Kannada actor Chetan Kumar arrested for tweet, ’hurting religious sentiments’

Kannada actor Chetan Kumar was arrested by the Bengaluru Police on Tuesday for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus through his tweet. He was arrested by the Seshadripuram police and taken to court on the same day. The arrest came after a complaint by a Bajrang Dal member, who took offense to his tweet and alleged in his complaint that the tweet hurts religious sentiments.

“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,” Chetan Kumar said in his tweet.

His tweet evoked an angry response on Twitter with many social media users claiming that he is hurting religious sentiments through such a biased interpretation of the religious term

Chetan Kumar is also an activist who frequently shares his opinions on social media regarding current events. He has been arrested previously, including during the hijab controversy in Karnataka in February of last year, where he allegedly posted an inappropriate tweet about a high court judge who was handling the hijab case at the time.

In addition, Chetan Kumar was involved in another dispute in October, when he made comments about the 'Bhoota Kola' tradition. During this period, fellow actor Dhananjaya faced criticism for his film 'Headbush,' which some individuals claimed offended their sentiments by portraying the Veeraghase folk art form and the annual Karaga utsava in Bengaluru. Chetan Kumar spoke in support of artistic freedom during this time.