Kannada actor Chetan Kumar popularly known as Chetan Ahimsa was arrested in Bengaluru on Tuesday, accused of inciting religious sentiments by tweeting against Hindutva.
Chetan had tweeted a tweet on Monday, which is stating that Hindutva is ‘built on lies’ went viral online. The 40-year-old actor was arrested by Seshadipuram police following a complaint by a person named Shivakumar. After this, the Magistrate Court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
In a tweet on March 20, Kumar claimed that Hindutva is ‘built on lies’.
The complaint filed by Shivakumar of Bajrang dal against him stated that his tweet, which says that “Hindutva is built on lies”, allegedly hurt the sentiments of Hindus.
The actor, who is also a Dalit and tribal activist, was produced at a district court and was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
In his tweets, the actor also said that Hindutva can only be defeated by truth.
“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,” the actor wrote in his tweet.
The Bengaluru Police arrested him and registered an FIR under sections 295A (malicious intent to outrage religious sentiment) and 505(2) (creating or promoting enmity) of the IPC.
Earlier, in February last year, he was arrested for tweeting against a judge who was hearing a case on whether accounting is mandatory in government schools. In October, Kumar had been booked in a case after he had tweeted that the Bhoota Kola ritual depicted in the movie Kantara was not part of a Hindu custom.
