Release Lingaraj Azad Immediately

Press Note

2nd September, 2026, New Delhi

 *SKM Rebuts Repression on Farmers' Protest in Odisha* 

*Release Immediately Lingaraj Azad Jailed since 25th March 2026 for Leading Struggle on Land Rights* 

 *Ensure accountability of bureaucrats responsible for illegal arrests, violations of constitutional rights of citizens* 

 *22,180.826 hector Forest Land Given to Corporate Companies During 2015-16 to 2024-25 in Odisha* 

SKM strongly condemns the policy of repressing democratic rights for peaceful protest by the BJP-led Mohan Charan Majhi Government of Odisha. Police had arrested prominent social activist Lingaraj Azad on 25th March 2026 from Bhawani Patna and put on jail since then without providing him the lawful right to bail. Lingaraj Azad is an important activist associated with people’s movements including Samyukta Kisan Morcha, NAPM, Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti and Maa Mati Mali Suraksha Manch. He has consistently spoken out against illegal land acquisition and mining projects in Scheduled Areas. SKM strongly demands accountability of officials responsible for illegal arrests and violations of constitutional rights of citizens.  

Azad's arrest is part of a wider pattern of repression against those resisting the corporate plunder of Adivasi lands. Azad has stood at the forefront of defending the constitutional protections under the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, as well as the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006. These laws clearly require that no land acquisition or mining lease can proceed without the free, prior and informed consent of the Gram Sabha. But the belligerent bureaucracy in connivance with the corporate top brass often bypass or manipulate Gram Sabhas, reducing democratic processes to mere formalities.

The repression of democratic protests of the farmers especially the Adivasis must be seen in the larger context of intensifying corporate extraction in mineral-rich regions of Odisha and across India. Areas inhabited largely by Adivasi and forest-dwelling communities have become sites of aggressive mining by corporations, often enabled by the State.  

As per the statements placed in the Odisha assembly by the Forest Department, 22,180.826 hector forest land has been handed over to corporate companies for mining, industry and infrastructure development in the last ten years 2015-16 to 2024-25. The lion share of this land is given to TATA, Vedanta Resources, NALCO, Adani and Rungta Sons for coal, iron ore, bauxite mining projects. Odisha topped all states in releasing forest land to corporate houses in India. Among this the maximum loss of forest land for mining is happened in resource-rich districts of Kendujhar (14,466 hector) and Sundargarh (10,025 hector) districts in northern Odisha, home to major Adivasi populations. Large-scale projects have caused massive displacement, destruction of forests, loss of traditional livelihoods and irreversible ecological damage.

Activists, community leaders and organisations who resist are increasingly targeted through false cases, arrests, surveillance and intimidation. Azad's arrest is a clear attempt to silence one of the strongest voices against this corporate-driven displacement.  Many massive struggles including the successful Niyamgiri Movement, Kalinga Nagar Protest of January 2006 in which 13 Advisis were killed by Police firing, Kashipur Movement in Rayaada district, Narayanpatna uprising in Koraput district, Sijimali & Tijmali Protests emerged as resistance against corporate onslaught on land rights of the farmers especially Adivasi households in Odisha.  

SKM demands immediate and unconditional release of Lingaraj Azad, withdrawal of all false and fabricated charges against farmer activists, immediate halt to forced land acquisition and mining projects without Gram Sabha consent, end to the corporate loot of natural resources and the displacement of Adivasi community’s and strict implementation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006.   

Issued by 

*Media Cell | Samyukt Kisan Morcha*

Contact: 9447125209 | 9830052766,

samyuktkisanmorcha@gmail.com