NewsClick

NewsClick
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Covid-19
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • International
  • Sports
  • Articles
  • Videos
search
menu

SUBSCRIBE AND SUPPORT

image/svg+xml
  • All Articles
  • Newsclick Articles
  • All Videos
  • Newsclick Videos
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • Sports
  • International
  • Africa
  • Latin America
  • Palestine
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • US
  • West Asia
About us
Grievance Redressal Mechanism
Newsletter
Facebook - Newsclick Twitter - Newsclick Instagram - Newsclick Youtube - Newsclick RSS - Newsclick
close menu
×
You deserve independent, critical media. Subscribe and Support
Politics
India

Lingaraj Azad’s Arrest An Attempt to Provide a Fresh Lease of Life to Vedanta?

The activist and advisor to the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti has been accused of possessing arms and supporting Maoists.
Newsclick Report
11 Mar 2019
Lingaraj Azad’s Arrest An Attempt to Provide a Fresh Lease of Life to Vedanta?

Image for representational use only.Image Courtesy : The Hindu

Lingaraj Azad, activist and adviser to Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, a tribal outfit opposed to mining in Niyamgiri in Odisha was arrested by the police in Kalahandi on Wednesday, March 6.

The Hindu reported that Azad’s arrest, who is also the national vice president of the Samajwadi Jan Parishad and national convener of the National Alliance of People’s Movements, was confirmed by Kalahandi Superintendent of Police Battula Gangadhar.

According to the report, he was arrested from the Kesinga police station area of the district by a police team from Bijepur, for leading a protest demonstration outside the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) camp at Trilochanpur village last month.

However, activist Prafulla Samantara has claimed that the villagers were opposing the IRB camp as the security personnel had occupied their gram panchayat office without the consent of its office-bearers, the report further stated.

Previously, in April 2017, a case had been registered against Azad for staging a protest demonstration outside the Vedanta alumina refinery in the foothills of Niyamgiri. He was remanded to judicial custody after being produced in a court at Bhawanipatna.

As the news of his arrest spread, several activists working for tribal rights in Niyamgiri hills came out in support of him and have demanded his immediate release. SJP and NAPM activists have also condemned the arrest.

Also Read: ‘We Will Die For Niyamgiri’: Tribes of Niyamgiri Protest Against Vedanta in Odisha

Several people also gathered at the Odisha Bhawan in New Delhi to protest against the unlawful arrest of Lingaraj Azad by the Odisha Police. The protestors who conducted a peaceful demonstration, demanding the memorandum for the Odisha Chief Minister to be received by the Resident Commissioner were detained by the Delhi Police.

Azad’s arrest just before the general elections has been claimed as part of a plan by the Odisha government to stop the activist from carrying forward his struggle for the indigenous people.

Niyamgiri Hills and Threat of Bauxite Mining

The Niyamgiri hill range in Odisha is home to the Dongria Kondh people who are living in 160 villages spread across the Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of the state. For more than a decade, the people have been fighting against the Vedanta Resources, which has been trying to extract the estimated $ 2 billion-worth of bauxite that lies under the surface of the hills.

The state government-owned Odisha Mining Corporation was supposed to provide the bauxite extracted from the Niyamgiri hills to the Vedanta refinery. The hills reportedly contain a deposition of bauxite of more than 80 million tonnes. However, on April 18, 2013, the Supreme Court had maintained that the village councils would decide whether the state-owned mining corporation could mine the hills for the bauxite or not. In the wake of the apex court’s order, all the village councils (gram sabhas) had voted against the mining.

On the other hand, in a statement to Reuters, Vedanta had maintained that they would participate in any auctions of new bauxite mines in Odisha. The company has already bagged environmental clearance and other clearances to expand the capacity of the refinery to produce 6 million tonnes of aluminium a year. Eyeing at the large-scale bauxite reserve in the Niyamgiri hills, the company had already spent more than $9 billion to build the refinery and an aluminium smelter in the state that has 70 per cent of the country’s total bauxite reserve.

See More: No to Vedanta Project in Niyamgiri Hills

So far, a number of struggles by the locals for their livelihood have been seen in the Niyamgiri belt, while the state has been making attempts to disrupt the struggle of the people.

In April 2017, Union Home Ministry had come up with a decision to link the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) to the Maoists. In its annual report, the ministry wrote, “In Niyamgiri Hills area (Districts Rayagada and Kalahandi, Odisha), the outfit [the Maoists] continued to guide the activities of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti.” The environmental and social activists across the country had opposed the move and termed it as baseless.

Besides, the home ministry had also branded the Jharkhand’s Visthan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVM) as “a front of the CPI (Maoist)”. VVJVM works for the rights of the displaced farmers in the state.

Amidst the strong opposition to ministry’s decision, in May 2017, the daughter-in-law of the co-convener of the NSS had been arrested by the Odisha police. Before and after as well, several tribals and activists, who work for the rights of the tribals, have been arrested owing to their alleged link with the Maoists. On October 30, 2014, Haribandhu Kadraka, a member of the All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha that works for the land rights of tribals was arrested for allegedly being a Maoist.

Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
Niyamgiri Hills
Arrests of Activists
Lingaraj Azad
All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha
Tribal Rights
Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti
Odisha
Odisha Government
Dongria Kondh
Vedanta
Attacks on Activists
Related Stories
Adivasis Have Lower Standards of Living, 82% of Households Heads Not Matriculates

Adivasis Have Lower Standards of Living, 82% of Households Heads Not Matriculates

Stop violence against women

Women More Vulnerable to Trafficking in India During Floods, Cyclones

Aruna Roy

‘India Needs Inclusive Leadership that Brings People, Communities Together’—Aruna Roy

wb

Bengal: Resistance Brews in Deucha Pachami Against Land Acquisition for Coal Mine

chattisgarh tribal women.

Adivasis of India’s Tribal Belt Knock on Delhi’s Door

Dharna by displaced persons at Bondamunda, Odisha. Image: Anchalik Surakshya Committee, Bondamunda

Odisha: Adivasi Activist Deme Oram, 21 Others Arrested in Sundergarh

218 Deaths Recorded in Cardiology Dept of Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital in Past 2 Yrs: Delhi Govt

218 Deaths Recorded in Cardiology Dept of Rajiv Gandhi Hospital in Past 2 Yrs: Delhi Govt

Jindal Stainless

Modi Govt. Allows Forest Diversion for Jindal Group’s Chromite Project in Odisha’s Highly-Polluted Mining Belt

Facebook BJP

Algorithm of Ad Advantage: Facebook ‘Charged BJP Less’ Than Rivals

Soni Sori and Bela Bhatia: Human Rights Crusaders for Tribals and Women in Conflict-ridden Bastar 

Soni Sori and Bela Bhatia: Human Rights Crusaders for Tribals and Women in Conflict-ridden Bastar 

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare via EmailShare on RedditShare on KindlePrint
Share
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare via EmailShare on RedditShare on KindlePrint
Share
You deserve independent, critical media. We want readers like you. Support independent, critical media. Subscribe to Newsclick.

Subscribe and Support


Latest

  • Flights, Tourism in Kashmir Not a Sign of Normalcy: Omar Abdullah

    Flights, Tourism in Kashmir Not a Sign of Normalcy: Omar Abdullah

  • health

    One Lakh NHM Staff in UP Not Paid Salaries Due to ‘Lack of Budget’

  • Criminal-Procedure-Identification

    The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 Violates Various Constitutional Mandates

  • J&K: Part of Under-Construction Tunnel in Ramban Collapses; 10 Labourers Trapped, 3 Rescued

    J&K: Part of Under-Construction Tunnel in Ramban Collapses; 10 Labourers Trapped, 3 Rescued

  • Load More
Newsletter
About us
Grievance Redressal Mechanism