Bengaluru, Karnataka: For the Delhi Police, 22-year-old Disha Ravi from Bengaluru is a "conspirator" — a climate activist who was involved in the formation and dissemination of Greta Thunberg's 'toolkit' that allegedly contributed to farmer-police clashes on January 26. But for people who know her personally or because of her activism, this allegation is hard to believe.

Most recall Ravi as a bright college student who excelled in every competition she signed up for. Later, she joined a vegan food company in Bengaluru, becoming the sole breadwinner of her family. On weekends, one could see her participating in clean-up and tree plantation drives, promoting the cause of animal welfare or espousing the need for environmental justice. And like other youngsters, she would let her hair down too, dash off to Pondicherry, or drool over food — DIY vegan food, in her case.

So Ravi's arrest by the Delhi Police on Saturday ­— on the charges of sedition, hatching a criminal conspiracy and promotion of enmity ­— has left them angry and hurt. Yet they tell us they can't express their displeasure openly as it might invite scrutiny on them.

Believes in social justice

Ravi broke into the climate justice scene in 2019 as one of the early members of a volunteer group that organised Fridays For Future (FFF) protests in Bengaluru. For the uninitiated, FFF is a global youth movement started by Thunberg to demand climate justice from policy-makers. 

A lot of reports have labelled Ravi as a founding member of FFF, Bengaluru chapter, but people in the know of things say it’s a leaderless, non-hierarchical movement and Ravi was one of the many volunteers mobilising support for the cause, albeit, on a consistent basis. She went on to write climate editorials for a few forums and got featured in the British edition of Vogue as one of the four climate activists of colour last September.

Disha Ravi would be routinely seen at clean-up and plantation drives in Bengaluru. Source: XR Bangalore

“Any youngster in Bengaluru who cares about the environment or environmental activism has probably heard of Disha. She would turn up for all protests — animal cruelty, tree felling, farmers’ movement, and, yes, climate justice,” a 24-year-old from Bengaluru tells us on the condition of anonymity. He had heard about Ravi too and he got to collaborate with her last year when he joined Extinction Rebellion Bangalore, another forum for environmental conservation, as a volunteer.

“She can bring people together for a cause. She has good organising abilities and leadership skills, she is resourceful, and she is quite a planner. May I say she is a Boss Lady! The next FFF global strike is coming up in March and Disha’s team has been planning for it since January,” he recalls his meetings with her over Zoom and on the ground for banner-dropping against the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited road-widening project and sloganeering against the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act 2020.

Her friends have said in a report that Ravi's foray into the climate justice movement was triggered by personal experiences. She has seen her grandparents fight through droughts, floods and soil deterioration to continue farming. She's seen her home, which is located in the low-lying suburb of Abbigere in Bengaluru, get flooded after every spell of rain. And she’s been a nature-lover from the start, helping her mother do gardening and walk her dog.

“I think she turned vegan in 2018 after watching documentaries like Cowspiracy [which explores the impact of livestock farming on the environment],” shares Aditi K*, a 22-year-old vegan entrepreneur from Bengaluru, who met Ravi during the early meetings of FFF and became a work-friend of sorts. “Disha is inspiring. She’s the one who taught me that the consequences of an environmental violation are never linear. They are often intersectional. For instance, the intersection of food and climate change. Her major concern is animal agriculture and how it aggravates global warming by generating greenhouse gases [14.5% of global emissions]. She insists us to give voice to the marginalised communities, who often bear the brunt of ecological damage, to view things from the lens of gender inequality, and more,” Aditi adds.

Performing artist Vineeth Vincent, who has known Ravi as an acquaintance, would agree. “She is an outspoken voice to those without one. She believes in a plant-based future and believes that farmers are the backbone of this country,” he says.

A volunteer at clean-up drives in Bengaluru, who’s twice as old as Ravi, says that he has seen Ravi grow from an entry-level activist to one who understands the interconnectedness of climate change and social injustice. X, let’s call him that as he prefers to be anonymous, tells us, “I first met her at a clean-up drive in 2018 and she kept showing up at future drives. Then in 2019, when FFF was planning to participate in the global strike in Bengaluru, she was part of the organising team of volunteers. She has stuck around since while many volunteers have dropped off. That’s the thing about Disha. She’s been consistent and that says something about her genuine interest in environmental justice.”

“She has nothing to gain out of activism except for a clean conscience,” believes Vincent.

Outspoken yet private

Dr S Rajkumar, head of department, BBA, Mount Carmel College, remembers Ravi as a bold student, who got along with everybody very well. He feels that Ravi gravitated to activism after she graduated from college in 2019. “She got into a marketing company related to vegan products, probably she got into the network [of eco-warriors] post that,” he says, adding that her good communication skills would have helped her in this foray. “We used to send her for national college festivals and intra-department events and she came back winning many of them. She was a good theatre artist too. As far as academics went, she got more than distinction,” he goes on to add.

A finance teacher from the department remembers having “constructive discussions” with Ravi on the topic of the environment. “I am pained to hear the news about her. I pray for her and her family because legal issues take time [to resolve]. She is such a lively girl,” she says.

Ravi isn’t an all-work-and-no-play person. She is a fun and goofy person to hang out with, say her peers. “She is a foodie. She loves experimenting with vegan recipes. She would tell me to make peanut butter and hummus at home. ‘It’s easy and cheap’, she’d say. She is quite a practical person,” Aditi tells us. “Her social media is filled with posts on her love for animals,” X goes on to add.

But unlike others in Gen Z, Ravi doesn’t like posting day-to-day updates on her social media. “She is a private person, that way,” says Aditi.

Not much is known about Ravi’s family and her parents have been advised by her lawyers to not speak to the media, we've learnt. But her younger sister, who would draw cute posters for FFF protests, is communicating to the world via Twitter with posts like “Attack on my sister Disha Ravi is an attack on democracy” or “My sister has been arrested on fabricated charges.”

So to speak, this is not Ravi and her group’s first run-in with the Delhi Police. Last July, the Cyber Crime unit of the Delhi police had blocked FFF's website because it found its content "objectionable" and becoming of an "unlawful or terrorist act”. This was seen as a retaliation to FFF's email campaign against the draft Environment Impact Assessment 2020 plan, of which Ravi was an active participant, this report suggests. The website was restored following a public backlash.

*Name changed on request

(With inputs from Melvin Mathew)