"The blatant targeting of a young woman citizen expressing her support with the nation’s protesting farmers is horrifying and completely unacceptable," reads the statement.
Alumni from Mount Carmel College in Bengaluru released a statement on Tuesday extending support to 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi and condemned her arrest. Disha is an alumnus of the college and studied business administration there before she joined Goodmylk, a company that makes plant-based alternatives for dairy products. "The blatant targeting of a young woman citizen expressing her support with the nation’s protesting farmers is horrifying and completely unacceptable. We demand that the Delhi Police release her and the Bengaluru Police and Karnataka government act to protect the constitutional rights of a woman resident of the state of Karnataka," said the statement. It added that Disha Ravi coordinated with climate activists from around the world to highlight issues related to climate change. “She has coordinated with climate activists across the world to get politicians and corporations to act and undertake measures to prevent the world from getting worse. Her participation as a young woman of colour in climate change activism has been important in bringing attention to the vulnerabilities faced by marginalised communities in countries of Global South.” The statement goes on to add that Disha drew inspiration from the freedom struggle to protest and lend a voice to the farmers’ movement. “Her sense of history is remarkable as she has drawn from her personal, familial history of farmer-grandparents and the difficulties they suffered due to the impact of climate change on agricultural practices. She has also drawn her inspiration to protest and lend her voice to farmers’ protests in the country from the greatest of people’s movements in India—the Independence struggle.” There are currently 330 signatories to the statement by Mount Carmel College alumni. Disha Ravi was arrested by Delhi police on Saturday from her home in north Bengaluru for editing parts of the ‘toolkit’ shared by Greta Thunberg, an international climate activist. The toolkit was a Google document on farmers’ protests. Though toolkits are Google documents routinely used for social media campaigns and planning protests, the Delhi police registered an FIR against Disha under charges of conspiracy and sedition. The police alleged that the toolkit was being used to malign India. Disha was remanded to five days in police custody. It was only on Tuesday that Disha that a Delhi court allowed Disha access to her lawyer, talktime with her family, and warm clothes while in police custody. Disha's arrest sparked protests in Bengaluru with activists questioning whether procedures were followed during her arrest. In particular, activists asked how Disha was picked up by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru without first securing a transit remand from a magistrate in Bengaluru. The Delhi Police’s FIR mentioned the toolkit that Greta Thunberg shared. It included text that could be shared by those who support the farmer protests. However, Greta deleted her February 3 tweet that had a link to the toolkit, as it contained dates from January, and replaced it with a new one. The modified tweet is still on her profile.
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