Actor Kangana Ranaut appeared before the Mumbai Police on Thursday morning to record her statement in connection with a social media post on farmers. An FIR was registered against the actress after she allegedly compared the farmers’ protests to the Khalistani movement.
Ms Ranaut reached Khar police station at 11 am. An FIR was filed there against her last month following a complaint by a Sikh organisation. Kangana was at the police station for a brief visit and was snapped in a pretty floral saree which she paired with a pearl necklace.
Her lawyer, Rizwan Sidiquee, said she reached the police station to record her statement. The police earlier this month issued notice to her for questioning.
The police earlier this month had issued a notice to her for questioning. Her lawyer had told the Bombay High Court that she would appear before the Khar police on December 22. However, she failed to do so and her lawyer sought another date for appearance.
The city police had earlier told the Bombay High Court that they will not arrest Ranaut till January 25, 2022 over her social media post after the HC said the issue involved the larger question of Ranaut’s fundamental right to free speech and that the court will have to grant her some ad-interim relief.
Ranaut had approached the Bombay Highcourt earlier this month to quash the FIR against her.
The FIR was lodged by Amarjeet Singh Sandhu, along with leaders of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and the Shiromani Akali Dal. According to the FIR, the complainants had come across a post on Kangana’s profile, which read: “Khalistani terrorists may be arm twisting the government today. But let’s not forget one woman. The only woman prime minister ne inn ko apni jooti ke niche crush kia tha (The only woman prime minister crushed them under her shoe) No matter how much suffering she caused to this nation… she crushed them like mosquitoes at the cost of her own life… Lekin desh ke tukde nahi hone diye (but didn’t let the country disintegrate) even after decades of her death aaj bhi uske naam se kaampte hai yeh inko vaisa he guru chahiye (even today, they shiver at her name, they need a guru like her).”
The FIR further added that the aforesaid statements insulted the Sikh religion, faith and their beliefs. Members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara told in a statement that Ranaut had intentionally and deliberately portrayed the farmers’ protest as a Khalistani movement and also dubbed the community as terrorists. They further claimed that she had called the massacre and genocide of 1984 a planned and calculated move on part of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, the official said quoting the complaint.
“The case was registered under Section 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) against the actor,” Gajanan Kabdule, senior police inspector of Khar police station, said.
After submitting the complaint, the DSGMC delegation, led by Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader who is also president of the organisation, had met Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil and top officials of the Mumbai police, and demanded action against the actress.
Meanwhile, on the work front Kangana Ranaut, is currently busy shooting for her upcoming films ‘Tejas’ and ‘Dhaakad’. Besides, Kangana Ranaut is also directing Emergency, a film on Indira Gandhi. The actor is also producing the film ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’, in which Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the lead actor.
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