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In early February, Greta Thunberg voiced her support on Twitter for the hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers who have been protesting agricultural reform for four months. In a later post, he shared a digital “toolbox”, containing information and advice for activists who wanted to get involved in the movement. The toolbox included descriptions of how activists could sign collections of names and what so-called hashtags, such as #AskIndiaWhy, they could use.
Since then, a wave of hatred has hit the Swedish climate activist on social media.
Disha Ravi, one of the leaders of the Fridays for future in India movement, inspired by Greta Thunberg, was arrested by the police as a result of the digital toolkit, on charges that the document was an attempted incitement. According to The Guardian, the document is described as “evidence of international plans to attack India” by representatives of the ruling Hindu nationalist party BJP.
Read more: Peasant uprising in India causes political crisis
Events have led to that a series of accusations have been made against Thunberg from the Indian side. In a so-called internet member that has circulated widely on social media, it is claimed, among other things, that the document shared by Greta Thunberg would be proof of a global conspiracy to smear India.
DN’s review shows that India’s public Facebook pages have posted at least 4,500 posts about Greta Thunberg in the last month. The most shared posts, which often received more than 10,000 comments, reactions and shares, are generally about how the document Thunberg shared would be evidence of a conspiracy, or incorrect allegations that the Swedish activist is being investigated by the Indian police. Similar allegations have also been widely circulated on Twitter and Instagram, for example.
Other widespread claims connects Greta Thunberg with the Indian Khalistan movement, a Sikh separatist movement in the state of Punjab, which several Indian opinion leaders have claimed would be behind the ongoing peasant protest in the country.
The accusations against Thunberg have also been picked up by US news sources targeting supporters of former President Donald Trump. The Western Journal site claims in a scattered article that Thunberg would have “revealed” that he takes orders from others. Sites like Breitbart also claim that a preliminary investigation has been launched against Greta Thunberg in India, something that is not true, according to the Guardian authorities.
The Indian activist Disha Ravi was released on bail on Tuesday after a New Delhi judge deemed the police allegations against her to be few and vague. “According to the court, Disha Ravi had no intention of committing a crime. Greta Thunberg has tweeted his support for her several times during more than a week in police custody.
