Days after his arrest over his anti-Hindutva comments, film actor Chetan Kumar Ahimsa's Overseas Citizenship of India stood cancelled by the Union Government of India.
Citing hurt to religious sentiments, the actor was arrested by the Bengaluru police, earlier in March and was recently, granted bail.
On Saturday afternoon, the actor took to Twitter and wrote, “Union Home Ministry canceled my visa to stay in India yesterday (April 14) on Ambedkar Jayanti.”
WHAT IS THE REASON BEHIND THIS CANCELLATION?
On March 2023, Ahimsa posted tweets claiming that the Hindutva ideology is built on the basis of lies while mentioning Savarkar and the Babri Masjid. He also added the this ideology can be defeated by truth and 'truth is equality'.
AHIMSA's BRUSH WITH CONTROVERSIES AND THE LAW
Back in June 2021, Kumar faced two lawsuits over a video he posted where he disowned the Brahminism ideology. In his view, the ideology was the cause of caste discrimination in the Indian society. Angered by his views, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded the cancellation of his OCI card.
In February 2022, the actor had dissented over the appointment of a Karnataka High Court judge to deliver the verdict on the ban on Muslim women's right to wear hijab in educational institutions. According to the actor, the judge lacked the foresight to deliver a judgement since he had showed leniency to a rape accused by questioning the character of the rape survivor.
Later, in October 2022, another FIR was filed against the actor for questioning the representation and relevance of the Bhoota Kola depiction and practice in the popular hit Kannada movie 'Kantara', acted and directed by Rishab Shetty.
ABOUT CHETAN KUMAR AHIMSA
As per his Twitter bio, Chetan is an activist and actor fighting for art, equality, justice, rationality, and non-violence. His popular Kannada films include 'Myna' (2013), 'Noorondu Nenapu' (2017), 'Athiratha' (2017), and 'Ranam' (2021). A former US citizen and a Yale graduate, Ahimsa taught in a Mysuru school and was also a thatre artist, before he pursued films. He married his wife Megha, a lawyer and a social worker. During their marriage, the couple gifted the Constitution of India to their wedding guests. Interestingly, their marriage was held in an orphanage that was solemnised by a transgender rights activist.
Ahimsa is also the founder of FIRE (Film Industry for Rights and Eqaulity) which aims at the welfare of women, writers, and workers in the Kannada film industry.
