Kannada actor Chetan Kumar sent to 14-day custody for his ‘Hindutva’ tweet

Actor-turned-activist Chetan Ahimsa alias Chetan Kumar has been arrested by the Seshadripuram police on Tuesday for allegedly posting a controversial tweet saying, “Hindutva is built on lies.”

Based on a complaint by one Shivakumar, a member of the right-wing organisation, Seshadripuram police arrested sections 295 A (malicious intent to outrage religious sentiment) and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code. He has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

In his tweet, Chetan said that Hindutva was an ideology “built on lies,” and cited the examples of Savarkar, the Babri mosque as well as Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda. He said Hinduvta can be defeated by truth and that “truth is equality”.

“Hindutva is built on LIES. Savarkar: Indian ‘nation’ began when Rama defeated Ravana & returned to Ayodhya —> a lie. 1992: Babri Masjid is ‘birthplace of Rama’ —> a lie. 2023: Urigowda-Nanjegowda are ‘killers’ of Tipu—> a lie. Hindutva can be defeated by TRUTH—> truth is EQUALITY (sic),” read the tweet.

The tweet comes following a controversy over the BJP claiming that two Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda killed Tipu Sultan, even though historians have long believed that Tipu Sultan was killed by the British during the fourth Anglo-Mysore war. Opposition parties, Congress and JD(S) had termed it as a ‘distortion of history’.

The claim is said to be part of the BJP’s effort to woo the Vokkaliga vote bank in the southern part of the state, which is a stronghold of the JD(S) and Congress.

Horticulture minister Munirathna announced making a film on Uri gowda and Nanje gowda but backtracked following objections from Nirmalanandanatha Swami, the head of the influential Adichunchanagiri Math.

Earlier in February 2022, Chetan was arrested for criticising Justice Krishna Dixit, the Supreme Court judge who was hearing pleas against a ban on Muslim girls wearing hijabs in schools in the state. At the time, Chetan was referring to a 2020 order in which the judge had questioned the behaviour of a woman who alleged rape. Justice Dixit’s comments were later deleted from the order after it sparked outrage and it was termed regressive.

An FIR was also lodged against Chetan Kumar in October 2022 for making “derogatory” remarks about the movie Kantara. Chetan, in his comments on ‘Kantara’ movie, said that the cultural existence of tribal mingled with Brahmanism.