‘Atrocious’: Support pours in for arrested activist Disha Ravi

Mangalore Today News Network / Yahoo

New Delhi, Feb 15, 2021:     Twenty-one-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi was arrested by the Delhi Police’s cyber crime cell on Saturday, 13 February, from Bengaluru on charges of ‘sharing and spreading’ a toolkit on the farmers’ protest that was posted by international green activist Greta Thunberg.

 

The arrest is reportedly based on an FIR filed by the cybercrime unit of the Delhi Police, which was registered against the creators of the ‘toolkit’ on 4 February.

After the news about the arrest broke, support poured in from all quarters for the activist.

Youth-Based Collectives Issue Statement

Several youth-based environmental collectives on Sunday issued a statement condemning Ravi’s arrest.

The collectives said that the controversy over the ‘toolkit’ is “baseless and has no merit.” They demanded that Ravi be released immediately, her records expunged and she be escorted back to her home, reported The News Minute.

“It is our firm opinion that the government needs to stop viewing everyone who disagrees with its policies as enemies and rather learn to work with the people who have elected them to power. Using words and phrases like ‘international conspiracy’, ‘defame the country’ ‘waging social, cultural and economic war against India’ to describe young environmental groups is highly unbecoming of people sitting in the highest corridors of power,” the statement read.

Coalition for Environmental Justice in India Issues Statement

The Coalition for Environmental Justice in India and other civil society groups on Sunday also issued a statement against Ravi’s arrest, stating that young environmental activists are “the latest victims of the Centre’s continuing efforts to deligitimise the ongoing farmers protest and the nationwide solidarity it has generated.”

The statement further read that given the recent environment disasters in Uttarakhand and the floods across western ghats, the government “needs to reach out to India’s youth, not attack them.”

“We call on the Indian Government to take India’s youth into confidence, understand their concerns about their future, and work with them to safeguard our environment and strengthen institutions of democratic decision making. We demand that Disha Ravi be immediately released and assisted to get back home to resume her life,” the statement added.