INDIAN EXPRESS DATED 6th SEP 2026

Summary of Important News Items Editorials-453

INDIAN EXPRESS DATED 6th SEP 2026.

(for reading Indian Express News items from 1 to 452 please visit –

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1. Jhiram Ghati Verdict: 10 Convicted 13 Years after Maoist Massacre

A special NIA court in Jagdalpur convicted 10 accused in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack, in which 27 people were killed and much of Chhattisgarh Congress’s senior leadership was wiped out. Those killed included state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, Mahendra Karma and other prominent leaders. Twenty-eight chargesheeted accused remain wanted, while sentencing of the convicted persons is scheduled for September 16. The attack was planned during the CPI (Maoist)’s Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign and targeted, among others, Mahendra Karma because of his association with Salwa Judum. The case took more than a decade and around 294 hearings to reach judgment. Politically, Congress leaders have continued questioning whether the alleged conspiracy angle was fully investigated. The gist is that the verdict delivers significant but incomplete accountability in one of India’s most consequential Maoist attacks, while highlighting the difficulty of prosecuting insurgency cases involving dispersed underground networks and prolonged trials.

2. Jhiram Ghati as a Turning Point in India’s Anti-Maoist Strategy

Beyond the convictions, the newspaper examines how the Jhiram Ghati massacre reshaped counter-Maoist strategy. By 2013, the Centre was already pursuing a “clear, hold and develop” model—security forces would enter Maoist strongholds, establish camps and enable civilian administration, roads, schools and health services to follow. Jhiram Ghati demonstrated both Maoist capacity for spectacular retaliation and weaknesses in state penetration, especially where security deployment advanced faster than roads and communications. Instead of causing withdrawal, the attack reportedly strengthened political resolve to enter core Maoist areas. Subsequent strategy added night evacuation capability, stronger Centre-state coordination, roads, telecom towers and new security camps. More than 15,000 km of roads, over 9,000 mobile towers and nearly 200 camps have since been established in core areas, while LWE-related incidents and deaths have fallen by more than four-fifths since 2010. The gist is that security gains become durable only when territorial control is followed by governance and development.