DK Shivakumar slams Centre, condemns arrest of 'climate activist' Disha Ravi

Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar on Tuesday slammed the Central government on the arrest of "climate activist" Disha Ravi, in connection with the "toolkit" case, related to the farmers' agitations.

While slamming the Union government, the senior Congress leader asked why a "competent court" was not approached before her arrest.

"Arrest of Disha Ravi is an attack to weaken the moral strength of India's Youth and make dissent illegal. Police action against her, using a concocted 'Toolkit' conspiracy violates legal norms. Why not approach a competent court before arresting a young woman?" Shivakumar Tweeted.

"Congress brought Freedom to India. Congress has always stood for and defended Personal Liberty of Citizens. Congress is the only bulwark against India becoming an authoritarian state. Citizens must realise that only Congress can defend their Personal & Political Freedom," he said in a subsequent tweet.

Several political leaders have slammed Delhi Police for the arrest of Ravi from Bengaluru and termed her arrest as "unwarranted harassment, unfortunate and shocking". She was arrested for allegedly editing and disseminating the "toolkit" on social media.

Another Congress leader P Chidambaram had said, "The Indian state must be standing on very shaky foundations if Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old student of Mount Carmel College and a climate activist, has become a threat to the nation."

A Delhi court on Sunday had remanded Disha to five days of police custody following her arrest in connection with allegedly spreading a "toolkit" related to the farmers' protest. Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Dev Saroha of Patiala House Courts Complex allowed Delhi Police to quiz Ravi for five days. She was arrested last week.

According to the Delhi Police officials, Disha is a key conspirator in the "toolkit" case as she had admitted during the initial interrogation to editing, adding some things in the "toolkit" and spreading it further.

Last week, the Delhi Police sent a communication to Google seeking registration details and activity log of the account through which a "toolkit" related to the farmers' protest was created and uploaded on the social media platform.

( With inputs from ANI )