Kangana Ranaut, the newly-elected BJP MP from Himachal’s Mandi Lok Sabha seat, made headlines on Thursday after she was slapped and abused by a woman CISF constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport.
The incident took place when the firebrand actor-turned-politician was undergoing a security check before taking a Vistara flight UK707 to Delhi.
In one of the many videos of the incident which went viral on social media, the accused woman constable, identified as Kulwinder Kaur, can be seen talking to people present at the airport, presumably after the attack. In the video, Kaur can be heard taking strong objection to Kangana Ranaut’s controversial remarks during the 2020 farmers’ protest.
“Kangana made a statement that farmers were protesting in Delhi because they were paid Rs 100 or Rs 200. At the time, my mother was one of the protesters,” Kaur said in the purported video.
The constable was later suspended and taken into custody. An FIR was lodged against her and the Central Industrial Security Force ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.
Recapping the incident in detail, Kangana Ranaut stated that she had been receiving numerous calls from the media and her well-wishers regarding the situation.
The BJP MP claimed that a constable approached her from the side and hit her in the face before beginning to hurl abuses at her. When Kangana questioned the constable about the reason for the assault, the constable responded by saying she supported the farmer protests.
“I am safe but my concern is that terrorism is increasing in Punjab… How do we handle that?” Kangana said.
WHAT IS THE CONTROVERSY?
Let’s roll back to 2020 when scores of farmers marched towards Delhi protesting against the now-scrapped farm laws.
Kangana Ranaut courted controversy during the farmers’ protests when she mistakenly identified an elderly woman at the protest as Bilkis Bano, a prominent figure from the Shaheen Bagh protests. The actor, in a now-deleted tweet, had claimed that the woman was “available for Rs 100” to participate in protests.
This statement sparked significant backlash and criticism, including a verbal spat on X between Kangana Ranaut and actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh, who slammed the former for spreading misinformation and asked her to stop inciting tension.
Though Kangana deleted the tweet after facing widespread criticism, she was served with several legal notices, demanding an unconditional apology for her ‘derogatory’ remark.