Outrage as Indian activist detained for farmer protest guide

Police from New Delhi travelled more than 2,100km to Bangalore last Saturday to arrest a 22-year-old climate activist.

Ms Disha Ravi's crime? Editing and sharing a Google document that suggested ways to build online support for the ongoing farmers' protests around Delhi.

The police accused Ms Ravi of being "a key conspirator" in an "international campaign against India".

The "toolkit" came into public view when Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted it on Feb 3 for those who wanted to express support for farmers or amplify their voices.

Police from the Indian capital filed a complaint against makers of the toolkit earlier this month, accusing unnamed people of sedition. Ms Ravi, a member of the youth volunteer group Fridays For Future, inspired by the 18-year-old Ms Thunberg, is the first to be arrested under the complaint.

The police flew Ms Ravi to Delhi on Saturday evening, and she was brought to court on Sunday, without a lawyer, and she had to argue her own case. The public prosecutor said the Delhi police had accused her of sedition, conspiracy, and waging "a war against India".

"I did not make the toolkit. We wanted to support the farmers. I edited two lines on Feb 3," Ms Ravi told the magistrate.

The court allowed Ms Ravi to be held in police custody for five days for questioning.

"The act of criminalising young people for extending solidarity to a struggle that resonates with their own aspirations for a healthy and secure future, strikes as a new low," read a statement signed by India's most prominent environmentalists on Sunday.

Although India is touted as a global climate leader and has one of the developing world's largest commitments to cutting carbon emissions, Ms Ravi's arrest is another instance of the government cracking down on young environmentalists and climate activists.

Since November, thousands of farmers, primarily from the northern agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana, have camped out around Delhi demanding the repeal of new farm laws that fundamentally change how crops can be sold in the market.

Environmental groups have also supported the protests, because the financial security of farmers is central to India's shift to sustainable agriculture, said Ms Kavita Kuruganti, founder of the Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture.

However, after a farmers' march on Jan 26 turned violent, with hundreds storming the capital's historic Red Fort, police sent in paramilitary troops, erected barricades, and shut down the Internet.

Earlier this month, Ms Thunberg and pop star Rihanna led many international celebrities on Twitter in questioning police action against farmers. Ms Thunberg's Feb 3 Twitter post, later deleted, also shared a toolkit that held tweet suggestions, hashtags and a list of handles to tag.

Several pro-government Twitter users found it suspicious.

"The deleted tweet of Greta Thunberg has revealed the real designs of a conspiracy at an international level against India," tweeted Mr V. K. Singh, India's minister of state for road transport and highways.

The Delhi police also claim that the toolkit is made by Poetic Justice Foundation, a Canadian organisation that they say supports a secessionist movement for an independent Punjab.

The police yesterday afternoon issued warrants for the arrest of two other young activists.