The Central government on Saturday cancelled the visa of Kannada actor Chetan Kumar alias Chetan Ahimsa over his alleged involvement in “anti-national activities.” Earlier, he was arrested for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments.
This came a month after the 40-year-old, who acted in several films, was taken into custody after his “objectionable” tweet reading “Hindutva is built on lies” went viral.
As the government cancelled his Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), the actor has now sought a stay from a court for 15 days.
Speaking to CNN-News18, he said, “Intentional attempt is being made to scare me and create an atmosphere of fear. Our ideological strength and commitment to social and economic justice and all kind of equalitarianism is a threat to the powers that be. What I see is that they are trying to create an atmosphere of fear but in actuality, they are the ones who are scared because they can’t silence our voice, hence they cancel my visa. It is an undemocratic way to silence me or anybody who speaks for equality.”
He added, “This is an definitely an intentional fabrication. We have never done anything unlawful or transgressed the law, there has been no conviction. They have given me 15 days to return the visa and I am going to use these 15 days to bring stay in the High Court and fight it.”
Chetan, who was based out of Chicago, got his OCI card in 2018.
In his tweet on March 20, which now Twitter says “doesn’t exist”, he allegedly said, “Hindutva is built on lies and it can be defeated by truth, and that truth is equality”.
He has also reportedly listed out as “example of lies” – Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar’s statement, Babri masjid site as the birth place of Rama, and narrative that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda killed Tipu Sultan.
The actor was arrested in February last year, for his alleged tweet on a judge who was hearing a case on whether hijabs were acceptable in government schools. He was released on bail.
Chetan has starred in numerous movies, including Aa Dinagalu (2007), Myna (2013), Noorondu Nenapu (2017), and Ranam (2021).
(with inputs from PTI)
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