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Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Former Naxal women walking the ramp is the most enduring defeat of insurgency

An insurgency is defeated not when its fighters disappear, but when they become citizens again—earning, participating, and proudly representing their indigenous culture.

Even a year ago, former Naxal women walking the ramp charismatically in handloom sarees would have been unimaginable, bordering on the fictitious. But on 7 August, observed as National Handloom Day, this illustration came to life.

For decades, the story of Chhattisgarh’s Naxal conflict has been defined by dense forests, guns, and an armed challenge to the Indian state. But after the Modi government declared India “Naxal-free” on 31 March, that imagery is undergoing a slow makeover.

The video of surrendered Naxal women walking the ramp cannot be dismissed as just a fashion event.

The applause they received was for more than their clothes or confidence. It was, in many ways, an acknowledgement of a much larger journey: from insurgency to surrender, from isolation to integration, and from a life defined by violence to one built around dignity and livelihood.

Women dressed in Kosa silk and handwoven garments drew applause as they showcased........

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