Kangana airport incident: Farmer outfits throw their weight behind CISF woman constable

PTI, Chandigarh, Jun 7, 2024 :  Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar Friday termed the alleged attack on actor and BJP MP-elect Kangana Ranaut by CISF woman constable "most unfortunate" and said any form of violence as a means of expressing dissent was unacceptable.

     

"What is even more concerning is that a person wearing a security uniform indulged in such an unlawful violent act,” he said.

Ranaut, in a video message on Thursday, said she was hit in the face and abused by the constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport.

Another video circulating on social media had shown the agitated constable talking to people presumably after the incident.

"Kangana made a statement (earlier) 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," she said in the purported video.

Some farmer outfits on Friday threw their weight behind the woman constable, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.

"The statement was made by Kangana Ranault three years ago on protesting farmers. Her statement may be insensitive and not in good taste but a security staffer resorting to physical assault by slapping the MP in resentment of the hurt she felt sets a wrong precedent," Jakhar said in a statement

Such acts tend to defame Punjab and its people, he said.

Jakhar not only questioned the timing of the incident but also the outpouring of support from certain quarters for a person who took law in her hands.

He said the statement was made three years ago by Ranaut and its aftereffect surfaced now in the form of an attack on the BJP parliamentarian.

"The timing makes the incident curious. It comes at a time when Punjab is undergoing an undercurrent of overt radical posturing. The narrative of support being played out in support of the security staffer, instead of being condemned, endangers the social order.

"It may have far reaching consequences. Such discourse is potent enough to incite hotheaded minds to resort to more similar acts in future endangering harmony and lives," Jakhar said.