The actor has said he will approach the high court with a writ petition challenging the MHA's move to cancel his OCI status.
Actor Chetan Kumar aka Chetan Ahimsa
The Central government on Saturday, 15 April, cancelled the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card of popular Kannada actor and Dalit activist Chetan Kumar, also known as Chetan Ahimsa.
This indicated that he might be deported from India soon as his stay would be considered illegal in the country.
“I received a letter from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) on 14 April stating that my OCI card status stands cancelled with immediate effect and also directing me to return my OCI card within 15 days of receipt of the letter,” the actor told South First.
Chetan Kumar said that he would be challenging the cancellation of his OCI with a writ petition at the Karnataka High Court.
“I have consulted my lawyer on the issue and we are filing a writ petition in the high court at the earliest to get a stay on this matter so that we can continue to fight further. The writ will be based on clauses from Babasaheb Ambedkar and Periyar,” he explained.
“I intend to stay in Karnataka with my family and continue to work for the powerless, fighting for an egalitarian state devoid of casteism. All these are mala fide attempts to silence me by calling my activities anti-Indian when I am fighting for the powerless and voiceless,” added the actor.
“I have not violated or broken any law of the land. The police have indulged in a lot of violations and anti-Indianism is coming from people who are eroding democracy and dissent is being criminalised. I am sure that they (the government) are scared of the ideology of fighting for the powerless and calling for an egalitarian state without any castes being spread, preached, and propagated,” he claimed.
Chetan Kumar hit the headlines when he was arrested on 21 March by the Bengaluru City Police for his tweets stating “Hindutva is built on lies”.
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 pic.twitter.com/0Yjz4x1aea
— Chetan Kumar Ahimsa / ಚೇತನ್ ಅಹಿಂಸಾ (@ChetanAhimsa) March 20, 2023
Kumar was picked up earlier by the same Sheshadripuram police based on a suo motu complaint after he expressed his opinion publicly by tweeting against a sitting high court judge Krishna Dixit, who presided over the hearings regarding the ban on hijabs worn by Muslim girls at schools in Karnataka.
Chetan tweeted in reference to a Karnataka High Court order, in which the judge questioned the actions of a rape survivor.
In June last year, Chetan was issued a show-cause notice by the foreigners’ regional registration officer (FRRO) as to why action should not be taken against him as it had been brought to the notice of the government that he has involved in “anti-India activities” and also made defamatory and derogatory comments against a high court judge.
The action referred by the FRRO’s show-cause notice was the cancelling of his (Chetan’s) Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) for his apparent deeds against national interests.
According to sources, Chetan replied that he had been living in India for many years, where he was involved in social work and making films.
He also mentioned that he was married to an Indian citizen while he is also a citizen of the United States, based in Chicago, and he had gotten his OCI card in 2018.
However, his OCI was cancelled on 14 April as the Union Home Ministry stated that the actor’s reply was “unsatisfactory”.
According to the Consulate General of India serving the United States (US), the OCI card issued to any citizen grants them a multiple-entry multipurpose lifelong visa for visiting India.
OCI cardholders are exempted from registration with the FRRO or the Foreign Registration Officer for any length of stay in India, and are entitled to general parity with Non-Resident Indians in respect of all facilities available to them in economic, financial, and educational fields, except in matters relating to the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
However, an OCI card is not “dual citizenship”: Cardholders do not have constitutional rights like voting or representing people as a member of a Legislative Assembly, Council, or Parliament.
They cannot normally hold any employment in the government, or constitutional posts like President, vice-president, Governors, or judge.
OCI cardholders are also not entitled to undertake any missionary work, mountaineering, or journalism without prior permission of the Central government.
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