Skip to main content

Arrest of Odisha tribal leader meant to "appease" corporates ahead of elections

By A Representative
The All-India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE), "strongly" condemning the arrest of Lingraj Azad, leader of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Parishad, who, with the Dongria Kond forest community successfully fought the Vedanta corporation's attempts to grab adivasi land, has said, but for their struggle, "generations of adivasis would have been dispossessed".
AIFRTE said, "The ecological balance of the region, protected by the Dongria Kond's sustainable life conditions, would also have been irreparably damaged and lost." And with his arrest, "once again it appears under threat."
Asserted AIFRTE, "The Odisha government has revived it's efforts to promote the discredited cause of exploitative corporations and to deny the adivasis inhabiting these mineral rich lands over many centuries their legitimate human rights."
Saying that Lingraj Azad, national vice-president of Samajwadi Jan Parishad, a'member organization of AIFRTE, and national convener of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), "has been arrested under trumped up charges", AIFRTE noted, charges against him include "possession of arms, which can allow him to be declared a Maoist."
Demanding Azad's immediate release and all his charges dropped, AIFRTE said, "The fact that this arrest has been made just before the impending elections shows that Odisha government is siding with the corprations for petty political and financial gains."

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Israel’s political deadlock: Arab parties may emerge as potential kingmakers

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  The final results of Israel’s recent general election have produced a deeply divided parliament, placing Arab-led political parties in a potentially decisive position in determining the country’s next government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing alliance have secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot has won 48 seats. Arab-led parties have secured 19 seats. Since a majority of 61 seats is required to form a government, neither of the two main political blocs has the numbers needed to govern independently.
Post a Comment
»

Beyond outrage: What the Panchkula school assault reveals about India’s juvenile justice

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan  Some tragedies provoke public anger; others force a society to confront its systemic blind spots. The alleged assault on a six-year-old girl by an eight-year-old classmate inside a government school in Panchkula, Haryana, falls squarely into the latter category. 
Post a Comment
»

100,000 dead, 4 million displaced: Myanmar's post-coup war grinds on as the junta loses ground

By Nava Thakuria*  At least 100,000 people, including civilians, have been killed in Myanmar's conflicts since the military coup of 1 February 2021, according to the UN. Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, gave the figure to the UN General Assembly in New York on 27 October 2026. She called President Min Aung Hlaing a tyrant who still deliberately attacks civilians to force them into submission.
Post a Comment
»