(Asian independent)
Citizens from across India write to Collector, Rayagada decrying arbitrary restraint of social activists and demand immediate withdrawal of Order prohibiting 24 activists and adivasis from entering Rayagada for 2 months:
13th June, 2025: In a strongly worded letter to the District Collector, Rayagada, concerned citizens from across India, including social activists, academics, lawyers and members of various people’s organizations and movements vehemently condemned the absolutely high-handed manner in which the Odisha police restrained and harassed social activists, who were visiting Rayagada for a peaceful program marking the International Environment Day on 5th June. They also expressed profound alarm and disapproval of Order No. 1556/VII-14/2025, issued the Collector on 4th June, 2025 prohibiting 24 activists and adivasis from entering Rayagada for a period of 2 months and participating in protests. They demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of this questionable and unjust order. The full letter is attached below.
The letter initiated by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and the National Alliance for Justice Accountability and Rights (NAJAR) was also sent to the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary of Odisha, SP Rayagada and Focal Point of Human Rights Defenders in NHRC, in the light of unlawful restraint of activists on 5th June in Rayagada. In fact, at 4:30 am on 5th June, well-known social activists Medha Patkar, Lingaraj Pradhan, Narendra Mohanty and Hara Bania were taken into police custody, as soon as they arrived at the Rayagada railway station.
The activists were there on an invitation from the local people’s organizations to attend a public rally against illegal bauxite mining in Sijimali, Kashipur. Upon being asked about the unjust restraint, they were apparently informed of the aforesaid prohibitory order from the Collector’s office. Despite stating that they were there only to participate in a peaceful public action, the police forced them to vacate the district and were later taken towards Berhampur and harassed by taking them around the whole day, with the only intent to ensure they don’t attend the pre-scheduled programme of Environment Day.
The local people’s protest is a response to the destructive impacts of ongoing mining activities that have ravaged livelihoods, forests, and cultural heritage in the region. Rayagada is also a 5th Scheduled Area, governed by the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996; which empowers Gram Sabhas and Panchayats to take decisions regarding any ‘developmental activity’ in their region. Additionally, Section 5 of the FRA – Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 empowers Gram Sabhas to protect their habitat from destructive activities. We condemn the repeated attempts by the state police and administration to suppress the people’s movements and enable the bauxite mining interests of mega corporations like Vedanta, Adani and Birla.
The signatories felt that the impugned order of the Rayagada Collector is clearly an abuse of law, through which prohibition has been imposed on many local people and residents of the area. The restraint order has a chilling effect on the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and movement and is hit by the principles of overbreadth & proportionality. A misplaced apprehension of ‘law & order’ problem, under the garb of ‘reasonable restriction’ violates constitutional safeguards. The limitations imposed by law, to qualify as a ‘reasonable restriction’, should have a proximate connection or nexus, which is not far-fetched, hypothetical or problematic or too remote. Therefore, a mere apprehension of a law-and-order problem, in and of itself, is not a valid justification for imposing unjust restrictions on fundamental rights.
In the light of the above, citizens demanded the following:
1. Immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Order No. 1556/VII-14/2025 dt. 4th June, 2025 issued by the Office of the Collector, Rayadaga.
2. Respect for the constitutional rights of citizens, activists and affected communities to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, demonstrations and movement.
3. Acknowledgement and upholding of the rights of Gram Sabhas under PESA and FRA to protect their forests, villages and eco-systems from destructive and non-consensual activities.
4. Accountability of state authorities and administration for any attempts to suppress peaceful protests against land grab and environmental destruction.
5. An end to the ongoing repression, threats, arrests of people in Sijimali villages, withdrawal of all criminal cases pending against people opposing the mining in the area.
6. Upholding democratic dialogue with the local people’s movement, addressing their concerns and a halt to the ongoing land acquisition processes for mining.
Contact for details: [email protected]
