Weeks after being released on bail from prison, 23-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi has shared her statement about her ordeal, where she describes how her “autonomy was violated” in the aftermath of her arrest on charges of sedition in connection with the “toolkit” case.
“I'm letting this out into the internet void in order to present a narrative that is my own,” Ravi wrote.
I'm letting this out into the internet void in order to present a narrative that is my own.
— Disha 𓆉 (@disharavii) March 13, 2021
P.S. This is based on my personal experience and does not represent the opinion of any climate movement, group, or organisation. pic.twitter.com/djrieCZcn8
In her statement, Ravi describes her disbelief at ending up in jail after the Delhi police arrived at her door in Bengaluru on February 13, took her phone and laptop and flew her to Delhi to a hearing in Patiala House Court.
“As I stood in that courtroom, desperately searching for my lawyers, I came to terms with the fact that I would have to defend myself. I had no idea whether there was legal assistance available so when the judge asked me if I have anything to say, I decided to speak my mind. Before I knew it, I was sent to 5 days in police custody,” she wrote.
“It’s no surprise that in the days that followed, my autonomy was violated; my photographs were splashed al over the news; my actions were pronounced guilty—not in the court of law, but on flat screens by seekers of TRPs. I sat there, unaware of the many abstractions made of me in order to satiate their idea of me,” she wrote.
“At the end of the five days (February 12 2021), I was shifted to judicial custody for 3 days. In Tihar, I was aware of every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Locked in my cell, I wondered when it became a crime to think the most basic elements of sustenance on this planet were as much mine as theirs. Why were millions paying the ultimate price for the greed of a few hundred,” she wrote.
“Their interest in the lives of those millions is dependent on whether or not they profit and even that interest has a short shelf-life. Unfortunately, so does humanity, if we do not act in time to stop this endless consumption and greed. We are inching closer to our own expiry.”
Ravi goes on to introspect about her role in the climate action movement. She says she saw how a water crisis affected her farmer grandparents and says climate justice is about intersectional equity, noting that it was a fight “alongside those who are displaced; whose rivers have been poisoned; whose lands were stolen; who watch their houses get washed away every other season; and those who fight tirelessly for what are basic rights.”
Ravi thanks the “immense outpour of love” from those who gave her strength and said she was grateful to everyone who stood by her. She says that while the past few days have been beyond painful, “yet I know that I am one of the privileged. I was lucky enough to have excellent pro bono legal assistance but what of all those who do not? What of all those still in jail whose stories are not marketable? What of the marginalized that are not worthy of your screen time? What of those who face the world’s brazen indifference?”
She wrote that their ideas would continue to live on, and ended with a quote from Soni Sori saying, "We are threatened every day, our voices crushed; but we will continue to fight."
She signed off her statement saying “Still fighting for climate justice”.
Ravi was a participant in Greta Thunberg’s Friday for Future protest movement, and launched its Bengaluru chapter in 2019.
Her legal troubles began after the farmers protests in India gained international attention following Rihanna’s tweet. When Thunberg herself tweeting calling for more global attention and support for the farmers’ protests, a “toolkit”—a document with information on ways to campaign and protest was shared. The Delhi Police cyber cell claimed Ravi created and shared the toolkit, which allegedly had links to a pro-Khalistani organisation. They said the toolkit led to the violence that occured on Republic Day, which left over 500 police and security personnel injured and one protester dead. Ravi said she did not create the toolkit but only made two edits to it. She was arrested on charges of sedition.
The Delhi Police filed an FIR against the creators of the toolkit on charges of sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting hatred.
Ravi was remanded to police custody for five days by the Patiala House court. She was later released after the Patiala House Court granted her bail, with Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana posing scathing questions to the probe agency during the hearing on Ravi's plea, asking it if it was only acting on "surmises, inferences, and conjectures" and questioned how the toolkit was connected to the violence during the farmers' march.
"Citizens are conscience keepers of government in any democratic Nation. They cannot be put behind the bars simply because they choose to disagree with the state policies,” Judge Dharmender Rana Rana observed in the order, LiveLaw reported.
“Difference of opinion, disagreement, divergence, dissent, or for that matter, even disapprobation, are recognised legitimate tools to infuse objectivity in state policies. An aware and assertive citizenry, in contradistinction with an indifferent or docile citizenry, is indisputably a sign of a heathy and vibrant democracy,” the Court added.
She received bail upon furnishing a bail bond on two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each.
The Delhi Commission for Women had sent a notice to the Delhi Police seeking a detailed report on Disha Ravi’s arrest. The police maintain that all procedures were followed and that the law does not differentiate between a 22-year-old or a 50-year-old.
