Actor and recently elected Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut was allegedly slapped by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable for “disrespecting farmers” at the Chandigarh airport. However, sources claimed on Friday that the constable had been taken into custody.
Kulwinder Kaur, the accused constable, was suspended and a police report was made after it was reported that on Thursday, she had slapped Ms. Ranaut. When the incident occurred, the actor was en route to board a flight headed for Delhi.
According to the paramilitary security guard, Ms. Ranaut’s previous statement set her off.
“She gave a statement… that farmers are sitting there for ₹ 100. Will she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she gave this statement…,” she said, referring to the farmers’ protest in 2020 against the three farm laws passed by the Centre.
During the height of a nationwide agitation, Ms Ranaut had remarked in a social media post that an elderly woman at a protest site was being paid ₹ 100 to sit there. After facing widespread backlash, the actor deleted the post.
In a video, recorded by onlookers at the airport, the Mandi MP can be seen escorted to the security checkpoint where the incident occurred. However, as she reaches the area, an argument breaks out and she is then escorted away. The video does not capture the alleged slap.
Hours after the incident, the actor took to X and shared a video message about what occurred at the airport.
“The incident happened at the security check-in. The woman guard waited for me to cross. She then came and hit me… started throwing expletives. I asked (her) why she hit me. She said, ‘I support farmers’. I am safe… but my concern is terrorism is rising in Punjab. How do we handle that?” she said in the video.
The actor faced online backlash in February 2021 after she responded to a post by singer Rihanna on the farmers’ protest. “Why aren’t we talking about this?”, the pop icon said while sharing a video of the farmers protesting.
The demonstrators were called “terrorists” by Ms. Ranaut in response to the post. “No one is talking about it because the people attempting to divide India are terrorists, not farmers, with the goal of allowing China to annex our weak, fractured country and turn it into a Chinese colony akin to the United States… We are not selling our country like you dummies, so sit down, you fool,” she uttered.
She later removed that post, though.
The farmers’ protest that began in 2020/21 made headlines in India and across the world. Ms Ranaut made several posts slamming the protests and raising questions over the legitimacy of the agitation, often hitting out at the protesters.
Post a commentDuring her campaign, her convoy was blocked by agitators in Chandigarh over her comments.