An Indian actor has been arrested for tweeting on a judge hearing the pleas against a ban on the Muslim girls wearing hijab in schools.
Chetan Kumar was arrested in the southern state of Karnataka after he criticized Justice Krishna Dixit. The actor had questioned why the judge who had made disturbing comments in the past was hearing the case. Kumar had referred to the hearing in 2020 in which she had asked questions about the behavior of the woman who had alleged rape.
Justice Dixit’s comments were later removed from the order after they resulted in outrage and were described as regressive. Chetan Kumar is a Dalit rights activist who has been involved in several anti-right-wing protests.
The actor-activist is already facing two complaints about targeting the Brahmin community. Chetan Kumar is a Fulbright scholar and a US citizen and belongs to the Dalit community.
https://twitter.com/ChetanAhimsa/status/1493941716868497410?s=20&t=D5mwleKKn1k6U5gx0LYmeg
Read more: India’s hijab dispute reaches its most populous state
Actor goes missing?
On February 16th, Chetan Kumar in his tweet referred to his previous tweet. While referring to the tweet he said:” This is a tweet I wrote nearly two years ago regarding a Karnataka High Court decision 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 shared the screenshot of his previous tweet. Resultantly, he has been charged with “intent to incite a class or community to commit an offense” and “intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace”, according to ANI news agency. Police confirmed that he would be produced before the judicial magistrate but did not mention when.
Read more: Girl in hijab will be India’s PM one day: Asaduddin Owaisi
His wife Megha in a Facebook live chat said that the actor “had gone missing from the house”, according to The News Minute. “No one informed us [about his arrest], his phone is switched off, so is our gunman’s [bodyguard],” she alleged.
There has been a social media storm in India following his arrest.