Home Minister Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday appealed to Naxals to surrender, while pointing out that 90 per cent of Bastar has become free from Naxalism and before March 31, the Left-Wing Extremism problem will be eliminated from the country.Addressing a national conclave in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, organised by the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, Shah said thousands of tribal children were killed and their lives were ruined due to Naxalism in the state.He said if all Naxalites laid down their arms, they would be welcomed with a red carpet.Shah said many thinkers had spread the misconception that the problem of Naxalism was linked to development and was merely a law-and-order issue.He pointed out that when the Naxalite problem began, there were more than 100 districts in the country that were more underdeveloped than Bastar.This problem, the Home Minister said, was not connected with law and order or development but was linked to ideology. He said if Bastar had not suffered from Maoist violence, the division, which was rich in mineral wealth, would have been the most prosperous region in the country.Summing up the 25-year journey of Chhattisgarh since it came into existence on November 1, 2000, Shah said during the first few years of its inception (till December 2003), the state was ruled by the Congress. In this period, he claimed the state witnessed atrocities, riots and several movements.After the BJP came to power in 2003, the state witnessed progress in all fields till 2018, Shah said, adding that the former BJP Chief Minister (Raman Singh) fought against Naxalism and struggled against it, but for most of that period, the Opposition party was in power at the Centre (referring to the UPA rule).