Greta Thunberg Toolkit Case: Disha Ravi's Arrest Sparks Outrage, Opposition Leaders Come In Support

Delhi Police’s cybercrime unit arrested 21-year-old Disha Ravi on Saturday night from her house in North Bengaluru. She has been booked for sedition, promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy, among other offences.

Image: Twitter/@TribalArmy

Delhi Police arrested 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi from Bengaluru in relation to the Greta Thunberg 'toolkit' case and revealed that Disha Ravi is an Editor of the Toolkit Google Doc and a key conspirator in document's formulation and dissemination.

"She started a WhatsApp Group and collaborated to make the Toolkit doc. She worked closely with them to draft the document". 

Delhi police further revealed that in this process, they all collaborated with the pro-Khalistani organisation Poetic Justice Foundation to spread disaffection against the Indian State.

"She was the one who shared the Toolkit Doc with Greta Thunberg," a tweet on the official handle informs.

As per the police, Disha Ravi then asked Greta Thunberg to remove the main document after its incriminating details accidentally got into the public domain. "This is many times more than the 2 lines editing that she claims," they added. A Delhi court on Sunday sent her to five days in police custody.

Opposition and Farmer Leaders come in support of Disha Ravi

Disha Ravi's arrest has sparked a political outrage among the opposition leaders and many came out in her support on Twitter demanding justice. 

Former Minister and lawmaker of the Congress Party called her arrest and detention "completely atrocious" and "unwarranted harassment and intimidation".

“Samyukt Kisan Morcha condemns the arrest of young climate change activist Disha Ravi, who stood in support of the farmers. We also demand her immediate unconditional release,” said farmer leader Darshan Pal in a statement on Sunday.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also spoke against the incident

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury wrote, "Modi regime thinks by arresting a granddaughter of farmers, under Sedition, it can weaken the farmers’ struggles. In fact, it will awaken the youth of the country and strengthen the struggles for democracy."

"The question is when will those people be arrested who continue to issue a literal 'toolkit' to break the national and social unity of India morning and evening, giving rise to hatred and division among the masses," Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted in Hindi.

Disha Ravi's arrest also triggered outrage among international figures and they tweeted in support of her

Who Is Disha Ravi?

21-year-old Disha Ravi is a climate activist just like Greta Thunberg. Disha Ravi is a founder of the 'Friday For Future' campaign which is a global climate movement that started in August 2018, after Swedish activist Thunberg began a school strike for climate.  The 21-year-old is a student at Mount Carmel College, one of the city's top women's colleges.

She was reportedly “picked up” from her house, which falls under the Soladevanahalli police station limits in the Karnataka capital, while her parents live in Mysore.