Kannada actor Chetan Kumar, popularly known as Chetan Ahimsa, received a letter on April 14 from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). The letter dated March 28, instructed him to return his Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card within 15 days from the date of receiving the letter. His visa and OCI status had been revoked with immediate effect because according to the letter, he was involved in ‘anti-India’ activities. Chetan spoke to TNM on what this cancellation means and what steps he will be taking next.
The subject says that it's been cancelled because of anti-Indian activities, which is ironic for many reasons. Firstly, it happened on Babasaheb's jayanti, April 14, when we all espouse the ideas of Ambedkarism, Periyarism, and egalitarianism through justice and rationality. These are the ideas that I have been spreading for about 18 years that I've been in Karnataka and almost 13 years that I have been in activism.
In this system, anyone who articulates justice for those at the bottom of the totem pole, for those who are socially, economically, and linguistically marginalised, are portrayed as anti-Indians, which is unfortunate. The ones upholding the foundation of our constitution are the ones who follow the ideas of Ambedkar and Periyar. All mainstream political parties in Karnataka and across India are using the constitution for their own political benefit. We are upholding the true spirit and idea of the nation, and we have never done anything that is unlawful or illegal. These are all baseless, fabricated, concocted allegations which have not been proven, and thus, I have not been convicted of anything. It's an attempt by the powers that control our society and the narrative today to silence voices and create an atmosphere of fear. They are trying to say that people like me and thousands of others who speak like me have to be silenced. In reality, they are the ones who are afraid that our ideas are transformative, reaching the people, and can be a strong alternative to the system of injustice and inequality that is pervasive in India and Karnataka today. We're not anti-Indian; we are the real 'desh bhakts.'
About 10 months ago, I received a notice from the Home Ministry, saying that my visa is at risk of being cancelled and asked me to provide a reason why it shouldn't be. I gave them a lengthy five to six-page explanation, photographs of my work, and wrote about my work in cinema for 10 years, my social work, and my social and family connections to Karnataka. After that, I didn't hear back anything for 10 months. On April 14, I received a notice in the morning from the Home Ministry that said, due to lack of explanation and unsatisfactory remarks, they cancelled my OCI and my visa with immediate effect and gave me 15 days to hand over the card, claiming it's all because of anti-Indian activities, which is baseless. They have jailed me previously, they have created false cases against me, and they have done many more things, but we haven't been silenced, and this is their last attempt at trying to completely hush anybody who speaks in an egalitarian way.
We have been fighting a series of protests in terms of the benefit of society. My first trade was in 2011 in the anti corruption movement. We fought for endosulfan victims' rights, where we got 90 crores, and we've got 520 homes for adivasis. In Delhi horata, we fought against privatisation of the government agricultural colleges, which we won. We fought for the rights of #MeToo victims and against #MeToo in the cinema industry. We have consistently fought for socially beneficial equalitarian ideas in terms of caste, class, gender, region, language. But when the government and the power structure realised that our ideas were spreading and gaining credibility due to our use of reason, rationality, facts, and figures, and our unwavering commitment to justice, they started feeling threatened. Two years ago, I spoke out against an institutional scourge known as Brahminism. It is important to note that this is not against the Brahmin community or any caste, gender, or community. We are against the system of Brahminism, which perpetuates privilege and higher status based on birth, and certain groups being relegated to inferior status solely because of their birth. Brahminism is a mindset, and when I spoke against it, I was charged under section 295A and repeatedly called for inquiry by the police. Despite having no prior cases against me for over a decade. In the past two years, cases have started piling up in what seems to be a backward way. If someone does something truly questionable, they should face punitive action accordingly. However, when there is an attempt to silence or defeat someone in an undemocratic way and there is nothing truly questionable, fabricated cases are concocted.
For instance, after speaking about Brahminism, I wrote a tweet questioning a judge, and I was put in jail for seven days due to police violations. This incident was also mentioned in the Home Ministry's notice. Recently, three weeks ago, I said that Hindutva is built on lies and provided examples of misleading statements made by Savarkar and others. This was met with a retaliatory response without any ideological counter-argument. The Bajrang Dal filed a case against me and I was put in jail again. These incidents, especially in the past two and a half years, and in general over the past 12 years, show that our ideas, activism, social service, and commitment to an ideal state and nation cannot be defeated in the battleground of ideas by the power structure. They are threatened because they know that our ideology offers true solutions to the problems faced by Karnataka and the nation. It's important to note that we are not selective in our criticism, and we do not support opposition parties either. If they have flaws, maintain the status quo, or engage in corruption, we will question all the wrongs of the system. Since our ideas are spreading strongly, concocted and fabricated cases are being used to create an atmosphere of fear.
I would like to point out that in the past two years, since speaking out against Brahminism and tweeting against Hindutva and the system, these incidents have escalated and provided fodder for the cancellation of my visa. However, even if I had not said these things and had spoken about other issues, they would have been manipulated, distorted, and utilised to silence my voice. So, I hope that this is more of an intentional concoction rather than a mistake on my part.
Ever since I was in college, and for the past 25 years, I have been aware that various forms of inequality are deeply entrenched in our society. I have always known that advocating for equality through justice, rationality, and non-violence would be perceived as a threat to the power structure. I have articulated this understanding of history and rationality, with the knowledge that it may ruffle some feathers. However, just because we ruffle feathers does not mean that what we are saying is false. We do not resort to vulgarity, misinformation, or breaking of the law. We uphold ethical, moral, and economic values.
On that level, I've always known that we have to be extra careful in what we do because our ideas are so transformative. So, I have known that when you actually are a threat to the system, like many people historically have been, the system hits back. It'll try in different ways to silence you, put you in jail, put false cases, or even remove a gunman, even though I'm getting so many death threats. It will go to any extent to silence you because you are a threat to it. The people's support is also an extraordinary power. So when you have that power, and the government knows that you are a threat to them, and the people know that this is an ideological solution for a better future for their kids and grandkids, then the system will hit back. However, I also know that we have laws that protect human rights and we will fight it legally under the basis of the Constitution and the law system that we have and with the people's support, to get justice and to stay in Karnataka, which is the land of my foremothers and forefathers. I've come to this land by choice, not by chance, even though I was born in the US by chance. But by choice, I've come to Karnataka to fight and serve for 18 years. Babasaheb Ambedkar says a great life is being a servant of society. I would like to serve more. I did find it shocking that I wrote all this documentation and they gave an unsatisfactory explanation as the only thing without going into detail as to why they want to call my actions anti-Indian and cancel my visa.
On April 14, which is yesterday, I got the notice and I also met with a lawyer who handles a lot of these issues, who is aware of immigration laws and the nuances. So we will fight. I've been given 15 days' time, and we will make an immediate fight in the High Court of Karnataka. We want a writ petition, a stay order. I want to stay in Karnataka, but I have no interest in going to America. I haven't been to America in eight years, and I have no purpose there. I was born and raised there, but my commitment is to the people of Karnataka and the people of India, and I will stay here and fight for equality. I will use my legal means to have that accomplished to the best of my ability. So we're going to go to the High Court, and we're going to get that done at the earliest because, according to this notice, this visa cancellation is upon immediate effect, so I don't have time. Neither will I wait for 15 days to see what the government is going to do because they have already been undemocratic. I don't break the law, and I don't intend to do that. I will follow the law and try to get justice to the best of my ability at the earliest.