India activist arrested over circulating Greta Thunberg ‘toolkit’

An Indian activist was taken into custody after being accused by officials of editing and circulating a “toolkit” that Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted out sharing how to support the farmers’ protests going on across the Asian nation. 

Activist Disha Ravi is being charged with sedition and criminal conspiracy; authorities have accused her of being a “key conspirator” for the toolkit and have accused her of spreading “disaffection with the Indian state,” The Guardian reported.

The move was quickly met with protests and criticism.

Ravi’s arrest is “an unprecedented attack on Democracy. Supporting our farmers is not a crime,” said Delhi chief minister Arwind Kejriwal.

Ravi admitted to editing two lines in the file during her court hearing, but police claim they have evidence that she did more than edit those two lines. 

The court ordered Ravi to stay in police custody for five days as the police wanted time to “unearth her connections with the Sikhs for Justice,” according to The Guardian.

The toolkit was shared by Thunberg to support farmers who have been protesting new agricultural laws that affect the pricing and storage of farmers’ produce.

Thunberg has faced backlash over her support of farmers, with some counterprotesters burning effigies of the Swedish teen. 

Ravi was flown to New Delhi and taken into custody after authorities raided her home on Saturday. 

“Delhi police’s actions are all the more sinister because Disha was taken to Delhi with no disclosure about her whereabouts, not even to her parents, an action that can be termed extrajudicial abduction,” said the Coalition for Environmental Justice in India, The Guardian reported.

The farmers’ protests have become a controversial topic in India after the farmers became violent in January and broke into the Red Fort complex.