A bid to silence all opposing voices

The arrest of a 21-year-old Bengaluru climate activist, Disha Ravi, and the issuance of warrants against two others in a case involving a ‘toolkit’ shared by climate campaigner Greta Thunberg in support of the farmers’ protest is a matter of serious concern. She was picked up in a hush-hush manner from her home by Delhi Police and taken to Delhi, in violation of well-laid norms for arrests and federal principles, and has been charged with the most serious crimes in the penal code, including sedition. All that she had done was edit a protest ‘toolkit’ that was shared online in support of the farmers’ agitation. She is now being charged with collaborating with a pro-Khalistan outfit and conspiring to spread disaffection against the Indian State.

A number of civil society groups have condemned and protested her arrest. Due process was not followed in the arrest of Disha Ravi. She has been remanded to judicial custody for five days by a Delhi court without her being represented by a counsel. ‘Toolkits’ are documents routinely used to spread awareness about issues and to call for protest action. But from the time the ‘toolkit’ figured in the government’s counter-action and campaign against what it called foreign intervention, it became clear that it was being painted as something sinister and used as a weapon against those who supported the farmers’ agitation.

The young woman’s arrest is yet another action on the part of the government against anyone who opposes its policies. There is a pattern to it. Arbitrary arrests are made on unconvincing charges for which the police have no evidence, bail is denied, and people are thrown into jail. The charges made are almost always of sedition, conspiracy, waging war against the State, and the most draconian provisions of the law are invoked. Ministers of the government, ruling party officials and a large troll army then orchestrate propaganda to justify the witch-hunt and make it look like a ‘patriots vs anti-nationals’ issue. Civil, political and human rights of people are wantonly violated, and Constitutional guarantees of rights and freedoms are not available to the citizens in distress in such situations. Questions on the lack of propriety and due process in arrests on the part of the police are brushed away by saying that the accused can prove his or her innocence in court. The police fail to find any evidence eventually, but by then the aim of harassing dissenters will have been achieved. The message to all citizens is as clear as it is brazenly authoritarian: no-one should protest against or oppose the government and its actions. Citizens can exercise their right to free speech and protest only on pain of harassment and loss of freedom.