Earlier this month, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted a protest toolkit linked to India’s long-running farmers protests.
It contained basic information on the farmers’ demonstrations, including how to join the rallies and support the movement online.
It led to a probe by Delhi police, who have now accused 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi of editing and circulating the document before Ms Thunberg shared it.
On Saturday, Ms Ravi was arrested and remanded in custody for five days. Delhi police allege she had “collaborated” to spread “disaffection against the Indian State”.
“She had started WhatsApp Group & collaborated to make the Toolkit doc,” a post on social media said. “The call was to wage economic, social, cultural and regional war against India.”
Who is Disha Ravi?
Ms Ravi is one of the founders of the Bengaluru chapter of Fridays for Future, the international protest network established by Ms Thunberg to highlight climate change.
Ms Ravi was a college student when she began coordinating different strikes in the area.
Her grandparents are farmers, according to a 2020 interview she did with Auto Report Africa. That sparked her motivation to become a climate activist, watching the effects of climate change on her family’s land.
“At the time, I wasn’t aware that what they were experiencing was the climate crisis because climate education is non-existent where I’m from. Only when I did my research, did I find out about it,” the outlet quotes her as saying.
Ms Ravi was also interviewed by Vogue and the Guardian last year about her work.
“We, the people the most affected are going to change the conversation in climate negotiations and lead a just recovery plan that benefits people and not the pockets of our government,” she told the Guardian.
She has also written for different media outlets across the world on the adverse impacts of climate change.
What are people saying about her arrest?
Ms Ravi’s fellow activists say her arrest is being used as a warning.
“I am pretty shook right now,” Arvind, a 27-year-old Fridays for Future volunteer, told Quartz India.
Some of her supporters say the Indian government wants to silence those who speak out against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the farmers protests have become one of the biggest challenges yet to his rule.
A coalition of activist groups has demanded Ms Ravi’s release and said it was “extremely worried for her safety and wellbeing”.
Delhi has reacted with fury to tweets about the farmers protests by celebrities, among them Rihanna and US Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris, calling them “sensationalist”.
Delhi police have also said on Twitter that Ms Ravi’s group had collaborated with those wanting to create a separate country in the northern state of Punjab. Many of the protesting farmers come from Punjab.
With AFP.
