NBWS against two more activists in ‘Toolkit’ case
Police described Disha Ravi as a key conspirator in the document’s formulation and dissemination; Centre announces sweeping changes to the country’s mapping policy
The role of two more activists is under scanner in the ‘Toolkit’ document case shared by global climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of the farmer protests.
Non-bailable warrants are out against activists Nikita Jacob, who is a lawyer by profession, and Shantanu as a police team is looking for them.
The development comes at a time when outrage is spiralling over the arrest of Disha Ravi, a Bengaluru college graduate and climate activist, on conspiracy and sedition charges in relation to the ‘Toolkit’ document case.
Disha Ravi was produced in a Delhi court on Sunday and was sent to five days in police custody.
Nikita’s social media profile states that she is a practicing advocate enrolled with the Maharashtra & Goa State Bar Council and registered with the Bombay High Court (OS).
According to Delhi Police Special Cell sources, a team went to search Nikita Jacob’s house on Feb.11. Since the team arrived at Nikita’s home around evening, officials could not question her.
Nikita’s role in the campaign came to the fore ater Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg tweeted a ‘toolkit’ related to the farmers’ protests against the Centre’s three farm laws.
The Delhi Police had registered an FIR on Feb.4 on charges of sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting hatred among groups under Sections of the Indian Penal Code against the “creators” of the ‘toolkit’ which was later shared by Thunberg.
The police later described Disha Ravi as a key conspirator in the document’s formulation and dissemination and said that she had started a Whatsapp group and collaborated to drat the document.
“In this process, they all collaborated with pro-khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation to spread disaffection against the Indian state. She was the one who shared the ‘Toolkit’ doc with Greta Thunberg,” said a senior police officer.
Meanwhile, several activists and politicians have expressed concern over the arrest of Disha Ravi.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has expressed his opposition to the arrest of 21-year-old eco-activist Disha Ravi saying the move by the
Delhi Police was an “unprecedented atack on democracy.”
“Arrest of 21-yr-old Disha Ravi is an unprecedented atack on democracy. Supporting our farmers is not a crime,” he said in a tweet.
The Centre on Monday announced sweeping changes to the mapping policy, which it said will benefit Indian companies. The changes have been made in the policy keeping in mind the the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.
Announcing this on Twiter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the policy change is a massive step in the government’s vision to make India self-reliant.
“Our government has taken a decision that will provide a huge impetus to Digital India. Liberalising policies governing the acquisition and production of geospatial data is a massive step in our vision for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” he tweeted.
“The reforms will unlock tremendous opportunities for our country’s start-ups, private sector, public sector and research institutions to drive innovations and build scalable solutions.
“This will also generate employment and accelerate economic growth,” the Prime Minister further said in subsequent tweet.
He also said that the country’s farmers will benefit by leveraging the potential of geo-spatial and remote sensing data.
“These reforms demonstrate our commitment to improving ease of doing business in India by deregulation,” PM Modi said in another tweet on the mater.
According to radical changes announced by the government, what is readily available globally does not need to be restricted in India and therefore geospatial data that used to be restricted will now be freely available in India, according to Ministry of Science and Technology.
The changes also seek to remove unnecessary red tape and obstacles in innovation.
“The existing regime imposed significant restrictions on the mapping industry - from creation to dissemination of maps, requiring Indian companies to seek licenses, follow a cumbersome system of pre-approvals and permissions.