New Delhi: Weeks after his arrest, the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card of Kannada actor and activist Chetan Kumar, popularly known as Chetan Ahimsa, has been cancelled by the Government, news agency ANI quoted him as saying. The actor was arrested on March 21 by the Bengaluru police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments as he tweeted saying “Hindutva is built on lies”.
Chetan Kumar, who is currently on bail, is an US citizen and based in Chicago. Kumar had received his OCI card in 2018 before becoming a Person Of Indian Origin (PIO).
“Intentional attempt is being made to scare me and create an atmosphere of fear. Our ideological strength and commitment to social and economic justice and all kind of equalitarianism is a threat to the powers that be. What I see is that they are trying to create an atmosphere of fear but in actuality, they are the ones who are scared because they can’t silence our voice, hence they cancel my visa. It is an undemocratic way to silence me or anybody who speaks for equality,” News18 quoted the 40-year-old actor as saying.
“This is definitely an intentional fabrication. We have never done anything unlawful or transgressed the law, there has been no conviction. They have given me 15 days to return the visa and I am going to use these 15 days to bring stay in the High Court and fight it,” he added.
Taking offence over his tweet, Shivakumar of Bajrang Dal had lodged a complaint based on which Kumar was arrested by Bengaluru Police.
Notably, the OCI is a provision for permanent residency available to persons of Indian origin that allows them to live and work in India indefinitely. OCI is not the same as citizenship, as India does not recognise dual citizenship.
On the recommendations of a High-Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora, the Government of India decided to register persons of Indian origin of a certain category, as has been specified in Section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, as OCI holders, by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003.
While OCI holders are treated at par with Indian nationals for tariffs, payment of airfare, other services, they do not have voting rights, and cannot hold Constitutional posts in India.