Actor turned activist arrested for tweet on Hindutva

Bengaluru: Chetan Kumar, a citizen of the United States of America and a little known actor in Kannada cinema industry has been arrested for loose talks on Hindutva. In October last year, Chetan Kumar who calls himself Chetan Ahimsa churned a controversy by making baseless claims that the 'Bhootha Kola' tradition portrayed in the movie, 'Kantara' did not belong to Hindu culture.

On Monday, Chetan tweeted that Hindutva is built on lies. In the tweet, he implied that Veer Savarkar's statement about the nation of India beginning when Rama defeated Ravana and returned to Ayodhya was a lie.

In the tweet, he said that Hindus claimed Babri Masjid as the birthplace of Lord Rama in 1992 and now in 2023, claims of Urigowda and Nanjegowda to be killers of Tipu Sultan is a lie. "Hindutva can be defeated by truth. Truth is equality," he concluded.

These comments didn't sit well with several social media users including right-wing activists. After a high ranking member of the Bengaluru North's Bajrang Dal unit filed a complaint, Chetan was arrested on Tuesday by the Sheshadripuram Police based on the complaint.

Chetan has been slapped with IPC Sections 505(2) for statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill-will between classes and 295(A) for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

The actor turned "activist" has also made news in the past for making claims without historical backing, insulting the judiciary, supporting students who raised pro-Pakistan slogans, and demanding reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Indian cricket team. In February last year, Chetan was arrested after he made comments about Karnataka High Court Judge, Justice Krishna Dixit. He had received major attention from the western and middle-eastern media for this issue.He also made claims that the 'Bhootha Kola' tradition displayed in the movie, 'Kantara – A Legend' is not a part of Hindu culture.

As a strong believer of the Aryan invasion theory, Chetan said "The Bhootha Kola culture was part of nature worshippers and claiming that it is a Hindu culture is wrong. Around 3,500 years ago, the Aryans migrated from Central Asia and brought Vedic knowledge including Sanskrit. They eventually mingled with the Dravidians and gave rise to these traditions", he said. He went on to say, "These traditions have been active in places like Mangaluru. The Hindu religion on the other hand, had brought these aboriginal traditions under its wing to support its own existence and development."