Actor-politician Kangana Ranaut was allegedly slapped today at the Chandigarh airport by a woman constable of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) while she was on her way to Delhi.
The actor reacted to the incident and said, "I am safe. The incident happened during the security check at the airport. The moment checking was done, a woman constable in CISF in a different cabin waited for me to cross her and she hit me on the face from the side and abused me. I asked her why she did this, and she said, It's because of the farmers' protest"
"What concerns me is the rise in terror in Punjab and how do we handle this," the actor added.
Meanwhile, the woman constable who slapped Ms Ranaut said, "She (the actor) said the farmers are sitting there for Rs 100. Will she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she gave this statement..."
The woman constable has been suspended and a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered.
Chandigarh To Delhi
After winning the Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh, the actor headed to Delhi to collect her ID cards from the parliament and Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) cards. CGHS provides pensioners, MPs and employees of the government of India with benefits during medical treatment.
The actor posted a picture earlier and captioned it, "On my way to the parliament...Mandi ki sansad".
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable who slapped the new MP has been identified as Kulwinder Kaur.
After slapping Ms Ranaut, the paramilitary constable allegedly told the actor-turned-MP it was for "disrespecting farmers", alluding to the 15-month-long protest by farmers against the (now scrapped) farm laws and other issues including a legal guarantee of minimum support price in 2020-21.
Mobile footage shows Ms Ranaut being escorted by a ring of security officers towards the security check-in, where she is seen talking to some CISF officers.
The CISF Commandant has taken note of the incident, and is questioning the constable, sources said. One of her aides has also informed the local police, sources said.
Farmers Protest
Farmers had blocked her convoy in Chandigarh during the election campaign while Ms Ranaut was going towards Mandi.
In February 2021, international pop star Rihanna posted on X (then Twitter) a swipe at the Centre over the farmers' protest, saying, "Why aren't we talking about this?"
To this, Ms Ranaut responded, "No one is talking about it because they are not farmers, they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like the USA... Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies."