Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the CISF constable, who allegedly slapped the actor and MP Kangana Ranaut, might have acted so out of anger. However, the chief minister also called out the actor for labelling the entire state as terrorist.
Addressing presspersons, Mann said, “The incident stemmed from anger. Kangana Ranaut's past remarks had already stirred resentment in the heart of the CISF constable." Mann said the entire slap episode should not have happened, however, the actor’s response to it was also not justifiable.
“This should not have happened. But in reply to it, despite being a public figure--a film star and an elected MP--saying that the entire Punjab is a terrorist is wrong,” IANS reported quoting Mann.
Mann, 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.
A suspended CISF woman constable, Kulwinder Kaur, allegedly slapped Kangana at the Chandigarh airport last week. Kaur was apparently upset with Kangana's stance on the farmers' protests.
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. The constable, Ranaut had said, came towards her from the side. "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.
Kaur's brother Sher Singh Mahiwal is an organising secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee in Kapurthala.
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.
-with inputs from agencies.