Climate activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested in February from Bengaluru by the Delhi Police over in connection with a ‘Toolkit’ that supported the ongoing farmers’ protests, on Saturday said, “..my autonomy was violated; my photographs were splashed all over the news; my actions were pronounced guilty-  not in the court of law, but on flat screen by seekers of TRPs. I sat there, unaware of the many abstractions made of me in order to satiate their idea of me.” 

Delhi’s Patiala Court on February 23 had granted Disha bail in the Toolkit case, saying the investigation by the Delhi Police was “scanty and sketchy.” 

The 21-year-old, in a statement on social media, detailed her arrest and police custody in Delhi last month, as she said, “I had coerced myself into believing that the only way I would be able to live through this was by tricking myself into thinking that this wasn’t happening to me – the police did not knock on my door on 13 February, 2021; they did not take my phone and laptop, and arrest me.”

Ravi was arrested after police alleged she helped edit a so-called toolkit, which offers basic advice including joining on-the-ground farmers’ protests and showing support on social media. The Toolkit was shared by Sweden climate activist Greta Thunberg in a tweet in which she had expressed solidarity with the ongoing farmers’ protest in India. The Delhi Police decided to investigate the toolkit after Thunberg’s tweet.

Disha’s arrest had triggered an international outcry and the Delhi Police had received much flak for arresting the 22-year-old climate activist.

Also Read | Age, gender and profession not relevant in assessing culpability: Amit Shah on Disha Ravi’s arrest

Disha also described how she was not provided in her first hearing in court and was sent to five-day police custody.

“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… Before I knew it, I was sent to 5 days in police custody,” she said.

Talking about the fight for farmers and climate, she said, “Climate Justice isn’t just for the rich and the white. It is 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 human rights. We fight alongside those actively silenced by the masses and portrayed as ‘voiceless’, because it is easier for savarnas to call them voiceless. We take the easy way out and fund saviourism rather than amplify the voices on ground.”

She also thanked those who supported her, and added that she is concerned for those “still in jail whose stories are not marketable” and and “the marginalized that are not worthy of your screen time”.