Dozens in India protest against the arrest of a climate activist

Police say Ravi shared the document with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who tweeted it earlier this month.

They say the posting of the document on social media indicated a “conspiracy” behind the violence on January 26, Republic Day in India, when largely peaceful farmers’ protests erupted in clashes with police. One protester was killed and hundreds of policemen and demonstrators were injured.

“The call was for an economic, social, cultural and regional war against India,” police wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

On Monday, protesters in the southern city of Bengaluru, including the prominent historian Ramachandra Juha, held up banners calling for Rafi’s immediate release. In the western city of Mumbai, about 50 people demanded Ravi’s release.

Her arrest has been convicted in India and abroad. Opposition parties described her arrest as harassment, intimidation and an attack on democracy. Abroad, Mina Harris, US Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece, criticized the government on Twitter for silencing activists.

Police also issued arrest warrants for other activists, Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Molok, saying the three created the document and shared it with others.

Police said the document contained links to pro-Khalistani websites, a movement for an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The government initially attempted to discredit the protesting farmers, many of them Sikhs, out of religious nationalism.

Since November, tens of thousands of farmers have camped outside the capital and blocked highways to protest new land reform laws that they say will destroy their incomes. The protests posed a major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu government led by nationalism, which says laws are necessary to modernize Indian agriculture.

Critics accused the government of using the mass demonstrations to escalate the crackdown on freedom of expression.

The protests attracted international attention earlier this month when pop star Rihanna, Tonberg and Mina Harris tweeted their support. India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned “entrenched interest groups trying to impose their agenda”.

A rahi miracle from Bengaluru and an acceptable companion from Mumbai contributed to this report.

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