‘Even PM is inspired by him’: Delhi BJP leader slams Kangana Ranaut’s remarks against Mahatma Gandhi

PTI, Nov 18, 2021, 9:36 AM IST

New Delhi: Delhi BJP spokesperson Nighat Abbass on Wednesday slammed actor Kangana Ranaut over her series of controversial statements against Mahatma Gandhi, saying even Prime Minister Narendra Modi is inspired by the Father of the Nation and such remarks “defame the country at the international level”.

Ranaut on Tuesday claimed that Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh got no support from Mahatma Gandhi and went on to mock his mantra of Ahimsa by saying that offering another cheek gets you ‘bheek’ not freedom.

“I want to know what Kangana Ranaut wants to become by saying absurd things about him. By saying such absurd things she is regularly raising questions on the freedom struggle and is hurting the people of the country. I believe she is not just hurting people of the country but defaming India at international level,” said Abbass in a video posted on Twitter.

In making the ‘bheek’ comment, Ranaut wound the clock back to last week when she described India’s Independence as ‘bheek’, or alms, and declared that freedom came in 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led government came to power.

In a series of posts on Instagram, Ranaut this time targeted Mahatma Gandhi and said ‘choose your heroes wisely’.

“Those are the ones who taught us, ‘If someone slaps you offer another cheek for one more slap’ and that is how you will get Aazadi. That’s not how one gets Aazadi, one can only get ‘bheekh’ like that. Choose your heros wisely (sic),” the 34-year-old actor said.

According to Abbass, both the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, who”is and will always be the Father of the Nation”.

“Mahatma Gandhi has been given the Father of the Nation status by the people of the country. Whose ideals have kept the Bharatiyata alive in the country, Whose thinking has inspired our Prime Minister Narendra Bhai Modi also,” she added.

Earlier, Ranaut’s ‘azaadi’ statement at an event organised by a news channel last week, just two days after she was presented the Padma Shri by President Ram Nath Kovind, saw politicians, historians, academics, fellow actors and others lashing out at her for views with many demanding withdrawal of her award.

Then another Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor called Ranaut’s remarks an “insult to the sacrifice of freedom fighters”, even demanding a judicial action against her.