Odisha’s Adivasis Face State-Backed ‘Corporate Terrorism’, Activists Allege

New Delhi-  In a fresh escalation of violence against Adivasi communities in Odisha, activists and rights groups have accused both state authorities and private mining interests of unleashing a coordinated campaign of “state-sponsored violence and corporate terrorism” to forcibly push mining projects in the Rayagada and Sundargarh districts.

In a press conference held at the Press Club on Monday, a coalition of civil liberties and tribal rights bodies condemned what they described as brutal, late-night crackdowns aimed at crushing resistance to bauxite mining in the Sijimali region.

The latest incident occurred on April 7 at around 3 AM, when armed police forces entered Kantamal village in Rayagada district while residents were asleep.

“Houses were locked from outside, several homes were broken into, and villagers, including women were beaten,” the speakers alleged. When people attempted to resist, police reportedly resorted to a lathi charge, blank firing, and tear gas, injuring more than 50 villagers. In what speakers called a “shocking act of cruelty,” a cow was also shot dead.

The activists described the event as part of a broader pattern. “What is being carried out in the name of ‘development’ is nothing but state-sponsored violence and corporate-driven exploitation to forcefully push mining projects against the will of the people,” they said.

The groups pointed to a similar operation on December 13 last year in Sundargarh district, where police accompanied officials of the Dalmia company in a late-night action. Agricultural lands belonging to Adivasi families were allegedly destroyed to facilitate mining, again without the consent of Gram Sabhas.

Since July 2023, the statement noted, there has been continuous repression against peaceful protests opposing bauxite mining in Sijimali. Villagers have faced raids, torture, and false criminal cases. Over 100 people have been jailed, including women,one of whom was reportedly taken into custody from a hospital. At present, 24 people, including 11 women and a pregnant woman, remain in jail.

“Livelihoods have been destroyed, and even small vendors have been targeted, robbed, and harassed,” the statement alleged. The region has been turned into a surveillance zone, with drones monitoring villages day and night, violating people’s dignity and privacy. Democratic rights such as organizing meetings or observing important community days are being systematically denied, they added.

The core issue, the groups said, is that mining projects are being imposed without the free, prior, and informed consent of Gram Sabhas, in direct violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), PESA, and the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.

Sijimali, described as a biodiversity-rich region, sustains the livelihoods of lakhs of Adivasi and Dalit people across more than 100 villages. It is also a crucial ecological zone supporting rivers, streams, forests, and traditional agriculture.

Instead of protecting these fragile ecosystems, the government is handing over natural resources to private corporations, they charged. “This reckless expansion of mining will exhaust Odisha’s bauxite reserves within a few decades, leaving behind ecological devastation, water scarcity, and desertification of the region.”

The groups, including Lok Shakti Abhiyan, PUCL, and various academics expressed strong solidarity with the people of Sijimali and all affected communities across Odisha.

Their demands include:

1.Immediate halting of police repression on democratic people’s movements.

2.Release of all arrested villagers and withdrawal of all false cases.

3.No land acquisition or forest diversion without free, prior, and informed consent of Gram Sabhas.

4.Cancellation of forest diversion approvals granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and action against those responsible for manipulating consent through false Gram Sabhas.

5.A ban on new bauxite mining projects and cancellation of existing mining leases in the region.

“The future of Odisha cannot be built on the destruction of its people, forests, and resources,” they said. “Development must be based on justice, democracy, and ecological sustainability.”

The speakers included Prafulla Samanthara, National Convenor, Lok Shakti Abhiyan, Kavita Srivastava (PUCL), Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty and others.