Social media posts share false claim about Indian climate activist Disha Ravi
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 23, 2021 at 05:00
- 1 min read
- By AFP India
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The claim was made in a text graphic published on Facebook here on February 17, 2021.
The Hindi-language text translates to English as: “The tool kit girl is being referred to as Disha Ravi by the media, her full name is Disha Ravi Joseph. What is the problem in calling her by her original name?”
The post circulated days after Ravi was arrested by police on February 13, 2021.
Police alleged she helped create a “toolkit” guide to the anti-government farmer protests that was tweeted by environmentalist Greta Thunberg, as AFP reported here.
Similar claims about Ravi’s full name and about her being Christain were also published on Facebook here, here, here and here; and on Twitter here and here.
However, the claim is false.
Disha’s full name is Disha A Ravi, according to the Indian government’s publicly available National Voters’ Service Portal. Her father’s name is Ravi Annappa.
Below is a screenshot of Ravi’s details listed on the voting portal with her voting ID number redacted by AFP for privacy:
The News Minute, an English-language news outlet, also debunked the claim here on February 17, 2021.
The article quotes a “lawyer and close friend of Disha's family” who told The News Minute that Ravi’s “full name is Disha Annappa Ravi. Her mother's name is Manjula Nanjaiah, father is Ravi Annappa.”
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