What is 'Toolkit' case? From Greta Thunberg's tweet to Nikita Jacob's interrogation, story so far

What is 'Toolkit' case? From Greta Thunberg's tweet to Nikita Jacob's interrogation, story so far

Climate activist Disha Ravi’s arrest and non-bailable warrants against two others in the Greta Thunberg toolkit case have created a furor across the nation. The three activists have been accused of collaborating with a pro-Khalistani group to create a toolkit to ‘defame India across the globe on the issue of three agri laws’.

The toolkit, first shared by Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on February 4, has been claimed as the proof of the Khalistani conspiracy against India by many critics.

After registering an FIR against the creators of the toolkit the same day, Delhi Police had requested Google for email ids of those involved in publishing and editing of the document, uploaded on Google Docs. Since then, the police have conducted several raids and have arrested Disha Ravi and reportedly interrogated another activist and lawyer Nikita Jacob.

HERE ARE THE TOP DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TOOLKIT CASE SO FAR:

Greta Shares Toolkit

The pro-farmers protest toolkit grabbed Indian eyeballs after Swedish activist Greta Thunberg shared its link in a tweet on February 4. 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.

Moments after Greta Thunberg posted the link, several critics slammed the document as proof of Khalistani conspiracy against India. The Swedish activist deleted the tweet a few minutes later and shared an 'updated' version of the toolkit.

Delhi Police Files FIR

The same day, on February 4, Delhi Police filed an FIR against unknown people for creating and spreading the toolkit. The Delhi Police has claimed pro-Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation is the key conspirator behind the toolkit for the international smear campaign against India. To track down the culprits, Delhi Police wrote to Google and some social media giants seeking information about e-mail id, URLs and certain social media accounts related to the creators of the "toolkit”.

Delhi Police Picks Up Activist Disha Ravi

In the subsequent days, Delhi Police conducted several raids across the country. On Saturday, the police picked up 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi for collaborating with ‘pro-Khalistani elements’ to ‘spread disaffection against India’ via the toolkit.

The Delhi Police claimed that Disha Ravi was an editor of the "toolkit Google doc" and "key conspirator" in the document's formulation and dissemination.

Court Sends Disha Ravi to Police Custody

On Sunday, Delhi’s Patiala House court remanded Disha Ravi to five-day police remand even as her lawyers were not present in the court. According to her legal team, they were not told in which court she was being produced. However, Delhi Police has claimed that Disha Ravi’s legal team deliberately skipped court hoping for judicial custody, instead of police remand. But, the police said, the court appointed Disha Ravi a counsel from Delhi Legal team and her hearing was conducted as per the procedure.

Outrage Over Disha Ravi’s Arrest

Disha Ravi’s arrest in Bengaluru, transit to Delhi and court hearing have created a wave of uproar across India as politicians, activists and academics are calling for her immediate release.

Condemning Disha Ravi’s, former Union minister and veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed that India is becoming “the theatre of the absurd”.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called Ravi’s arrest “unprecedented attack on democracy” while the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is leading the farmers' protest at Delhi's borders, too condemned the activist's arrest and demanded her immediate release.

Using the hashtag ‘India being silenced’, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also took to Twitter on Monday to demand the release of Disha Ravi.

Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha also questioned the government over the arrest of the 21-year-old Disha Ravi. In a series of tweets on Monday, the Congress leader wrote, “...very strange, don't you think that what is right for Peter, should be right for Paul? Many people, including top journalists are in hiding or not even charged with any chargesheet. Here is one girl, who seems to be committed to the environment and the nation.”

Shatrughan Sinha added, “Hope, wish & pray, that it isn't being done to divert the attention from main issues and the farmers most justified demands? Hon'ble CJ Sir, it's hoped that good sense will prevail upon our people &/or divine justice will be meted out to her,soon, sooner the better. Jai Hind! (sic)”.

Meanwhile, several student activists also held a protest in Bengaluru while the Coalition for Environmental Justice in India demanded the release.

Meena Harris, the niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, also condemned Disha Ravi's arrest and asked why activists were being targeted and silenced by the government. "Indian officials have arrested another young female activist, 21 yo Disha Ravi, because she posted a social media toolkit on how to support the farmers' protest," she tweeted.

Non-Bailable Warrants Against 2 Others

While outrage over Disha Ravi’s arrest continues to brew, Delhi Police has gone ahead and obtained non-bailable warrants against two more people allegedly linked with the toolkit case. The two suspects against whom the non-bailable warrants have been issued include Nikita Jacob and Shantanu, police said on Monday, adding that the duo was allegedly involved in preparing the document and was in direct touch with “pro-Khalistani elements”.

Sources in the Delhi Police told India Today TV that Nikita Jacob was directly in touch with Khalistani elements and had attended a Zoom meeting with them recently.

The police claimed that it had conducted a raid on Sunday evening at Nikita Jacob’s house but could not interrogate her as she was not present there.

However, her legal team has claimed that she was interrogated by police for 13 hours on Sunday.

Nikita Jacob Interrogation

Disputing Delhi Police’s claim that Nikita Jacob could not be traced on Sunday, her legal team has claimed that she was questioned for 13 hours by the police. In an anticipatory bail plea filed by her team on Monday at Bombay High Court, Nikita Jacob said that Delhi Police questioned her for several hours and then recorded her statement. They also seized some of her electronic devices including hard disk, pen drives, etc.