22-year-old Indian activist detained for farmer protest guide tweeted by Greta Thunberg

Published February 14, 2021
Disha Ravi, 22, was arrested on Saturday. — Photo courtesy: Disha Ravi Facebook
Disha Ravi, 22, was arrested on Saturday. — Photo courtesy: Disha Ravi Facebook

An Indian climate activist has been arrested after she allegedly helped create a guide to the anti-government farmer protests that was tweeted by environmentalist Greta Thunberg.

Social media platforms have become a major battleground in India with Delhi calling on Twitter to block hundreds of accounts that had commented on the recent farmers' rallies opposing new agriculture laws.

Disha Ravi, 22, was arrested on Saturday. Police alleged she edited an online “toolkit” containing information on the protests that was put out by Swedish activist Thunberg in early February on Twitter.

A police statement said Ravi, from southern Bangalore, was a “key conspirator in the document's formulation and dissemination”.

The toolkit had basic information on the farmers' demonstrations, as well as how to join the rallies and support the movement online.

Delhi police said Ravi and her group had “shared” the toolkit with Thunberg.

Ravi was a founder of Fridays For Future India, part of an international protest network established by Thunberg to highlight climate change.

Jairam Ramesh, a former minister and lawmaker for the opposition Congress party, called her arrest and detention “completely atrocious” and “unwarranted harassment and intimidation”.

A coalition of activist groups demanded Ravi's release and said it was “extremely worried for her safety and wellbeing”.

Since late November farmers have camped on roads leading into the capital calling for new agriculture laws to be repealed, in one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government since it came to power in 2014.

Delhi has reacted with fury to tweets about the protests by celebrities — among them Rihanna and US Vice President Kamala Harris' niece Meena Harris — calling them “sensationalist”.

Read: How one tweet from Rihanna on farmer protests got India incensed

Following those posts, on February 5 police launched an investigation into those stirring “disaffection and ill will” against the government.

Delhi police said on Twitter that 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.

Opinion

Editorial

CPEC slowdown
Updated 09 Dec, 2024

CPEC slowdown

Current CPEC slowdown doesn't mean China has lost interest in the connectivity project or in Pakistan.
Madressah bill
09 Dec, 2024

Madressah bill

A CONTROVERSY has been brewing over the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024, with the JUI-F slamming ...
Protecting varsities
09 Dec, 2024

Protecting varsities

THE recent proposal by the Sindh cabinet to shoehorn in non-PhD bureaucrats as vice chancellors has sparked concern...
Stirring trouble
Updated 08 Dec, 2024

Stirring trouble

The demands put forth this time are simple and doable at little political cost.
Unfairness in cricket
08 Dec, 2024

Unfairness in cricket

HOPES that cricketing ties between Pakistan and India would be strengthened by the latter team’s visit across the...
Syria rebel advance
08 Dec, 2024

Syria rebel advance

CITY after city in Syria is falling into rebel hands as Bashar al-Assad’s government looks increasingly vulnerable...