Who is Disha Ravi? Here’s how the 22-yr-old activist is linked to Greta Thunberg

The Delhi Police have arrested 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi for allegedly sharing the toolkit related to the farmers’ protests against Centre’s agricultural laws on social media. Ravi was arrested by the cyber crime unit of Delhi Police from her home in North Bengaluru on Saturday.

The police have alleged that Ravi was the one who shared the toolkit document with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and that she is a key conspirator in the formulation and dissemination of the document that “indicates a copycat execution of a conspiracy behind the January 26 violence.” The Delhi Police said in a tweet, “She started WhatsApp Group & collaborated to make the Toolkit doc. She worked closely with them to draft the Doc.”

Another tweet said, “In this process, they all collaborated with pro Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation to spread disaffection against the Indian State.”

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They added that Ravi later asked Greta 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,” the Delhi Police wrote on Twitter.

Who is Disha Ravi? How is she associated with Greta Thunberg?

She is a 22-year graduate from Mount Carmel College in Bengaluru. She is part of a climate activist group called Fridays for Future, which was started by Greta Thunberg in 2018. Ravi started the India wing of Fridays For Future in 2019 and heads the organisation in the country.

The activist had also coordinated various campaigns across India on climate change. She also organised protests in Bengaluru on climate issues and wrote in different media across the world on adverse impacts of climate change.

What motivated Ravi?

Her motivation to become a climate activist came from watching her grandparents, who are farmers and struggle with the effects of climate change, she said in an interview to Auto Report Africa in 2020.

“She was very vocal about her views on climate change and the issues she felt about strongly,” a friend of Ravi told HT.

What has Disha Ravi been booked for?

Ravi has been booked for sedition, promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy over her alleged involvement in the 'toolkit' being investigated by the Delhi Police. A court on Sunday remanded the activist to five days in police custody.

What is a toolkit?

A toolkit is a social media document which explains an issue and action plans.Greta Thunberg had tweeted it while she extended her support to the ongoing farmers' protest. The ministry of electronics and information technology had earlier told Twitter that the toolkit was proof that a strong social media campaign was being planned outside India and Twitter was one of its platforms for mobilisation.

Support pours in for Disha Ravi

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, former environment minister Jairam Ramesh and several activists from across the country on Sunday criticised the arrest of the 22-year-old climate activist.

The Coalition for Environmental Justice in India called the Delhi Police's action "sinister" as there is no disclosure about her whereabouts. It released a statement signed by at least 78 activists from across the country which said the police's action "can be termed extra-judicial abduction".