India – CASR: ONE YEAR OF WRONGFUL INCARCERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER RAGHU MIDIYAMI
We hereby share a press statement issued by the Campaign Against State Repression.
STOP WAGING WAR AGAINST ADIVASI RIGHTS ACTIVISTS!
Today marks one year of the wrongful incarceration of Bastar-based Adivasi human rights defender and President of Moolwasi Bacchao Manch, Raghu Midiyami. He was arrested on 27 February 2025 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Dantewada under FIR RC-02/2023/NIA/Raipur while he was recovering from serious injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
Raghu had gone to Dantewada hospital for treatment when NIA officials took him into custody. At the time of his arrest, he was already in a fragile medical condition. Instead of ensuring medical care, the authorities chose to incarcerate him.
Over the past year, the state has not only pursued the NIA case but has also reportedly slapped *six additional cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against him.* The piling up of multiple UAPA cases appears to be a deliberate strategy to prolong his imprisonment and deny him bail. The clear intention is to keep him behind bars to ensure that there is no organized resistance to the corporate loot of natural resources in the Bastar region.
Raghu Midiyami, a 25-year-old popular Adivasi youth leader, has been at the forefront of peaceful, democratic mobilizations in Bastar. As part of Moolwasi Bacchao Manch—an umbrella platform formed by Adivasi peasants—he helped coordinate nearly 30 peaceful sit-in protest sites across the region. These protests raised constitutional demands, including:
- Implementation of PESA and the Fifth Schedule
- Stopping mining and displacement
- Ending fake encounters and mass killings
- Halting militarization in Adivasi areas
- Protecting Jal-Jangal-Jameen and community rights
The allegations that he received funds from Maoist organizations are being used to criminalize democratic dissent. No credible evidence has been presented in the public domain to justify his prolonged incarceration.
Custodial Medical Negligence
We express deep concern over the continued denial of proper medical treatment to Raghu. He suffered a fractured finger in the motorcycle accident prior to his arrest. Despite repeated requests, jail authorities allegedly failed to provide timely and adequate treatment. As a result, his finger has reportedly twisted permanently in the wrong direction due to medical negligence.
Arresting an injured person from a hospital and then denying him treatment for a year amounts to custodial cruelty and a violation of his fundamental rights. This raises serious questions about the accountability of jail authorities.
Criminalizing Peaceful Adivasi Assertion
The ban on Moolwasi Bacchao Manch by the Chhattisgarh government in October 2024 was followed by a wave of arrests and intimidation of its members. The targeting of Raghu Midiyami is part of a broader pattern of repression in central India, where Adivasi assertion for land, forest, and livelihood rights is systematically equated with insurgency.
We also question Senior Maoist Leader those who claim to have surrendered from armed movements and to be working within the constitutional framework remain silent when innocent Adivasi rights activists are jailed. If peaceful democratic organizing is met with bans, UAPA charges, and year-long incarceration, what space remains for constitutional dissent?
Our Demands
1. Immediate release of Raghu Midiyami.
2. Withdrawal of all fabricated cases, including the NIA case and additional UAPA charges.
3. Immediate and comprehensive medical treatment.
4. An end to the criminalization of peaceful Adivasi movements in Bastar.
One year of incarceration without justice is one year too many. The continued imprisonment of Raghu Midiyami reflects the shrinking democratic space and the deepening repression faced by Adivasi communities resisting displacement and exploitation.
We call upon all democratic and progressive forces across the country to unite in demanding justice, accountability, and the immediate release of Raghu Midiyami.
Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)
Organizing Team
(AIRSO,AISA, AISF, APCR,ASA,BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM,COLLECTIVE,CRPP, CSM CTF, , DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity ,IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA,Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, , NAPM, NAZARIYA , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad,Smajwadi lok manch, Bahujan Samjavadi Mnach, SFI, United Peace Aliance, WSS,Y4S)
