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Disha Ravi is a graduate of Mount Carmel College, one of Bengaluru’s top women’s colleges.
New Delhi:
After 22-year-old Disha Ravi’s arrest, two more activists are wanted by the police in the case involving a “toolkit” shared by climate campaigner Greta Thunberg in support of the farmer protests. Warrants are out against activists Nikita Jacob and Shantanu and they face charges that are not bailable.
They claim according to their investigations, the organisation behind the “toolkit” shared by Greta Thunberg – Poetic Justice Foundation – had contacted Nikita Jacob to organise a “tweet storm” ahead of the Republic Day protest by farmers. The organisation is a Khalistani group, the police say.
The new warrants have emerged at a time outrage is spiraling over the arrest of Disha Ravi, a Bengaluru college graduate and climate activist, on conspiracy and sedition charges. Disha Ravi was produced in a Delhi court yesterday without her lawyers and sent to five days in police custody.
She has been accused of playing a key role in the prepping of the toolkit document and its circulation.
“I did not make Toolkit. We wanted to support the farmers. I edited two lines on February 3,” Disha Ravi told the court, which sent her to police custody for further questioning.
On February 3, Greta Thunberg had tweeted the “toolkit” to show support for the farmers’ protest against the centre’s farm laws at the borders of Delhi since November. She later deleted the tweet, posting an updated one.
Several opposition parties and activists have condemned the arrest and the manner in which it was done.
According to Disha Ravi’s legal team, her lawyers were not aware of which court she was to be produced in and she argued her own case in court. There are also questions on whether rules were followed when she was taken by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru.
In a post, senior lawyer Rebecca John has alleged “shocking abdication of judicial duties”. According to her, the magistrate at Delhi’s Patiala House court failed to ensure that Disha Ravi had legal representation in court.
“Deeply disappointed by the conduct of the duty magistrate…who remanded a young woman to five days in police custody, without first ensuring that she was being represented by counsel. Magistrates must take their duties of remand seriously and ensure that the mandate of Article 22 of the constitution is scrupulously followed,” she said.
If the accused was not being represented by counsel at the time of the hearing, the magistrate should have waited till her counsel arrived or, in the alternate, provided her with legal aid, Ms John wrote.
“Completely atrocious! This is unwarranted harassment and intimidation. I express my full solidarity with Disha Ravi,” tweeted Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, in an outpouring of anger on social media.
The 22-year-old is a graduate of Mount Carmel, one of Bengaluru’s top women’s colleges.
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