RELEASE LINGRAJ AZAD IMMEDIATELY!
Delhi – NAPM (National Alliance of Peoples’s Movements) condemns the illegal and deceitful arrest of Lingraj Azad today by Odisha police. He is the leader of Niyamgiri Suraksha Parishad, who successfully fought the valiant struggle against Vedanta corporation along with Dongria Kondh. Initially it was reported that he has been arrested in an old case but just now we have learnt that sedition charges has also been slapped against him. (More details are awaited)
Lingraj Bhai is a fierce fighter for the rights of the adivasis and one of the tallest leaders of Odisha and national VP of Samajwadi Jan Parishad and National Convener of NAPM.
Arrests and attacks are not new to him in nearly three decades of his activism. He has faced physical attacks and harassment from the State for his struggle against the systemic oppression and corporate loot of the natural resources.
We condemn this brazen attack and arrest by Odisha government just before elections and planned morcha in Bhubaneswar on March 11th and on the continued violations of rights in Niyamgiri hills.
We demand immediate release of Lingraj Azad and restoration of his rights and an end to corporate and State terror in Niyamgiri hills.
Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM); Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shankar Singh, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan Dr. Binayak Sen, Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL); Gautam Bandopadhyay, Nadi Ghati Morcha; Kaladas Dahariya, RELAA, NAPM Chhattisgarh; Prafulla Samantara, Lok Shakti Abhiyan; Lingraj Azad (now in detention) Samajwadi Jan Parishad & Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, NAPM Odisha; Chennaiah,Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruthidarula Union-APVVU, Ramakrishnam Raju,United Forum for RTI and NAPM, Meera Sanghamitra, Rajesh Serupally, NAPM Telangana – Andhra Pradesh; Kavita Srivastava, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL); Kailash Meena, NAPM Rajasthan; Sandeep Pandey, NAPM, Richa Singh, Sangatin Kisaan Mazdoor Sangathan; Arundhati Dhuru, Manesh Gupta, Suresh Rathaur, Mahendra, NAPM, Uttar Pradesh; Sister Celia, Domestic Workers Union; Maj Gen (Retd) S.G.Vombatkere, NAPM, Karnataka; Gabriele Dietrich, Penn Urimay Iyakkam, Madurai; Geetha Ramakrishnan, Unorganised Sector Workers Federation; Arul Doss, NAPM Tamilnadu; Dr.Sunilam, Adv. Aradhna Bhargava, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti; Rajkumar Sinha, Chutka Parmaanu Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti,NAPM, Madhya Pradesh; Vilayodi Venugopal, CR Neelakandan, Prof. Kusumam Joseph, Sharath Cheloor, NAPM, Kerala; Dayamani Barla, Aadivasi-Moolnivasi Astivtva Raksha Samiti, Basant Hetamsaria, Ashok Verma NAPM Jharkhand; Anand Mazgaonkar, Swati Desai, Krishnakant, Parth, Nita Mahadev, Mudita Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Lok Samiti, NAPM Gujarat; Vimal Bhai,Matu Jan sangathan; Jabar Singh, NAPM, Uttarakhand; Samar Bagchi, Amitava Mitra, NAPM West Bengal; Suniti SR, Suhas Kolhekar, Prasad Bagwe,NAPM, Maharashtra;Bilal Khan, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, Mumbai, NAPMMaharashtra; Anjali Bharadwaj, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), NAPM; Faisal Khan, Khudai Khidmatgar, J S Walia, NAPM Haryana; Guruwant Singh, NAPM Punjab; Kamayani Swami, Ashish Ranjan, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan; Mahendra Yadav,KosiNavnirman Manch; Sister Dorothy, Ujjawal Chaubey, NAPM Bihar; Bhupender Singh Rawat, Jan Sangharsh Vahini; Sunita Rani, Domestic Workers Union;Nanhu Prasad,Nirman Mazdoor Union; Rajendra Ravi, Madhuresh Kumar, Himshi Singh, Uma, NAPM, Delhi
