Political controversy erupts over Naxal Madvi Hidma

A day after neutralised top Naxal commander Madvi Hidma and his wife were cremated at their native village in Chhattisgarh, Congress Rajya Sabha Member from Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh, on Friday shared a video of a tribal rights activist who claimed that Hidma was ‘murdered’ and raised questions on the police claims of shooting dead Hidma in an encounter.

Singh’s sharing the video and supporting the allegations sparked off a major political controversy, with several BJP leaders accusing Digvijaya Singh of always supporting those who work against the country but never paying any respect to those soldiers who sacrifice their lives to protect the nation.

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Digvijaya Singh shared the video of tribal activist Soni Sori, in which she raised questions on the timeline of events provided by the police regarding the encounter and Hidma’s killing. She alleged that Hidma was shot dead after being arrested and not during the encounter.

She also asked why Hidma was not arrested just like other Naxalites in the past. Sori claimed that the police encounter was fake, and Hidma was murdered only because he was a tribal.

Meanwhile, in a social media post, Digvijaya Singh stated that he indeed opposes Naxal violence but supports their surrender through dialogue. “Negotiations must be held and surrenders ensured. They (Naxals) must be brought into the mainstream socio-economically. Tribal rights have been eroded,” Singh maintained.

Nonetheless, the BJP launched a scathing attack on Digvijaya Singh over the issue.

BJP Lok Sabha Member from Bhopal, Alok Sharma, accused Singh of always siding with terrorists and Maoists. “He (Singh) never speaks for soldiers who die for the nation. Why does he always defend terrorists? The public knows everything—that’s why their entire party keeps losing elections,” Sharma averred.

Similarly, BJP MLA from Kalapipal in MP, Ghanshyam Chandravanshi, accused Digvijaya Singh of ignoring the martyrdom of Inspector Ashish Sharma of Narsinghpur.

“Singh didn’t say a single word for the inspector, but he is raising questions for a dreaded Naxalite like Hidma. He could have at least paid tributes to the Inspector,” Chandravanshi charged.

MP Police anti-Naxal Hawk Force Inspector Ashish Sharma was martyred on 19 November in an encounter with Naxalites in the border area of MP and Chhattisgarh.

A day before that, a separate encounter took place on 18 November in the Alluri Sitarama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh, in which six Naxalites, including Madvi Hidma and his wife, Raje, were killed by security forces.