Mumbai: When he was barely 20 years old, Raghu Midiyami along with other youths of his age, led one of the most powerful and perhaps the longest (still ongoing) protests in the recent history of the Bastar region.

The protest, which began in May 2021 in Silger village in Sukma district of South Chhattisgarh, was in response to the rampant establishment of CRPF camps in and around villages in the Bastar region. It soon took a bloody turn when the armed forces indiscriminately shot at the protestors, killing three Adivasi villagers, including a 14-year-old boy.

In the years that followed, Midiyami remained at the forefront, questioning the state government for its extractive and violative policies, as well as the security agencies for the growing atrocities in the region. In press conferences and delegate meetings held in the region, Midiyami was always seen in the lead, negotiating and talking to the powers that be.

Three days ago, on Thursday (February 27), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him for his alleged association with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI (Maoist)) organisation. Midiyami, who had always been available to both the police and the press, was accused of being part of the underground, banned movement. He is now 24 years old.

Midiyami, a resident of Parlagatta village in Sukma district, is one of the founding members of the Moolwasi Bachao Manch (MBM) – a people’s organisation formed in response to the government’s oppressive policies in the region. The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a human rights body, while “strongly condemning” Midiyami’s arrest “over spurious charges of acting at the behest of Maoists,” points to........

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