Disha Ravi is an Indian environmental activist and the founder of Fridays for Future India, the Indian arm of the environmental movement started by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg in 2018. Disha was arrested on sedition and criminal conspiracy charges on February 13, 2021 for allegedly editing and writing the toolkit that Greta Thunberg posted on her Twitter account on February 3, 2021, which has since attracted the attention of people around the world.
Wiki/Biography
Disha Ravi was born in Soladevanahalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka in 1998 (23 years old in 2021). Her full name is Disha Annappa Ravi. She has a degree in Business Administration with a major in Finance from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru. She also plans to pursue a Masters in Conservation. Before her arrest in the kit case, she worked as a culinary manager at Goodmylk, a company that provides ready-to-eat plant-based vegetarian meals.
Family and religion
Disha Ravi’s father, Ravi Annappa, is a track and field coach in Mysore, and her mother, Manjula Nanjaiah, is a homemaker. Both her parents are followers of the Linga sect, which worships Lord Shiva alone. The sect is officially considered a part of Hinduism and is mainly practiced by the people of South India. Ravi, on the other hand, does not believe in any religion and calls himself an atheist.
Disha Ravi’s mother at home
Activism
Disha Ravi reportedly got into climate activism after her family was hit by floods. She realized that rampant climate change was causing the floods and decided to join the climate activism. In an interview with African news platform Auto Report Africa, Ravi revealed the reason why she joined the climate activism. She said,
My motivation for climate activism came from seeing my grandparents, who were farmers, struggling with the effects of the climate crisis. At the time, I had no idea that what they were experiencing was a climate crisis because climate education was nonexistent where I came from.”
Disha Ravi displays a sign warning of climate change during a protest in Bengaluru
She also participates in other community activities such as clean-up drives and tree planting.
Disha Ravi helps clean up her city’s garbage
As the co-founder of Fridays for Future (FFF) in India, she has organized and participated in various climate strikes across Bengaluru. In a 2020 interview, Disha spoke about the goals of FFF:
FFF International has more than one goal. Previously, our goal was to declare a climate emergency. Countries that declared a climate emergency did not act, so we decided to achieve climate justice, where governments prioritize climate action and ecological sustainability. We did not set requirements, we wanted different requirements to apply to different countries.”
Disha Ravi sits on a bench and challenges people to debate global climate change
Tool Kit Case
On February 4, 2021, Greta Thunberg shared a toolkit to support farmers, then deleted it and uploaded an updated version of the information kit.
We support #farmersprotest In India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021
The toolkit claims that its purpose is to “enable anyone who is not familiar with the ongoing farmers’ protests in India to be better informed and decide how to support the farmers based on their own analysis”. Instead, the Delhi Police allege that the toolkit is an international conspiracy against India, created by a handful of Indian activists in collaboration with pro-Khalistani separatist groups Sikhs for Justice and the Poetic Justice Foundation. The police also said that the toolkit was also one of the reasons for the violence that broke out during the farmers’ tractor march in the national capital Delhi on January 26, 2021. The Delhi Police insists that Disha Ravi, along with Nikita Jacob (a lawyer) and Shantanu Muluk (an engineer), created a toolkit and shared it with others to defame India’s national image.
arrest
On February 13, 2021, the Cyber Crime Wing of the Delhi Police detained Disha Ravi for questioning. She was arrested from her home in North Bengaluru. She was the first person to be picked in the case. After a long interrogation, the Delhi Police charged her with criminal conspiracy and sedition and charged her with violating Sections 124(A) (sedition), 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Disha Ravi is taken away by Delhi Police after being arrested in ‘toolkit case’
Judgment
On February 14, 2021, Disha Ravi was produced before the Patiala House Court where the state prosecutor questioned her on multiple charges against her. The prosecutor accused her of being part of an anti-national conspiracy aimed at maligning India’s image globally. He said that the toolkit edited and shared by Disha was part of an international conspiracy against India and it played a role in inciting the violence that took place in Delhi on January 26, 2021. She was also accused of being in touch with pro-Khalistani separatist groups. Responding to the charges against her, Disha denied being part of any international conspiracy and denying any links with any separatist group. She said that she had only edited two lines from the toolkit. She added that the content in the toolkit was aimed at garnering support for the farmers’ protest and did not call for violence in any way. She broke down in tears as she concluded her statement before the judge and said:
I just support the farmers, I support the farmers because they are our future and we all need to eat.”
After the hearing, the court sentenced her to five days of police custody. On February 19, after the five days of police custody, Disha was again produced before the separate court of Additional Procedure Court Judge Dharmender Rana. During the hearing, Disha made several statements through her lawyer. One of the statements reads:
The Delhi police approved the farmers’ march and they claimed that it was me (Ravi) who called people to join, so how can I be an instigator. If the global attention paid to the farmers’ protest is sedition, then I better go to jail.”
After three hours of court hearing, the court kept Disha’s bail till February 23, 2021 and remanded her in custody for three days.
Environmental activist Disha Ravi (second from right) is summoned by Delhi Police at the Patiala House Court in New Delhi on February 19, 2021.
Key points about bail and bail order
On February 23, 2021, after nine days in jail, Disha Ravi was granted bail in the toolkit case.
Disha Ravi outside Delhi’s Tihar jail after being released on bail
The bail was granted to Disha Ravi after the police reportedly failed to produce any legal evidence to prove that she had committed any illegal act. In an 18-page bail order, Additional Procedure Court Judge Dharmender Rana gave several reasons for granting her bail.
Assistant Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana
Here is what ASJ Dharmender Rana said while granting bail to Disha Ravi.
- One of the main arguments raised against Disha Ravi in the court was that Disha’s associates Nikita Jacob and Shantanu had participated in a Zoom call of farmers’ protest, which was also attended by some pro-Khalistani elements of PJF and 60-70 other people from different parts of the world. In response, the court said,
Merely associating with a person of questionable credentials does not constitute an actionable offence; the purpose of the association is relevant in determining culpability.”
- Another argument raised by the court was Disha’s link to the Republic Day violence in Delhi. To this, the court said that even though hundreds of people have been jailed for the Republic Day violence, no evidence has been produced before the court to link Disha Ravi to the real perpetrators of the Republic Day violence.
- The court also said that simply sharing a platform with a person who is opposed to government policies or has separatist ideas does not make one believe that the person also supports their tendencies. The judge quoted,
In the absence of any evidence that the applicant/accused agreed or had a common purpose with the founder of PJF to create violence on January 26, it cannot be inferred by mere speculation or conjecture that she also supported separatist tendencies or the violence created on January 26 because she shared a platform with those who gathered to oppose the legislation”
- Talking about the controversial toolkit, the court said that after a careful perusal of the documents, it could be concluded that no part of the information toolkit called for violence.
- Apparently, the toolkit that Disha shared on her social media account after slightly modifying it was about garnering international support for the Indian farmers’ protest.
Communication is not limited by geographical barriers. Citizens have a fundamental right to use the best means of transmitting and receiving information, as permitted by law, and thus reach audiences abroad”
- According to the Delhi Police report, Disha Ravi created a Whatsapp group called “International Farmers’ Strike”. She also added many anonymous people to the group. Another charge against her is editing the toolkit. In this regard, the judge said,
In my opinion, creating a WhatsApp group or being the editor of a harmless toolkit is not a crime.”
- The court held that all the evidence submitted to it was “lacking merit”. Therefore, the court found no reason to further extend the police or judicial custody of the accused. Additional proceedings court judge Dharmender Rana concluded his bail order by saying:
Considering the scanty and incomplete evidence available on record, I do not find any obvious reason to violate the general rule of ‘bail’ and send to jail a young lady of 22 years, who has no criminal record and is well-established in the community.”
Facts/Trivia
- According to a report in The Indian Express, Disha Ravi turned vegetarian after she started environmental activism.
- Disha Ravi has a German Shepherd.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education