Greta comes out in support of Disha, says ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘right to peaceful protest’ non-negotiable

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, February 19

Lending support to the call for setting free Disha Ravi, who was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly editing the controversial farmer protest “toolkit”, climate activist Greta Thunberg on Friday said that “freedom of speech and right to peaceful protest” were “non-negotiable” human rights and “these must be a fundamental part of any democracy”.

The tweet comes six days after Disha was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and over two weeks after Greta was booked on charges of “criminal conspiracy” and “promoting enmity”.

Greta in her tweet said: “Freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest and assembly are non-negotiable human rights. These must be a fundamental part of any democracy.”

Disha, a 21-year-old climate activist, has been accused of editing the controversial farmer protest “toolkit” posted on Twitter by climate campaigner Greta and was sent to five days police custody by a Delhi court on Sunday.

Greta had shared the “toolkit” to lend her support to the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws, but later deleted it.

In the document, various urgent actions, including creating a Twitter storm and protesting outside Indian embassies, were listed which were needed to be taken to support the farmers’ protest.

Greta had taken to the microblogging site to express her concerns over farmers’ agitation and shared a post stating solidarity with the farmers.

“I still #StandWithFarmers and support their peaceful protest. No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that. #FarmersProtest,” she had tweeted.

Taking cognisance of her tweets in support of farmers’ agitation, Delhi Police had registered a case against the Swedish teen climate campaigner under Sections 120B and 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (OPC) on charges of “criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity” on February 4.