Actor Kangana Ranaut, who is known for making controversial remarks, has again stirred controversy over her views on India’s independence struggle against the British Raj.
The 34-year-old Padma Shri Award winner said in an interview with a TV news channel that India’s independence in 1947 was not freedom but ‘bheek’ (alms) and the country got real independence in 2014 when the Narendra Modi-led government came into power.
“That wasn’t freedom, it was a bheek (alms). We got real freedom in 2014,” Ranaut said in a 24-second clip which was tweeted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi. Gandhi said that it is an anti-national act and must be called out as such.
Political parties, including the BJP, have strongly condemned Ranaut’s remarks.
The Congress on Friday demanded that the Centre should take back the Padma Shri from Ranaut as she insulted the country’s independence movement. The Shiv Sena, which is an ally in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, said that a sedition case should be filed against the Bollywood actor.
The Mahila Congress in Rajasthan has already lodged multiple complaints with the police against Ranaut and the TV channel where she gave the interview. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also filed a complaint against the actor in Nagpur.
We strongly condemn actress Kangana Ranaut’s statement. She insulted freedom fighters. The Centre must take back the Padma Shri from Kangana and arrest her. Looks like Kangana Ranaut took a heavy dose of Malana Cream before making such a statement,” Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik.
“Being the son of a freedom fighter and coming from a family of freedom fighters, I find Kangana Ranaut’s remarks that India’s freedom was alms (bheek) as the biggest misuse of freedom and an insult to the sacrifice made by freedom fighters,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor.
“Prime Minister should break his silence and tell the nation if he endorses the views of Ms Ranaut. If not, the government should take appropriate legal action against such people,” Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said in a series of tweets.
“Kangana Ranaut’s comment on the country’s fight for Independence is completely wrong. Nobody has a right to pass a negative remark on the freedom movement,” Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil.