Bollywood actress and newly elected Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut was allegedly slapped by a member of the security staff at an Indian airport. The incident occurred after Ranaut made several derogatory remarks about farmers from Punjab and Haryana who protested against new agriculture laws.
Kangana Ranaut, 37, represents the Mandi constituency in Himachal Pradesh as a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. She was reportedly going through a security check at an airport in Chandigarh, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana states, when the altercation occurred on Thursday. The alleged assailant was identified as Kulwant Kaur, a police constable with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The CISF is responsible for security at strategic sites including airports and historical monuments. Ranaut claimed on social media that during the security check, Kaur approached her, slapped her, and used expletives, stating her support for the farmers’ protest.
A video clip of the argument between Ranaut and CISF personnel has gone viral on social media, although it does not show the alleged slap. In another viral video, Kaur expressed her anger over Ranaut’s comments on the farmers’ protests. Kaur stated, “Kangana made a statement that farmers were protesting in Delhi because they were paid 100 or 200 rupees. Will she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she gave this statement.”
Kaur, 35, has been suspended following the incident, and a complaint has been filed against her. She comes from a family of farmers in Punjab, with her brother being a part of the farmers’ leadership and the secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, which was involved in the protest.
The farmers’ protests, which began in November 2020, saw millions of farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, block major motorways approaching New Delhi to demand the repeal of three contentious farm laws. They argued that the laws, passed without consultation, benefited big businesses at the expense of farmers. The protests led to the repeal of the farm laws in 2021, a move that impacted Mr. Modi’s party in the subsequent Punjab state elections.
Ranaut has previously made several inflammatory remarks against the protesting farmers, including a now-deleted post where she claimed an elderly woman seen at one of the protests was “available for 100 to 200 rupees”. She also criticized international pop star Rihanna for supporting the farmers, labeling the protesters as “terrorists who are trying to divide India”.