Rahul Gandhi weighs in on Disha Ravi's arrest: 'Centre destroying nation's character'

Disapproving of Disha Ravi's arrest, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the Centre of trying to destroy the country's character and destiny. Interacting with students of the Bharathidasan College for Women in Puducherry on Wednesday, he lamented that people are being arrested for merely expressing their opinion. Alleging that the Union government is trying to gag people, he called upon India's youngsters to resist any such attempts. In a partial relief to Disha a day earlier, the Patiala House Court directed that a copy of the FIR and remand application must be given to her besides permitting her family time and access to books, warm clothes and home-cooked food. 

Ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi remarked, "Throughout the country, people are being arrested for what they feel. Maybe, I will get arrested for saying this. But as I said in the beginning, the nation is its thoughts. A nation is its words. From the thoughts and the words, come actions. From the thoughts and the words, comes character. From character, comes destiny. If you are shutting up the nation and you are frightening people not allowing them to talk, you are destroying the nation's character and destiny. No youngster in this country should allow anybody to frighten them into silence."

Read: NSUI Activists Stage Protest Against Disha Ravi's Arrest In Bengaluru

Disha Ravi remanded to 5-day custody

On February 3, Greta Thunberg stirred a row by posting a toolkit for people to help in the agitation against the farm laws. The 6-page document titled 'Ask India Why' consisted of detailed instructions to target the Indian government and a few Indian corporate enterprises, in the garb of the farmers' protest. After the tweet and its contents were highlighted by Republic Media Network, the environmental activist deleted it and posted an updated version of the document which is a toned-down version of the original one. However, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against the authors of the toolkit under Sections 120, 124A, 153, and 153A of the Indian Penal Code. 

In connection with this, Disha Ravi was arrested by the Delhi Police on February 13 and was remanded to police custody for 5 days after being produced in front of a magistrate on Sunday. Addressing a press briefing on Monday, Delhi Police Cyber Cell Joint CP Prem Nath revealed that the "action plan" outlined in the toolkit was carried out in Delhi on January 26 resulting in 510 police personnel getting injured. Moreover, he alleged that Shantanu, Nikita Jacob and Disha Ravi are the creators of the toolkit. 

Claiming that incriminating evidence was also found from Disha's device, he justified the action against the 21-year-old activist citing that Jacob did not cooperate with the police. Additionally, he allayed concerns about the manner of her arrest. According to the senior official, Disha, Shantanu and Nikita Jacob participated in a Zoom meeting organised by pro-Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation on January 11 to shape the modalities for the action plan on Republic Day. 

Read: Digvijaya Singh Upholds Disha Ravi's Veganism To Condemn Arrest; Mum On Greta-'UAPA' Chats