Farmers Movement Archive

Global teen climate activist from U’khand extends support to arrested Disha Ravi

Dehradun: Young climate activist of India, Ridhima Pandey, came out in strong support of the arrested Disha Ravi for her alleged involvement in a "Toolkit" case, its role in farmers' protest and the Republic Day violence. The 13-year-old activist from Uttarakhand, who had earlier called the government and local authorities to do more to clean the Ganga, is willing to go to any extent in support of Ravi. “I will meet her when I get an opportunity and go to any extent to bring her out of jail." Sharing a personal moment when Ravi had extended help, she said her Twitter account was "restricted" last year and "Ravi helped me restore it”. The teen activist, on Monday, said that Ravi's arrest was "unnecessary, be it for any kind of 'Toolkit', and she could never intend to cause violence". "She [Disha Ravi] is a very genuine person," she added. Pandey, who was on the list of BBC’s 100 most influential women globally in 2020, reportedly knew Ravi since last year when she joined 'Fridays for Future' - an online forum for a group of young climate activists. “She contributes immensely towards India's growth by educating the youth about sustainable development. She has been relentlessly working on environmental causes and in a way helping our country's future,” Pandey, who calls Ravi her "good friend", said. On "freedom of expression", Pandey said that she had tweeted in favour of the American 'Black Lives Matter' movement. "But, no one from America came to pick me up and arrest me. So, it is a heinous act on the part of government to silence people from expressing their views and arresting them if they do so.” Notably, the green crusader along with 15 others, including Greta Thunberg, had filed a complaint to a UN committee, pulling up certain nations for not addressing the climate crisis adequately. Pandey had also called for a complete ban on plastic in the past.

The Times of India

2021-02-16

Dehradun