The Delhi Police on Thursday filed an FIR against the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg after the 18-year-old supported famers’ protest through a tweet.
As news broke of a first information report filed against her by the Delhi Police, the teen climate activist Greta Thunberg took to Twitter and said that she still stands with farmers.
“No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that,” she wrote in a tweet.
The FIR was filed purportedly for her tweets in support of the agitation.
The FIR filed against climate activist mentions charges under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, according to Indian media.
The 18-year-old had on Wednesday expressed her support to the farmers’ protest through a tweet, saying she stands in solidarity with them.
She shared an article by CNN on the Internet blockade in the areas surrounding the farmers’ protest. Thunberg’s tweet had come merely hours after pop icon Rihanna asked on Twitter, “Why aren’t we talking about this?!”
It is pertinent to mention here that farmers in India protesting against government and farm union leaders have been demanding for a repeal of the new laws and to make the government’s crop price guarantee scheme legally binding, and for the withdrawal of legal cases against protesters.
Modi’s government has held multiple rounds of talks with representatives of farmers who have camped in their thousands on the outskirts of the capital since late 2020, but there has been no word on when talks would resume.
The farmers, who enjoy most support in northern India’s breadbasket states, argue that three new farm laws will hurt their interests while benefiting large firms.
The farmers’ cause has also drawn support from the Indian diaspora in Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
Earlier this week internet services were temporarily suspended in some areas, drawing widespread criticism, including from international activists and celebrities.
