Mumbai: Amid the ongoing controversy over the alleged assault on actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable at the Chandigarh airport, filmmaker Karan Johar was on Wednesday asked to express his views on the matter at the trailer launch of his film “Kill”.
Responding to a question by a Mumbai-based journalist about the incident, Karan simply said, “I do not support or endorse any kind of verbal or physical violence.”
Earlier, veteran actors Anupam Kher and Shabana Azmi had also reacted on the incident. Kangana Ranaut. But I don’t see myself joining this chorus celebrating ‘Thappad’. If security personnel start taking the law into their own hands, none of us can be safe,” Shabana said in a post on X.
While speaking to journalists at an event last week, Anupam Kher had supported Kangana.
He said, “I am very sorry. Ek mahila ke sath ek mahila ke dwar jo apne padh ko usufrukti karti ki, bilkul galat hai. Iski kanooni karna honi chahiye. Unka koi bhi rage hai, main ye nahi kah roh inka nahi ho sakta jo apne kiya, lekin ye apne half ka ya padh ka usufrukti karna chahiye. (I am very sorry about this. The way a woman took advantage of the power of her position to slap another woman is wrong. There should be a legal investigation into this. There can be complaints about her, but this should not be done by taking advantage of one’s power. This is very sad and unfortunate. Any kind of violence towards anyone is not right).”
The incident took place on June 6 at around 3.30 pm at the Chandigarh airport, when Kangana was about to board a flight to Delhi to attend a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting.
Kangana was allegedly slapped by a CISF woman constable while she was on her way to Delhi for the NDA meeting. An FIR has been filed against the constable under sections 321 and 341 of the IPC, but no arrest has been made.
Hours after the incident, Kangana released a video on her official Instagram page, where she narrated the details and expressed concern over the “rising terrorism and extremism in Punjab”. In the video, Kangana said, “I am getting a lot of calls from the media and my well-wishers. First of all, I am safe, I am absolutely fine. The incident happened with the security staff at Chandigarh airport. The moment I came out after the security check, a security staff member in another cabin came from the side and hit me on the face and started abusing me.”
He said, “When I asked her (CISF jawan) why she did this, she said she supports the farmers’ protest. I am safe but my worry is how do we deal with the terrorism and extremism that is growing in Punjab?”
Another video went viral on the day of the incident, in which the constable said that his mother was among the farmers who were protesting against the farm laws, which have now been repealed.
He was heard saying, “She (Kangana) had given a statement that they sit there for Rs. 100 each. Was she sitting there? My mother was sitting there when she had given the statement. I could not tolerate the insult of my mother.”
