Chetan Kumar: Outrage as Indian actor is arrested for questioning judge in hijab row

An actor from southern India has been arrested and charged with two non-bailable offences after he tweeted criticism of a judge hearing a case pertaining to the spiraling controversy in the country over the hijab.

Chetan Kumar A was arrested from his residence in Bengaluru city on Tuesday for a tweet that criticised a state high court judge hearing a plea over the hijab controversy.

Mr Kumar’s arrest was announced on the night he was arrested after his family alleged he had gone missing and were not given any information on his whereabouts.

A city police official said there was a formal complaint against Mr Kumar, also known as Chetan Ahimsa.

He was booked under the country’s penal code for “statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes” and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace – both non-bailable offences which can lead to three years of imprisonment if convicted.

The arrest of the actor, who belongs to the southern Karnataka state where the hijab controversy first began, has prompted anger at the “repressive tone” being followed by the country’s authorities.

Mr Kumar, who is a US citizen and a Fulbright scholar, has frequently tweeted about the ongoing controversy, in which schools barred girls wearing the headscarves from entering schools.

The actor is also a Dalit rights activist, involved in activism for the people of lower castes, formerly known as “untouchables”.

Several activists criticised the arrest of the actor as “outrageous”.

“Chetan Ahimsa’s arresting for this tweet shows how repressive tone is being followed against an Ambedkarite. This is just shameful. We stand with him,” said a tweet by Mission Ambedkar, a forum for propagating the work of the late economist and Dalit leader BR Ambedkar.

Mr Kumar’s younger brother Ashok Kumar termed the arrest to be “intimidation”.

“My brother Chetan who was arrested this morning for ‘contempt of court’ for criticising the appointment of a misogynistic judge in the hijab case has just been refused bail! This is obviously meant to intimidate. Below is a video sent from outside the jail. They’ve garrisoned it,” he said sharing the video.

Dipsita Dhar, a student activist, said: “Condemn the arrest of Chetan, an activist and actor based in Bangalore, by the Karnataka Police. The absolute crackdown on democracy can’t be tolerated more.”

Mr Kumar’s tweet, that led to his arrest, had come on the heels of a controversy raging in Karnataka, where a school had barred Muslim girls from wearing Islamic headscarves in its premises, triggering protests by several girls wearing the headgear.

A court is now hearing pleas against the banning of the hijab after one of the girls filed a petition.

The actor had tweeted on 16 February, criticising Karnataka High Court Justice Krishna Dixit, who is hearing the pleas.

He had attached a screenshot of a 2020 tweet he had made that was also critical of the high court judge for making “disturbing comments” during the hearing of a rape case nearly two years ago.

“This is a tweet I wrote nearly two years ago regarding a Karnataka High Court decision,” the actor had said in his 16 February tweet.

“Justice Krishna Dixit made such disturbing comments in a rape case Now this same judge is determining whether [hijabs] are acceptable or not in govt schools. Does he have the clarity required?” he asked.

Justice Dixit’s remarks in the case had later been expunged from the court order after an outcry that termed them as “regressive”.

The judge had given anticipatory bail to the rape accused after observing that the survivor’s statement was “a bit difficult to believe”.