Indian Police Arrest Eco Activist Over Creating Anti-State Manual For Protesting Farmers

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2021) Disha Ravi, a Bengaluru female climate activist in her early 20s, was detained on Sunday on suspicion of being among the editors of a subversive and separatist "toolkit" for protesting farmers, New Delhi police said on Sunday.

Indian farmers have been protesting for over three months now against a new legislation that cancels the government-assured minimal purchase price, among other changes that farmers fear will leave them vulnerable before potential abuse by private businesses.

"Disha Ravi, arrested by CyPAD Delhi Police, is an Editor of the Toolkit Google Doc [and] key conspirator in document's formulation [and] dissemination. She started WhatsApp Group [and] collaborated to make the Toolkit doc. She worked closely with them to draft the Doc," police said on Twitter.

According to Ravi's comment before the court, as quoted by Indian broadcaster NDTV, she only edited "two lines" of the toolkit.

Police, however, has accused Ravi of "many times more than the 2 lines editing that she claims," alleging specifically that she had collaborated with an organization called Poetic Justice Foundation, which they believe is linked to radical separatists from the Khalistan movement.

Ravi is also accused of being the person who shared the toolkit with Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, who then shared it on her Twitter account with over 4.9 million followers on February 6. Following a public uproar over meddling, Thunberg deleted the tweet.

Indian police continue to investigate the toolkit and its authors, having requested assistance from Google and other tech giants in tracking down IP addresses and social media of the people who could be linked to the troublesome e-manual. Ravi was placed in a five-day detention for further interrogation.