Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Monday that the CISF woman constable, who allegedly slapped actor Kangana Ranaut, might have been angry over the BJP MP-elect's previous statements on the farmers' stir. Mann also ticked off Kangana over her remarks on "terrorism". However, he said this incident should not have happened.
It was the Punjab chief minister's first reaction to CISF woman constable Kulwinder Kaur allegedly slapping Kangana at the Chandigarh airport last week.
Kaur was apparently upset with Kangana's stance on the farmers' protests. 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. 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.
