Unprecedented attack on democracy, says CM
New Delhi: As Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday morning called the arrest of 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi an unprecedented attack on democracy, his Aam Aadmi Party demanded her immediate release and called her arrest an "extrajudicial abduction".
Addressing a press conference, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said the party condemns Ravi's arrest.
"Arrest of 21 yr old Disha Ravi is an unprecedented attack on Democracy. Supporting our farmers is not a crime," Kejriwal tweeted.
"The BJP government has imposed a state of emergency in the country. The youth have been speaking strongly, but the BJP does not like the youth, that's why the 21-year-old youth activist has been arrested," Chadha said.
Chadha said the "huge" BJP government, with 300 MPs, is so afraid of the youth activist that they sent Delhi Police to arrest her.
"The BJP government is allergic to the youth of the country. The arrest of Ravi shows this. Her arrest was an extrajudicial abduction," he said.
"The BJP has put the country under an undeclared emergency. We demand that Ravi must be immediately released," Chadha said.
He further called upon the youth of the country to unite and raise their voice against the injustices happening in the nation.
Ravi was arrested on Saturday from Bengaluru for allegedly sharing with Greta Thunberg a toolkit related to farmer's protest against the Centre's three new agriculture laws, police said.
However, following revelations that Ravi did not have her own lawyers during her remand proceedings and was provided a public legal aide and that the Delhi Police did not produce her in a Bengaluru court to get a transit remand for her, many legal experts have raised questions about procedure being violated in her arrest.
Many argued that magistrates were increasingly seen granting police remand mechanically, instead of examining the matter on a case-to-case basis. Senior advocate Rebecca John also told Millennium Post that many times, the arresting agency deliberately misleads the party of the accused as to the location and timing of remand proceedings so as to succeed in getting police remand.
The AAP MLA said, "By this arrest, the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to make it clear that nobody should raise their voice against these three anti-farmer laws. The Delhi police are claiming that they have arrested Disha Ravi for editing these two sentences. The Delhi police should immediately make these two statements public. The Aam Aadmi Party also wants to know that can those statements injure the sovereignty and the integrity of India?"
Chadha went on to say that "dissent is not equal to sedition. The difference of opinion between the ruling party or with the policies/laws of the government is also not sedition. The BJP is trying to suppress the voice of dissent".
