Days after being arrested by the Bengaluru police for tweets questioning Hindutva, Kannada actor Chetan Kumar's Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status has reportedly been cancelled by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
According to Seshadripuram police, the arrest action was taken against the 40-year-old, who acted in several films, based on the complaint by a person named Shivakumar. He was granted bail and produced before a magistrate court, which remanded him to 14 days judicial custody, officials said. The actor was arrested in February last year as well, for his alleged tweet on a judge who was hearing a case on whether hijabs were acceptable in government schools.
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The actor took to Twitter, sharing a report in this regard by The News Minute and said,"Union Home Ministry canceled my visa to stay in India yesterday on Ambedkar Jayanti." He said that he received a letter asking him to submit his OCI card at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in the next 15 days, according to media reports.
He was arrested under section of IPC 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), and 505(2) (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement or report containing rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote, or which is likely to create or promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, feelings of enmity, or hatred).
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In his tweet on March 20, which now Twitter says "doesn't exist", he had 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.
(With inputs from PTI)
