Kangana Ranaut, recently elected as a member of parliament on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, was slapped by a security guard at Chandigarh airport on Thursday.
Ranaut was traveling to New Delhi following her Lok Sabha election victory from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi constituency. The incident occurred after the security check when Ranaut was at the boarding gate, where she was slapped by the security guard.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable involved, identified as Kulwinder Kaur, has been suspended and an FIR registered against her. The CISF has also submitted a complaint to the local police.
According to NDTV, Kaur was offended by a previous remark Ranaut made about the farmers’ protest. Kaur, who reportedly comes from a family of farmers, was quoted as saying, “She gave a statement… that farmers are sitting there for INR 100. Will she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she gave this statement.” Kaur accused Ranaut of disrespecting farmers.
In a social media post, Ranaut detailed the incident, stating, “I am safe, I am perfectly fine. The incident happened at the security check-in. The woman guard waited for me to cross. She then came and hit me and started throwing expletives. I asked [her] why she hit me. She said, ‘I support farmers protest’. I am safe but my concern is terrorism is rising in Punjab. How do we handle that?”
The farmers’ movement in Punjab has been active since the Modi government approved three controversial agricultural bills in 2020. Ranaut has frequently spoken out against the movement. In October 2021, the Karnataka Police filed an FIR against her for calling farmers protesting the Indian government’s new agriculture laws “terrorists,” as reported by The Business Standard.
During the 2021 farmers protests, singer Rihanna shared a CNN article highlighting the movement, prompting Ranaut to lash out at her in a now-deleted tweet, where she labeled the protesting farmers as terrorists.
After the incident, military officer Gaurav Arya commented on X (formerly Twitter) that Kaur “will be punished” and suggested the event was “planned all along” as a way for the CISF to enter politics. Ranaut agreed, posting on Instagram that Kaur “strategically waited for me to cross her and in a signature Khalistani style quietly came behind and hit my face without saying a word. When I asked why she did that, she looked away and started to speak into the phone cameras focused on her, hogging sudden public attention.”
Ranaut claimed that the farming laws were repealed and should not concern anyone, alleging that Kaur’s actions were her way of joining the “Khalistani bandwagon,” which she claimed is gaining significant political seats in Punjab.
Khalistan refers to a separatist movement seeking to create an independent homeland for Sikhs in Punjab.
In her posts about the incident, Ranaut also bizarrely compared the situation to supporters of Palestine, warning them that celebrating a terror attack could lead to future repercussions.
