What is a toolkit and how is it related to farmers' protests?

BusinessToday.In

Feb 18, 2021,
Updated Feb 18, 2021 12:47 PM IST

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Climate activist Disha Ravi's arrest and non-bailable warrants against two others in the Greta Thunberg toolkit case have created a furore 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. From here on goes the top development in the toolkit case so far.

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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.

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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".

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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.

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Court Sends Disha Ravi to Police CustodyOn Sunday, February 14, 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.

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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 CM 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.

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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".

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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.

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Nikita Jacob's bigger role?
As Delhi Police digs deeper into the toolkit case, it has found Mumbai-based lawyer Nikita Jacob had a bigger role to play in the conspiracy behind the toolkit that has led to the arrest of 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi. Investigators have found that lawyer Nikita Jacob roped in Disha Ravi as the young Bengaluru-based climate activist had made a name for herself with her work on environmental issues and was also close to global climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
According to Delhi Police, sources said Nikita Jacob wanted to use Greta's name to spread the propaganda among a larger audience.

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Bombay HC grants transit pre-arrest bail to Nikita Jacob
As for now, Jacob has received transit bail for three weeks in connection with the toolkit matter. In case of arrest, she will be released on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and one surety of same amount