. The sustained efforts of the Central and state security forces to curb the insurgency deserve recognition and respect.
Kusum Tyagi,
On email.
The grievances that sustained the Maoist revolution for four decades have not disappeared. Land rights, forest access and the absence of basic services remain pressing concerns. In several areas, children still travel long distances to access schooling, reflecting the depth of the infrastructure gap.
While development indicators point to progress, gaps in delivery persist on the ground. The current moment offers a critical window to consolidate peace through effective governance and inclusive growth. The window is open—but it will not remain so indefinitely.
Myilsami A.,
On email.
Missed opportunity
It was short-sighted of the opposition to reject the women’s reservation bill on the grounds that it was being linked to delimitation (‘Reserved, yet deferred’, May 3).
In essence, the bill was a constitutional amendment, and its fate rested on securing the required two-thirds majority—a core feature of the democratic process. The failure to achieve that threshold reflects the arithmetic of Parliament rather than any singular setback for the government.
What is striking is that members from parties such as the Congress, the DMK and the Trinamool Congress did not appear to weigh the long-term implications carefully. Legislative opportunities of this scale are rare. In that sense, the rejection may be seen as a missed opportunity, one that will inevitably invite scrutiny from women who stood to benefit from the reform.
T.S. Sanath Kumar,
On email.
Women’s reservation has waited long enough. Linking its implementation to delimitation—an exercise frozen for five decades and unlikely to be completed before 2027—effectively defers real representation till 2034.
A 33 per cent reservation, within the existing 543 seats, is entirely feasible and does not require a fresh census or delimitation to move forward. Yet, both the ruling party and the opposition have, for years, treated the issue as a matter of electoral convenience rather than democratic urgency.
Women voters across party lines are asking for something simple: seats, not speeches. Parliament must delink reservation from delimitation and commit to a clear, credible implementation date.
Abbharna Barathi,
On email.
Time for action
Peru moved from just five per cent women in congress to nearly 40 per cent through quotas—not incrementally, but by design (‘Women’s reservation is a no-brainer’, May 3). The key, as the first woman prime minister of Peru Beatriz Merino said, was cross-party consensus built through quiet negotiation rather than public posturing.
India already has the legislation. What it lacks is the political will to delink implementation from delimitation. Peru’s experience makes one thing clear: waiting for perfect conditions is simply a way of waiting forever. At some point, you have to act.
S.M. Jeeva,
On email.
Still backward
Mamata Banerjee should have made West Bengal much more prosperous (‘Forged in fire’, May 3). One of her early successes was restoring a degree of normalcy, which improved the state’s business climate. But she could not transform the state into a major hub of infrastructure and investment growth. There are many districts in the state that remain entirely backward.
Himanshu Grover,
On email.
If the BJP also resorts to pure vote-bank politics, it risks losing ground in the state.
Now that the party has come to power in West Bengal, it must focus on driving development and improve the growth outlook of Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal.
Nandakumari T.,
On email.