Strongly condemning the arrest of adivasi rights leader, CASR demands end to state repression in Bastar

By A Representative 

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) has strongly condemned the arrest of Bastar-based human rights defender and former president of Moolwasi Bacchao Manch, Raghu Midiyami. Midiyami was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on February 27 from Dantewada, where he was recovering from severe injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. His arrest follows FIR RC-02/2023/NIA/Raipur, under which other activists, including former office-bearer Gajendra Madavi and activist Laxman Kunjam, have already been detained.

The NIA has alleged that Midiyami received funds from the Maoist party and distributed them among Adivasi protesters in Bastar. However, activists and human rights groups argue that the arrest is part of a broader state-sponsored crackdown on Adivasi movements resisting corporate land grabs and militarization.

At just 23 years old, Raghu Midiyami is a widely respected Adivasi leader who has been at the forefront of peaceful democratic struggles for Jal-Jangal-Jameen (water, forests, and land rights), claimed CASR. 

As the former president of the now-banned Moolwasi Bacchao Manch, he played a crucial role in organizing protests against mining projects and forced displacement, violation of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) and the Fifth Schedule, and extrajudicial killings and militarization in Bastar.

Despite the peaceful nature of these protests, the Chhattisgarh government banned the Moolwasi Bacchao Manch in October 2023, CASR said. This led to a wave of arrests and repression against Adivasi activists, including Suneeta Pottam and Sarju Tekam.

The BJP-RSS-led government’s increasing use of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Adivasi activists raises serious concerns about the shrinking space for democratic dissent in India, it said in a statement. 

Arbitrary arrests, fake encounters, and the branding of human rights defenders as “Maoists” have become common tactics to silence indigenous resistance against corporate exploitation.

CASR urged all democratic and progressive organizations, human rights defenders, and concerned citizens to raise their voices against the unjust arrest of Raghu Midiyami and other Adivasi activists. The immediate lifting of the ban on Moolwasi Bacchao Manch and an end to the state’s war on Adivasi communities in the name of counter-insurgency is essential, it added.