STOCKHOLM, Feb 20, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Greta Thunberg on Friday tweeted her
support for an Indian activist jailed over a guide for anti-government
farmers protests, which the Swedish climate campaigner had earlier shared to
social media.
In a post on Twitter, Thunberg wrote “freedom of speech and the right to
peaceful protest and assembly are non-negotiable human rights.”
“These must be a fundamental part of any democracy. #StandWithDishaRavi,”
the 18-year-old activist tweeted, referring to Indian climate campaigner
Disha Ravi.
Ravi, 22, was arrested on Saturday. Police alleged she helped edit a so-
called toolkit, which offers basic advice including joining on-the-ground
protests and showing support on social media.
“The main aim of the toolkit was to create misinformation and disaffection
against the lawfully enacted government”, Delhi Police’s Joint Commissioner
of Police for Cyber Crime, Prem Nath, told reporters on Monday.
Officers decided to investigate the toolkit after Thunberg linked to it in
a tweet in early February showing support for farmers protesting against new
agriculture laws deregulating the sector.
Delhi Police added Monday they had also issued arrest warrants for two
others for allegedly working with Ravi to draft the online document.
Ravi’s arrest has been criticised by opposition politicians and activists
within India, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal — whose Common Man
Party supports the demonstrations — calling it “an unprecedented attack on
Democracy.”
Farmers have been camping on the outskirts of the capital since late
November, and calling for the repeal of new agriculture laws, in one of the
biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government since it came
to power to 2014.
Modi has said the changes are necessary to modernise India’s agriculture
sector, but protesters fear they would be placed at the mercy of big
corporations.
The tussle between the government and the farmers took an international
turn in early February when Rihanna and Thunberg tweeted about the rallies to
their millions of social media followers.