Farmers Protests: Demonstrations held across country condemning Disha Ravi's arrest

NEW DELHI: Farmers have been protesting against the three new farm laws since November 2020, however, since January 26 violence that took place during the tractor rally, controversies have overshadowed the farm agitation.
At the centre of the controversy is a toolkit, which came on Delhi Police radar after Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg shared it on Twitter on February 3.As per the police, India-based climate and human rights activists collaborated with a Canada-based Khalistani organisation to create, edit and spread the toolkit.
The police hold the toolkit instrumental in January 26 violence. The toolkit was moderated to "create disaffection for the Indian state", police said. Here is a look at the latest updates on the farmers protests:
Dismay, anger at rallies to protest Disha's arrest
Demonstrations and online protests raged in many parts of the country on Monday after Delhi Police arrested Disha Ravi from her Bengaluru residence on February 13. Police arrested Disha under sedition charges for being one of the creators and editors of the toolkit. Police said Disha had shared the toolkit with Thunberg who then published it on Twitter and later deleted it. Meanwhile, environmentalists and human rights activists across the country condemned the 5-day detention of the 22-year-old activist.

Disha Ravi panicked when Greta Thunberg leaked toolkit: Police
Delhi Police on Monday claimed that Disha Ravi had panicked when Greta Thunberg accidentally 'leaked' the toolkit on the farm protests and asked her to refrain from saying anything on it. Disha wanted to consult a lawyer fearing that the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) could be used against them, claimed the cops, citing retrieved WhatsApp chats.

Police added that Disha’s associates, Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, were also on their radar, claiming that the three were connected to each other through a woman associate of Khalistani sympathiser, Mo Dhaliwal, who runs an organisation called Poetic Justice Foundation.

'Nikita & Shantanu speak for those without a voice'
In addition to Disha Ravi's arrest, Delhi Police is now chasing two more young environmental activists. One is Maharashtra-based Nikita Jacob, 29, a lawyer with the Bombay high court and a human rights activist. Second is Shantanu Muluk, 31, an aerospace engineer-turned climate activist from Beed. The cops have procured a non-bailable warrant against them for “absconding”.


Nikita Jacob moves Bombay HC
Advocate Nikita Jacob on Monday approached Bombay high court with a petition seeking transit anticipatory bail for four weeks in connection with the alleged ‘Toolkit’ case. Her lawyer mentioned her plea before Justice PD Naik for an urgent hearing and the HC posted it for Tuesday. Her application says She has “not committed any crime.."

Several legal eagles question sedition charge against Disha Ravi
Legal experts questioned invoking of the sedition law in the Disha Ravi case, saying Delhi Police had ‘over-reacted’ and the 22-year-old climate activist’s arrest was ‘unwarranted’. The former chief justice of Bombay high court Pradeep Nandrajogsaid the purpose of using Section 124-A (sedition) “contemplates use of force in overthrowing of a government established by law. It requires incitement of violence as held by the Supreme Court in Kedar Nath v State of Bihar case, but what’s important is the scale of such violence”.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait turns teacher at Tikri border
Even as the toolkit controversy overshadows farmers agitation against the three new farm laws, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait continues to protest on Ghazipur border on the outskirts of Delhi. The Bharatiya Kisan Union leader turned teacher on Monday and attended a makeshift school at the protest site. Tikait, who has been camping at Ghazipur for past two and a half months, not only taught the children alphabets and numbers but also took stock of what they had learnt in the month-and-a-half that the school has been operating, said BKU's media in-charge, Dharmendra Malik, at a press conference.

Indian villages support protesting farmers
Blasting catchy pro-farmer songs from a speaker, an electric-blue tractor rattled down an Indian village road collecting pails of milk -- just some of the donations sustaining massive protest camps outside New Delhi. More than two months after the first farmers set up camps on the capital's borders, tens of thousands more have joined them, calling for the repeal of new agriculture laws. The farmers, who have slept outdoors through the winter cold, are being supported by an army of small villages in the northern states neighbouring Delhi. "This campaign, this farmer movement, isn't theirs -- those who are sitting there -- alone," Sumit Arya, the 35-year-old head of Makrauli Khurd, a village about two hours' drive from the main protest sites, told AFP. "The movement belongs to all of us, the rural villagers."
(With inputs from agencies)