NEW DELHI: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said on Monday that the CISF woman constable might have slapped BJP MP Kangana Ranaut out of anger over her previous remarks on the farmers’ protest.
Mann also called out Kangana for drawing a parallel between Punjab and terrorism. However, he said the incident should not have happened.
This was Mann’s first reaction to CISF woman constable Kulwinder Kaur allegedly slapping Kangana at the Chandigarh airport last week.
Replying to a question on the slapping incident, Mann said, “Look, that was anger. She (Kangana) had earlier spoken like this.
“Somewhere, there was anger in the heart of that woman (CISF constable). It (incident) should not have happened like this,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said.
In an obvious reference to Kangana, Mann said whether one is a film actor or an MP, it is wrong to say that entire Punjab is a terrorist state and there is terrorism in the state.
He recalled the contribution of Punjab in the country’s freedom struggle and also said it feeds the nation.
“On every issue, you say that they are terrorists and separatists. If farmers hold protests, they are called terrorists. It is wrong,” said Mann.
Kangana, in a video message hours after the incident last week, had said she was hit in the face and abused by the constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport, the ugly fracas breaking out two days after she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
In the statement titled “Shocking rise in terror and violence in Punjab” posted on X after she landed in Delhi following the incident on Thursday, Ranaut said she was safe and fine.
“She hit me in the face and started abusing me. I asked her why she did it and she said she supports the farmer protests. I am safe but my concern is that terrorism and extremism are increasing in Punjab… How do we handle that?” Ranaut had said.
Another video doing the rounds on social media showed the agitated constable talking to people presumably after the incident.
“Kangana made a statement (earlier) that the 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.
The Mohali Police has booked Kaur under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint). Both are bailable offences.
Later on Friday, some farmer outfits threw their weight behind the CISF woman constable, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha were among the prominent outfits which said they stand in support of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) woman constable.
(With PTI inputs)
Mann also called out Kangana for drawing a parallel between Punjab and terrorism. However, he said the incident should not have happened.
This was Mann’s first reaction to CISF woman constable Kulwinder Kaur allegedly slapping Kangana at the Chandigarh airport last week.
Replying to a question on the slapping incident, Mann said, “Look, that was anger. She (Kangana) had earlier spoken like this.
“Somewhere, there was anger in the heart of that woman (CISF constable). It (incident) should not have happened like this,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said.
In an obvious reference to Kangana, Mann said whether one is a film actor or an MP, it is wrong to say that entire Punjab is a terrorist state and there is terrorism in the state.
He recalled the contribution of Punjab in the country’s freedom struggle and also said it feeds the nation.
“On every issue, you say that they are terrorists and separatists. If farmers hold protests, they are called terrorists. It is wrong,” said Mann.
Kangana, in a video message hours after the incident last week, had said she was hit in the face and abused by the constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport, the ugly fracas breaking out two days after she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
In the statement titled “Shocking rise in terror and violence in Punjab” posted on X after she landed in Delhi following the incident on Thursday, Ranaut said she was safe and fine.
“She hit me in the face and started abusing me. I asked her why she did it and she said she supports the farmer protests. I am safe but my concern is that terrorism and extremism are increasing in Punjab… How do we handle that?” Ranaut had said.
Another video doing the rounds on social media showed the agitated constable talking to people presumably after the incident.
“Kangana made a statement (earlier) that the 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.
The Mohali Police has booked Kaur under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint). Both are bailable offences.
Later on Friday, some farmer outfits threw their weight behind the CISF woman constable, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha were among the prominent outfits which said they stand in support of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) woman constable.
(With PTI inputs)