The arrest of the Indian environmental activist Disha Ravi, a member of the environmental movement “Fridays for Future” started by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg have provoked a wave of indignation across the country on Monday.
Here is everything you need to know:
- Disha charged with sedition, accused of editing a document that was tweeted by Greta, in support of the farmers’ protest that has been taking place in India for several months demanding the repeal of three laws liberalizing the agricultural sector.
- Disha shared a document which she said was a toolkit to create and spread awareness about the farmers’ complaints. In court, Disha, accused of sedition and conspiracy, broke down and told the judge she had merely edited two lines of the document.
- The police say she was a “key conspirator” in the formulation and dissemination” of the document. “The call was to wage economic, social, cultural, and regional war against India,” said the police officials. The court remanded her to police custody.
- Disha helped clean up lakes, plant trees, and campaigned against plastic. She attended workshops, walked the streets demanding climate action, loved animals, and spoke out against sexism and capital punishment. A vegan and the sole-earning member in her family, she worked with a local company that makes plant-based food.
- Disha’s arrest has sparked a firestorm of protest and shocked many Indians. The chief minister of Delhi has called the arrest “an unprecedented attack on democracy”.
- A journalist wondered how “editing publicly available documents that help people coordinate views disagreeing with those of the government can be an act of sedition”.
