Kannada actor Chetan Kumar who is under threat of revocation of his overseas citizenship status by the Ministry of Home Affairs for being “involved in many unlawful activities” has said “it will break my heart if I lose my overseas citizenship but not my spirit”.
Kumar, perhaps better known as Chetan Ahimsa, added that although he carries an American passport he “identifies with India and Karnataka”.
In a 28-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Kumar said that one of the so-called “unlawful activities”, which the home ministry believes are “inimical to the interests of (the) general public”, and which are mentioned in the home ministry note of April 14 threatening to revoke his overseas citizenship, is the fact that he participated in a gathering during the height of COVID-19 without masks and without maintaining social distancing.
Chetan Kumar says the note threatening revocation of his overseas citizenship also refers to two instances when he was arrested. First, in February 2022, when he asked whether a Karnataka high court judge hearing the hijab case has “the clarity required?” and, second, on March 21 this year, when he said Hindutva is “built on lies” and can be “defeated by truth”. Both arrests are discussed in detail in the interview.
Kumar says that his clashes with the Indian system perhaps began in 2017, when he was part of a protest against the demolition of Adivasi houses in Karnataka. However, the threat to his overseas citizenship status first arose in June 2021, when he denounced Brahmanism as the root cause of caste inequality in Indian society and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, at that time, wrote to the Foreigner’s Regional Registration Office demanding his OCI status be cancelled.
Kumar has confirmed that he is at present contesting the home ministry notice seeking to revoke his OCI status at the Karnataka HC but he is prepared to go all the way up to Supreme Court, if necessary. He says he is confident the Indian judiciary will accept that he is being unjustly and unfairly treated and nullify the decision to revoke his OCI status.
When you see the interview and hear him speak, you will realise how unfairly he is being treated.
Watch the full interview here.
