Kangana slap row: Shabana Azmi says security personnel shouldn’t take law in their hands

PTI, Jun 8, 2024, 4:22 PM IST

New Delhi: Cinema veteran Shabana Azmi on Saturday came out in support of actor-politician Kangana Ranaut after she was allegedly slapped by a CISF woman constable, saying security officials should not take law into their hands.

Ranaut, in a video message on Thursday, said she was hit in the face and abused by the constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport.

In a post on X, Azmi said though she has ‘no love lost’ for Ranaut, she wouldn’t join people who are celebrating the ‘slap’.

“I have no love lost for Kangana Ranaut. But I can’t find myself joining this chorus of celebrating ‘the slap’. If security personnel start taking law into their hands, none of us can be safe,” Azmi wrote.

Azmi’s husband, veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, has filed a defamation case against Ranaut over her remarks that he had threatened her. The case is still in court.

In her video message, Ranaut said she was hit in the face and abused by a CISF constable, who appeared to be upset with the actor over her stance on the farmer protests, during security check at the Chandigarh airport.

The ugly fracas broke out two days after she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Kulwinder Kaur, the accused CISF personnel, has been suspended and an investigation has been launched. The CISF, tasked with providing security at airports, has also ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.