CISF constable slaps Kangana Ranaut: Kulwinder Kaur dubbed 'Khalistani terrorist' amid row, NCW demands action

BJP MP-elect and actress Kangana Ranaut on Thursday claimed she experienced physical assault and verbal abuse from a female CISF constable during a security check at Chandigarh airport. This altercation occurred just two days after her election to the Lok Sabha from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.

CISF constable Kulwinder Kaur, apparently disgruntled by Ranaut's views on the farmer protests, has been suspended, and an FIR has been filed against her. The Central Industrial Security Force, responsible for airport security, has initiated a formal inquiry into the incident.

Ranaut recounted the incident in detail, stating that she had been receiving numerous calls from the media and her supporters. According to her, the constable approached her from the side and struck her in the face while hurling verbal insults. When Ranaut questioned her actions, the constable allegedly cited her support for the farmer protests as the reason for her behaviour.

Also read: Who is Kulwinder Kaur, CISF security personnel suspended for slapping BJP MP-elect Kangana Ranaut?

"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," the actor said.

"I am safe but my concern is that terrorism is increasing in Punjab... How do we handle that?" she added.

A circulating video on social media depicted the visibly upset constable conversing with individuals, presumably following the altercation.

"Kangana made a statement 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.

Describing the incident as grave, Rekha Sharma, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, emphasized the need for significant action and stated that the commission had raised the issue with the CISF. Sharma expressed concern that those responsible for airport security were themselves compromising it.

In her political and electoral debut, Ranaut secured victory over her closest Congress competitor by a margin exceeding 74,000 votes in Mandi, her native constituency in Himachal Pradesh.

A recipient of four National Awards, Ranaut has emerged as a prominent figure lending vocal support to the ruling party on various contentious issues, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019-20 and the farmer protests in 2020-21.

During the protests against the three farm laws, Ranaut faced criticism for allegedly misidentifying a woman farmer from Punjab as Bilkis Bano, an elderly protester who gained international attention during the anti-CAA demonstrations at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.

Ranaut had previously posted a tweet claiming that the 'Shaheen Bagh dadi' had also participated in the farmers' protests against the new agriculture laws at different border points of the national capital. She retweeted the post with images of two elderly women, stating that the "same Dadi" featured in Time Magazine was "available for 100 rupees". However, she later deleted the tweet following criticism from Twitter users who pointed out that the women in the images were different individuals.

Following the alleged incident, several outraged netizens dubbed the CISF personnel who slapped Kangana Ranaut as a 'Khalistani terrorist'. Here's a look at some of the reactions: