[AUGUST FREE REPORT]

On 8th March 2021, the world celebrated International Women's Day and the Chattisgarh police too made a gesture of celebration by organizing a 3-km walk in the state capital Raipur to promote 'Zero Tolerance' against women. Yet the very next day, they raided a gathering of 500 Adivasi women in village Sameli in the conflict-torn region of Bastar. The gathering was organised by Chattisgarh Mahila Adhikar Manch ( a women's right group ) and Jail Bandi Rihai Manch, (which was formed in October 2019 to monitor the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government's promise to release Adivasis languishing in Jail) and was carried on to commemorate two women who had lost their lives to alleged police excesses. The meeting was disrupted by the police and Hidme Markam was arrested without due process.

As the newssite Scroll reported, the police claimed Markam was an absconding Maoist who faces serious charges in five cases registered between 2016 and 2020. But social activists in Bastar point out Hidme to be an ernstwhile government-school cook with no history of violence.  Hidme has also led peaceful protests under the banner of Nandraj Pahad Bachao Andolan to resist the destructive mining of sacred indigenous Bailadila Hills in Dantewada district. These protests are against a government owned iron ore mine to be run by the Adani group which was recently in much news and condemnation for operating coal mines from India to Australia. 2

Scroll also reported a twist/'a major inconsistency in the police rationale for the arrest. The police superintendent cited a booklet containing the names of alleged Maoists as evidence for Markam's complicity. However, the Scroll's review of the booklet showed that it mentioned another person, Kawasi Hidme, not Hidme Markam, whose identity Scroll identified separately. Hidme has been arrested under the oppressive criminal law regime of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) which allows the government to designate individuals as terrorists and detain them for up to 180 days without charge incases related to insurgency or terrorism. The UAPA has no bail provision for foreign nationals, and allows court to deny bail in the case of detained citizens. 

Many petitions have been circulating online demanding the immediate release of Hidme Markam and also highlighting the method of Hidme's arrest and the apparent case of mistaken identity which raises serious questions about the integrity of the rule of law and how the police feel emboldened to harass Adivasi leaders exercising their rights to peaceful protests.

However the case is an ongoing one and nothing can be stated with surity. As an unbiased citizen, I should stand undecided until further updates to the case as although media is showing Hidme Markam as innocent and law-abiding, the opposite can be true.

References:-

1. “Sign the Petition.” Change.Org, www.change.org/p/president-of-india-release-hidme-markam-immediately. Accessed 10 July 2022.