Odisha Government Stops the Celebration of World Environment Day in Raygada District

Johar! Greetings to everybody on World Environment Day! We Adivasis and Dalits of Tijmali, Kuturumali and Majhingimali have been struggling to protect our hills, forests and streams from bauxite mining plans by big corporations. We celebrate World Environment Day as ordinary citizens – small peasants, forest dwellers, wage workers and subsistence producers – because it is a day that gives us the joy of strength and unity with all struggling people in the entire world. All governments also observe World Environment Day and are bound to do so.

Therefore, we express deep sadness and shame that our chief guest – the esteemed and renowned environmentalist Medha Patkar – was stopped yesterday (June 5, 2025) at Raygada station by the Odisha Police. As citizens of the country, do we not have a right to observe the day and invite an inspiring personality as chief guest? We have seen Medha Patkar in news and we have read about her. We know she has spent her life working for environment protection and providing abiding solidarity for people’s movements across the country. We ask you all why we the people of Tijmali have been denied her presence in our region by the district administration and Odisha government. 

It is only because of our two-year long struggle to protect the land and the environment from the bauxite mining plans of Vedanta and its contract company Maitri Infrastructure. The arrests and the repression that followed while making preparations for the June 5 event is worth enumerating.

• On  the early morning of 31 May, maybe 4 am or 5 am, officials of the administration attempted going up on the road from Sagabari leading to the mine area. They were stopped by women from village Malipadar. As they came down,  they were again confronted midway down the road by angry villagers questioning their intent to go to the mine area in this surreptitious way. Finally, there was a third confrontation near Bantej village where two Boleros of police and paramilitary personnel joined.   
• We think it was a ploy for the administration and police to enter the area that morning in order to provoke us and stop the June 5 event. This is not the first time that the administration and police have attempted to go to the mine area at unearthly hours and they have always been stopped by villagers. In our opinion, those at the forefront of this confrontation on 31 May have been targeted.

• Jaleswar Naik, one of our leading members of Ma Mati Mali Surakhya Mancha, went missing on 3^rd June, 2025.  Along with Jitendra Naik of Bantej, he went to his sister’s house in Barakaudi village (GP: Dumerpadar, Thuamul Rampur) at around 4 PM. On the way, he was surrounded by more than 15 goons, who abused him, assaulted him physically, tore his clothes and broke his spectacles. Afterwards, they called the police (from Kashipur and Thuamul Rampur) and handed him over to the police personnel, who then took Jaleswar to an undisclosed place and again beat him using caste slurs.  At around 8 PM, Jaleswar’s brother-in-law informed Jaleswar’s family and other villagers of Banteji that Jaleswar had been arrested and kept in Kashipur Police Station.
• According to the lawyer, Kashipur police produced Jaleswar before the JMFC Magistrate, Kashipur, at 1 AM and took him into police custody. And Jaleswar was forwarded to the Rayagada sub-jail in the morning of 04-06-2025. When Jaleswar’s brother and cousin went to meet him in the jail and give him some clothes, the police didn’t allow them and threatened them that they would be arrested also. Details of the specific charges against Jaleswar Naik are yet to be obtained.
• Around 10 AM on 04^th June, around 150 villagers hired two pick-up trucks and went to Kashipur to enquire about Jaleswar’s sudden disappearance and subsequent arrest. Upon reaching Nakti Ghati (located in the outskirts of Kashipur), the villagers were forcefully stopped by about 250 police and paramilitary personnel who started looking for our community leaders.
• Jaleswar’s father faced the police and said that he and other villagers were going on a peaceful march to enquire about the whereabouts of Jaleswar and file a complaint against his unlawful arrest. A heated argument started between the villagers and the police when the latter raised objections about why so many people were going. When a police official caught hold of Ramakant Naik by his shirt collar, women surrounded Ramakant to prevent his arrest. When the women tried to shield other male leaders, the police thrashed the women with lathis.
• Two women suffered fractures. Narangi Dei of Bondel was rushed to the Kashipur CHC, where the medical officer confirmed a severe fracture in her wrist. And Nargi Dei of Kantamal who had sustained a fracture returned to her village in panic without any medical treatment. Many women have been injured in this assault by the police.
• Villagers witnessed Ramakant Naik (male, 30) beaten up badly while being pushed into the police bus.
• According to the lawyer, the police produced Ramakant Naik (male, age 30, village Bantej) and Sundarsingh Majhi (male, age 26 , village Kantamal) before the JMFC Magistrate in the evening of 4^th June and both were sent to Rayagada sub-jail. Details of the specific charges against both of them are yet to be obtained.
• Ramakant Naik’s brother-in-law who went to meet him yesterday morning was detained for four hours in the court premises and not allowed to meet him.
• Jaleswar and Ramakant were seen limping and unable to walk without support by a fellow villager who was in Rayagada subjail. Both of them were escorted to a Bolero by police personnel and taken to the Rayagada District hospital for treatment.
• On the evening of 4 June, police vehicles went around the villages announcing Section 144 was imposed on the area and no gathering can take place.

Sijimali cannot be ever quietened. Our people have never known any curtailment on their movements. For everybody, it was a festive occasion to celebrate June 5. There was some confusion, yet people kept walking towards the venue – Sungerhaat – in hundreds and hundreds. Women and children poured out from all villages. In Kantamal, there was a huge meeting. Seeing this turn out under such repressive conditions, we think maybe the event would have been attended by at least 10, 000 people had the administration not resorted to these repressive measures.

While efforts are being made at all levels to protect nature and the environment by addressing the growing Climate Change Crisis, it is perplexing that the Odisha government imposed Section 144 and prohibited us from celebrating World Environment Day. It is even more deplorable that the Raygada administration has prohibited our friends and supporters who work for people and the environment from entering the district for two months for apprehensions of disturbance  of peace and deterioration of law and order. Instead, protection is given to Vedanta and its contract companies whose operations have caused so much distress and conflict in this region. 

Subhasingh Majhi, Lakhan Majhi, Lai Majhi

(On behalf of Ma Mati Mali Surakhya Mancha)

Contact email id: [email protected]