Police officer who “slapped” Kangana Ranaut suspended, now faces legal action against police

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable who allegedly slapped Mandi MP and actress Kangana Ranaut at Chandigarh airport for “disrespecting farmers” has been suspended, police said. An FIR has also been filed against her.

Ms Ranaut was on her way to catch a flight to Delhi after being elected in the Lok Sabha elections from Himachal Pradesh constituency when the incident occurred.

Kulwinder Kaur, the accused police officer, said an old statement by Ms Ranaut had triggered her actions.
“She made a statement… that the farmers are sitting there for Rs 100. Should she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there protesting when she made that statement…” she said, referring to the farmers’ protests in 2020 against the three farm laws passed by the central government.

At the height of a nationwide unrest, Ms Ranaut had noted in a social media post that an elderly woman at a protest site was being paid Rs 100 to sit there. After facing strong reactions, the actress had to delete the post.

A video taken by onlookers at the airport shows the Mandi MP being escorted to the security checkpoint where the incident took place. However, when she gets there, an argument breaks out and she is led away. The alleged slap is not visible in the video.

Hours after the incident, the actor reached out to X and shared a video message about what happened at the airport. “The incident happened at the security check-in. The security guard waited until I got through. Then she came and hit me… and started hurling abusive words. I asked her why she hit me. She said, ‘I support the farmers.’ I am safe… but I am worried that terrorism is on the rise in Punjab. How do we deal with this?” she said in the video.

The actress faced online backlash in February 2021 after she reacted 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 protesting farmers.

Ms Ranaut attacked the post by calling the protesters “terrorists”. “Nobody is talking about it because they are not farmers but terrorists trying to divide India so that China can take over our vulnerable, broken country and make it a Chinese colony just like the US… Sit down you fool, we are not selling our country like you idiots,” she said.

However, she later deleted this post.

The farmers’ protests that began in 2020-21 made headlines in India and around the world. Ms. Ranaut published several posts strongly criticising the protests and questioning the legitimacy of the agitation, often sharply attacking the protesters.

During her election campaign, her convoy was blocked by troublemakers in Chandigarh because of her comments.