Priyanka Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal slam central govt over Disha Ravi's arrest

New Delhi, Feb 15: Joining the growing attack demanding the release of climate activist Disha Ravi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday slammed the BJP-led government and said that "people who carry guns are afraid of an unarmed girl"

Taking to Twitter, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Those who carry guns are afraid of an unarmed girl. An unarmed girl has spread of ray of courage," the Congress leader tweeted in Hindi, using hashtags #ReleaseDishaRavi, #DishaRavi and #IndiaBeingSilenced.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also criticised the arrest of the activist and called it an "unprecedented attack on the democracy".

"Arrest of 21 yr old Disha Ravi is an unprecedented attack on Democracy. Supporting our farmers is not a crime," CM Kejriwal said on Twitter.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal hit out at the Centre asking if the country is so "intolerant" that it cannot tolerate youth standing with farmers. "Disha Ravi Climate Activist Is the state so weak that a tweet threatens its security? Is the state so paranoid that a 22 year is a national security threat? Is the state so intolerant that it cannot tolerate youth standing with farmers? Is this the "badlav" Modiji wanted?," he asked.

A political slugfest has erupted after the 21-year-old climate activist was arrested from Bengaluru on Saturday in connection with the "toolkit" shared by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and others on Twitter to extend support to the farmers' protest underway at several border points of the national capital against the Centre's farm laws.

On Sunday, Disha Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police. She has been sent to the custody of Delhi Police Special Cell for five days by a court.

The case against unnamed persons was registered on charges of criminal conspiracy, sedition and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code.