Nawanshahr:- The Democratic Front, which opposes Operation Green Hunt, demands the immediate and unconditional release of tribal rights activist Raghu Miriam, who has been in jail in Dantewada jail in Chhattisgarh for a year under the oppressive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The 25-year-old Miriam belongs to the Bastar region and was raising his voice against alleged encroachments, corporatization, forcible encroachment on tribal lands to set up security camps and displacement of tribals there.
He has also been the president of the Mulwasi Bachao Manch, a peaceful movement for tribal rights, which was declared illegal and banned by the government last year for its suppression. Miriam and other leaders, along with tribals and representatives of the tribal community, were demanding the implementation of the PESA Act and the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. Both these legal provisions give legal protection to tribal communities against forced land acquisition for any project in forest areas.
Miriam was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on February 27, 2025, in Dantewada when he went to a hospital in Dantewada for treatment after suffering serious injuries in a motorcycle accident. He was denied treatment and was jailed by the agency officials. Due to the criminal negligence of the jail authorities, his leg injury worsened in the absence of treatment.
During his imprisonment, the investigating agency, in addition to the first false case, filed six more cases under the UAPA against him. So that he could not be granted bail and could be imprisoned for a long time. The plan is to keep leaders of the struggle like him in jail, leaving the tribals leaderless and in the absence of leadership, there can be no organized resistance against the corporate exploitation of the natural resources of the Bastar region.
The Front Group appeals to the justice-loving democratic forces to raise their voice strongly for the release of Raghu Miriam and other jailed rights activists.