File picture of Kannada actor Chetan Kumar Ahimsa, whose OCI status was cancelled
| Photo Credit: Twitter/@ChetanAhimsa
The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status of actor Chetan Kumar has been cancelled by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The actor has been critical of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been arrested twice for his tweets that have been critical of Hindutva and the judiciary in one case.
“I have received a letter asking me to submit my OCI card at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in the next 15 days,” said Mr. Kumar. He added that he was exploring legal options and would file a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court challenging the order.
In his tweet posted on March 20, Mr. Kumar had stated that Hindutva was an ideology “built on lies” and cited the examples of Savarkar, Babri masjid as well as Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda.
He also tweeted that Hinduvta could be defeated by truth and that “truth is equality”.
Based on a complaint, Mr. Kumar was arrested by the Seshadripuram police on March 21 and charged under sections 295A and 505(2) of the IPC.
