Grieving Mother's Heartbreaking Plea
In a mud house at the edge of Puvarti village in Sukma district, an elderly tribal woman's world has collapsed. Madvi Pojje, mother of top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, broke down completely when police informed her that her son had been killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.
The distraught mother made an emotional appeal to the police officers: "I am old. I cannot bring my son's body back to the village. You get it here." This heartbreaking request came just eight days after she had made a video appeal asking her son to "come home and live in peace."
Police Response and Arrangements
Bastar range IG P Sundarraj confirmed to media that police have facilitated the family's travel to Andhra Pradesh to complete legal formalities and bring the body home. The body is expected to reach Puvarti, Hidma's native village in Sukma district, on Thursday.
"Family members have been sent. Local police there will help them complete the process," the IG stated. He clarified that Hidma's identification is clear, and DNA testing would only be necessary if the family refuses to identify the body. Standard procedures like preserving fingerprints are being followed.
Refuting rumors that Hidma's body had been cremated in Andhra Pradesh, Sundarraj was categorical that the body would be treated with "basic humanity." However, he emphasized there would be no symbolism that could turn the wanted insurgent into a martyr figure.
"We do not want to overplay it. It should not look like a 'shaheed' ceremony. Tribal customs do not require elaborate facilities. It will remain a community event, and basic dignity will be extended," the senior police officer explained.
Ancient Tribal Mourning Traditions Begin
As news of Hidma's death spread through Puvarti village, the community slipped into ancient mourning traditions that transcend ideology and focus purely on human loss. Videos emerged showing Hidma's mother and family members holding their heads and performing the traditional "roon-saun" - a piercing, rolling wail that moves from house to house faster than any modern communication.
Women, typically the first responders in such situations, gathered around the grieving family. Their wails rose in long, trembling notes before breaking into sobs. Each call seemed to address the dead directly, narrating memories, regrets, and unfinished conversations.
Elders in the community are believed to be communicating with the departed soul - guiding it and persuading it to cross over peacefully without lingering among the living. It is within this cultural framework that Puvarti prepares for the return of Hidma's body - not as a commander, but as a son of the soil.
A Mother's Final Unanswered Appeal
Barely eight days before the encounter that ended his life, Hidma's mother had made what now sounds like a final, desperate appeal. In a video message after Chhattisgarh home minister Vijay Sharma met her in Puvarti last week, she had called out: "Son, come back home, wherever you are, I am calling you."
She continued emotionally, "If you were staying somewhere nearby, I would go looking for you. What else can I say, come back. We will live here in Puvarti, earn and eat from our own land. Live among the people, but come home."
For a woman who has spent decades listening to gunfire echo through Bastar's forests, her wish was simple: some peace in her old age. That wish remained unfulfilled as the news that reached her was not of a son returning alive, but of a body that must be claimed from another state.
The Dual Legacy of Madvi Hidma
For security forces across central India, Madvi Hidma was not just another wanted cadre. He was one of India's most wanted Maoist commanders, a shadowy figure believed to be behind some of the worst attacks in Bastar over the last three decades.
Hidma had picked up a weapon when he was barely 15, starting as a child soldier in the banned outfit and rising through the ranks. Over nearly 35 years in the underground, he was linked to the killing of more than 300 people - most of them security personnel.
He was identified as the mastermind behind the brutal ambush that killed 76 CRPF jawans - a massacre that shocked the nation and redefined the scale of Maoist violence. Born as Madvi Deva in Puvarti village, he was known locally as quick, wiry, and sharp.
After studying in the village primary school, he was drawn into the Maoist fold as a teenager and inducted into the "Bal Sangham" - the entry level for children in the organization. He continued his education in Maoist-run "Janatana schools," where he first held a weapon.
Commanders recognized his agility and tactical sense, promoting him from Local Organization Squad (LOS) to platoon commander, then company commander. Eventually, he took charge of Military Battalion No. 1, commanding an estimated 300-400 armed Maoists.
Initially active in Narayanpur, Bijapur, and Gadchiroli, he was later sent to the Konta area committee as joint platoon commander. In regions like Minpa, Tekulgudem, and Burkapal, his name became synonymous with high-casualty ambushes on security forces.
From 2006-07 to around 2022, almost every major Maoist attack in Bastar bore his alleged imprint. Recently, he achieved the rare distinction for a local tribal leader of being elevated to the Maoists' Central Committee.
While the state viewed him as a ruthless architect of violence, for his mother, he remained simply "My Hidma." A CRPF officer acknowledged this duality, stating: "He was wanted in many cases. But in death, the minimum dignity due to every human being will be maintained."
In Puvarti, that dignity will manifest as villagers gathering around a body on a bamboo cot, elders murmuring prayers in Gondi, women crying his name into the dust, and drums beating a slow, heavy rhythm. He is coming home - but not in the way his mother had dreamed.
