India – CASR: Press Statement Condemning Arrests
We hereby share a press statement by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) published on October 18.
PRESS STATEMENT
Date: 18 October 2026
CASR Strongly Condemns the Arrest of People’s Doctor Dr. Randall Sequeira and Anti displacement activist Laxman Nayak by Odisha Police
New Delhi: The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemns the arrest of Dr. Randall Sequeira, a people’s doctor who has long worked to provide healthcare to ordinary people in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts of Odisha, and Laxman Nayak, an activist associated with the Maa Mati Mali Surakhya Manch. Both were taken into custody by Bhawanipatna Town Police at around 11 PM on 16 October 2026, without being served arrest memos or informed of the reasons for their detention. They were subsequently produced before the court in connection with Kashipur Police Station Case No. 85/2026. After their bail applications were rejected, both were sent to Rayagada Sub-Jail.
The case reportedly stems from protests in Kantamal on 6–7 April 2026, during which the police allegedly resorted to a lathi-charge and tear gas. The targeting of these activists raises serious concerns about the use of criminal cases to silence those standing with people’s movements and resisting corporate loot.
The arrests must also be viewed in the context of the continued incarceration of Lada Sikaka, president of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, and Lingaraj Azad, an adviser to the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti and the Maa Mati Mali Surakhya Manch. The detention of multiple activists associated with movements defending Adivasi land and natural resources reflects a disturbing pattern of criminalising democratic resistance in Odisha.
A Nationwide Pattern of Repression
This repression is not confined to Odisha. Across India, communities resisting corporate land grabbing, mining, mega-dams, forced displacement and the destruction of forests and biodiversity face police violence, fabricated cases and prolonged incarceration.
From the proposed Siang mega-dam in Arunachal Pradesh to the struggle against the proposed hotel project in Kaziranga, Assam, and from Odisha to Madhya Pradesh and other mineral-rich Adivasi regions, people defending their ancestral lands and livelihoods are increasingly being treated as threats to state and corporate interests.
Activists face prosecution under draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the National Security Act (NSA) and other security legislation. Even where anti-terror laws are not invoked, multiple criminal cases and repeated police harassment are used to intimidate activists and weaken people’s movements.
The message is clear: those who resist corporate loot and defend people’s land, forests, water and livelihoods are being punished for exercising their democratic rights. Governments are prioritising corporate interests over the rights of Indigenous and Adivasi communities, while the machinery of the state is increasingly deployed to suppress dissent.
CASR condemns this systematic repression and stands firmly with all people’s movements resisting displacement, corporate loot and environmental destruction. Defending one’s land and livelihood is not a crime. Protesting against unjust development projects is a democratic right, not a threat to national security.
CASR DEMANDS
1. Immediate release of Dr. Randall Sequeira and Laxman Nayak and withdrawal of the allegedly fabricated case against them.
2. Immediate release of Lada Sikaka and Lingaraj Azad, along with all political prisoners and activists incarcerated for defending people’s rights.
3. An independent investigation into the alleged police violence in Kantamal on 6–7 April 2026 and accountability for those responsible.
4. An end to the criminalisation of anti-displacement and people’s movements across Odisha and the rest of India.
5. An end to the misuse of draconian laws, including the UAPA and NSA, against activists, human rights defenders and communities resisting corporate exploitation.
6. Respect for Adivasi and Indigenous rights, including the right to defend ancestral lands, forests, water resources, livelihoods and biodiversity against forced displacement and corporate land grabbing.
CASR reiterates that the arrest and imprisonment of activists cannot silence people’s struggles for justice, dignity and the right to determine their own future. From Odisha to Arunachal Pradesh, from Kaziranga to Madhya Pradesh, the fight to defend land and livelihoods is inseparable from the fight for democracy and civil liberties.
Campaign Against State Repression
(AIRSO, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM, COLLECTIVE, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity Movement, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine, Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Samajwadi Lok Manch, Bahujan Samajwadi Manch, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)
