Delhi Police said in a series of tweets Sunday that Ravi — who co-founded a branch of the youth-led climate movement Fridays for Future in Bangalore—is a “key conspirator” in the “formulation” and “dissemination” of the toolkit. They also accused her of starting a related group on the messaging service WhatsApp.
The Guardian reports that Ravi “has now been charged with sedition and criminal conspiracy.” According to the newspaper:
At a court on Sunday Ravi broke down in tears and said she had only edited two lines of the toolkit file. Police alleged in their statement they had technical evidence that Ravi’s role in editing the toolkit was “many times more than the two lines editing that she claims.” The court remanded Ravi to five days in police custody after police requested time to “unearth her connections with the Sikhs for Justice.”
Previously, Delhi Police #releasedisharavi: Global outrage after india arrests climate activist over farmer protest toolkit shared by greta thunberg the toolkit, a version of which is available on an encrypted site, “predates and indicates a copycat execution of a conspiracy behind” protests that turned violent on January 26. The police added that “the call was to wage economic, social, cultural, and regional war against India.”
The available toolkit, which does not advocate violence, suggests actions such as supporting Indian farmers on social media using the hashtags #FarmersProtest and #StandWithFarmers, calling and emailing government representatives, and organizing or participating in on-the-ground protests.
“Disha is a dedicated climate activist,” a volunteer at the India chapter of Fridays for Future who declined to be named due to safety concerns told CNN. “It was difficult to wrap my head yesterday when I came to know about [her arrest], I was shocked.”
“This leads to a lot of caution,” the volunteer added. “We are asking for livable future… It is our right.”
