Delhi Police Files FIR Against Greta Thunberg For Supporting Protesting Farmers

The Delhi Police has issued a statement saying that the FIR registered does not mention any individual, rather the charge is levied against creators of toolkit under charges of sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity between the community.

This comes in the wake of reports that suggested that it filed an FIR against Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg who had earlier issued her tweets supporting the ongoing farmers’ protests at the Delhi borders.

“We have not named anyone in the FIR. The FIR is against the creators of toolkit and it is a matter of investigation. Delhi Police will be investigating that case,” said Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police.

On the matter of the toolkit, Minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said it was a serious issue.

“The ‘Toolkit’ matter is a serious one. It clearly shows that some foreign elements are conspiring to defame India,” he said.

Thunberg and Rihanna’s tweets led to a spike in search for terms related to farmers’ protest in many parts of the world, putting the agitation on the world map.

The farmers are demanding a complete rollback of the new agriculture reform laws and a guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system being retained. Multiple rounds of talks between the central government and the farmers’ union leaders have ended in a stalemate. Protesting farmers fear that the new laws will dismantle the MSP system and corporatise farming. However, the Centre has maintained that these reforms will benefit farmers.

On January 26, the protest turned violent when some farmers deviated from a pre-decided route for their Republic Day tractor rally and clashed with police. Some protesters scaled the ramparts of the Red Fort. While one farmer died during the chaos, several protestors and police personnel were injured in the ensuing clashes.

Since then, the activist has reiterated her support for the ongoing protests, saying that no amount of hate, threat or violation of human rights will stop that.