One year of NIA arrest: Groups call for immediate release of Raghu Midiyami

By A Representative 

A human rights group's press statement on 27 February 2026 to mark one year since the arrest of Bastar-based Adivasi human rights defender Raghu Midiyami, has called for his immediate release and an end to what campaigners describe as the criminalization of peaceful Adivasi activism in Chhattisgarh.

Raghu Midiyami, 25, who serves as president of Moolwasi Bacchao Manch, was arrested on 27 February 2025 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Dantewada under FIR RC-02/2023/NIA/Raipur. According to the statement, he was taken into custody while recovering in a hospital from serious injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. The campaign alleged that despite his fragile medical condition at the time, authorities proceeded with his incarceration rather than ensuring treatment.

Over the past year, the statement claimed, authorities have not only pursued the NIA case but have also filed six additional cases against him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), which issued the statement, alleged that the multiple UAPA cases were intended to prolong his imprisonment and make bail difficult, thereby weakening organized resistance to mining and displacement in the Bastar region.

Midiyami has been described by supporters as a prominent Adivasi youth leader involved in peaceful mobilizations across Bastar. As part of Moolwasi Bacchao Manch, an umbrella platform of Adivasi peasants, he is said to have helped coordinate nearly 30 sit-in protest sites raising demands related to implementation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) and the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, halting mining and displacement, ending alleged fake encounters, reducing militarization in Adivasi areas, and protecting community rights over land, forest and water.

The statement rejected allegations that he received funds from Maoist organizations, asserting that no credible evidence has been placed in the public domain to justify his continued incarceration. It argued that peaceful democratic dissent was being equated with insurgency in central India.

The campaign also raised concerns about his health, alleging custodial medical negligence. It stated that he had suffered a fractured finger in the accident prior to his arrest and that jail authorities failed to provide timely and adequate treatment despite repeated requests, resulting in permanent deformity. The statement described this as a violation of his fundamental rights and called for accountability.

The press note further referred to the Chhattisgarh government’s ban on Moolwasi Bacchao Manch in October 2024, describing it as part of a broader pattern of repression against Adivasi assertion over land, forest and livelihood rights.

CASR and a coalition of student, labour and civil society groups demanded the immediate release of Raghu Midiyami, withdrawal of all cases including the NIA and UAPA charges, comprehensive medical treatment, and an end to what they termed the criminalization of peaceful Adivasi movements in Bastar.

Calling his year-long incarceration “one year too many,” the statement urged democratic and progressive groups across the country to unite in seeking justice and accountability in the case.