Disha Ravi And The Conspiracy Theories

The Delhi Police is probing an alleged conspiracy by an overseas network to ‘instigate’the farmers’protests. At the heart of it is a 22-year-old passionate about the environment

- Prathima Nandakumar

It was a tweet by Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of the ongoing farmers’ protests in India that landed 22-year-old Disha A. Ravi, a Bengaluru-based climate activist, in the police net. The Delhi Police picked up Disha from her residence in Soladevanahalli, north Bengaluru, on February 13, suspecting her role in creating and sharing the “toolkit”(a document with campaign information) that Thunberg shared on February 4.

The cyber cell team of the Delhi Police alleged the toolkit had exposed the conspiracy by an organized overseas network to “instigate” the farmer's protests—especially the storming of the Red Fort on Republic Day—against the three farms laws passed by the Centre. They said it was created by Canada-based pro-Khalistani organisation Poetic Justice Foundation and it had an “action plan” for a digital strike and a call for physical protests outside Indian embassies and local government offices.

Four Delhi cops in plain clothes arrested Disha and took her to Delhi. Disha was remanded to police custody for five days by the Patiala House court. She denied being part of any conspiracy and said that she was only supporting the farmers. She said she had made only two edits to the toolkit, but was not the creator of the document.