Dishaless police arrest Disha
Disha Ravi, a 21-year-old student and environment activist from Bengaluru, has been sent to Delhi Police custody for five days on sedition and conspiracy charges in the "Greta Thunberg 'Toolkit' case." On February 4, Delhi Police took "cognisance of a 'Toolkit Document' found on a social media platform that predates and indicates a copycat execution of a conspiracy behind the 26 Jan violence," as stated in a tweet by Delhi Police's official Twitter handle. Greta Thunberg tweeted a link to the toolkit in solidarity with the farmers.
On Thursday, February 11, the Delhi Police lodged an FIR against the creators and collaborators of the document. The document is titled, "Helpful Resources To Learn About the Farmers Protest in India" and seems to look like a repository of articles, resource material and news reports on the farmers' protest. However, the young activist was picked up from her Bengaluru home on Saturday, February 13 on charges of being a "key conspirator in document's formulation and dissemination."
Disha is an active volunteer with the Fridays For Future - India chapter, a global climate group started by Greta Thunberg in 2018. According to the Delhi Police, the 'toolkit' document is an evidence to prove the farmers' protest is a global conspiracy against the Indian government. The Delhi Police Cyber Crime branch alleges that Disha is one of the editors of the toolkit.
In response, many political leaders and activists took to Twitter to share their thoughts. Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram condemned the arrest and tweeted, "A ‘took kit’ to support the farmers’ protest is more dangerous than the intrusion by Chinese troops into Indian territory! India is becoming the theatre of the absurd and it is sad that the Delhi Police has become a tool of the oppressors." On the other hand, Anil Vij, Haryana's Home Minister, in reference to the arrest of the climate activist tweeted, "seeds of ani-nationalism must be destroyed (translated) and had complained to Twitter to remove Disha’s Twitter handle
Twitter has replied to Vij, Twitter replied, “We have investigated the reported content and have found that it is not subject to removal under the Twitter Rules or German law. Accordingly, we have not taken any action as a result of this specific report.”