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Journalism of Courage
With the Haryana Assembly elections just over a month away, the BJP on Monday quickly dissociated itself from its Lok Sabha MP Kangana Ranaut’s statement that “dead bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place” during the 2020-’21 farmers’ agitation against three farm laws that were subsequently repealed.
Even as the party instructed Ranaut not to make unauthorised statements, the Opposition labelled her comments a “gross insult to the farmers of the entire country” and a farmers’ outfit demanded her “unconditional apology”.
“What happened in Bangladesh would not have taken time to happen in India if our top leadership had not been strong. In the farmers’ protest here, dead bodies were hanging and rapes were being committed. When those laws in favour of farmers were taken back, the whole country was shocked. Those farmers are still sitting there. They never thought the laws would be repealed. There was a long planning, just like in Bangladesh. Such was the conspiracy … China, America, these kinds of foreign powers are working here,” Ranaut said in an interview in Mumbai. On Sunday, the actor-turned-politician’s account on X shared a video clip of her comments.
In a statement, the BJP said, “The statement given by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut in the context of farmers’ movement is not the opinion of the party. The BJP expresses disagreement with the statement of Kangana Ranaut. On behalf of the party, Kangana Ranaut is neither permitted nor authorised to make statements on party policy issues. On behalf of the BJP, Ms Kangana Ranaut has been directed not to make any such statement in future. The BJP is determined to follow the principles of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas’ and social harmony.”
The BJP moved quickly to distance itself from Ranaut’s comments as the Assembly elections in Haryana — which was one of the hubs of the farmers’ protests — are scheduled to be held on October 1. In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP failed to repeat its 2019 sweep, with its tally dropping from 10 seats to 5. Anti-incumbency is expected to be a major factor in the state polls.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar also welcomed the decision to reprimand the MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. “The party seriously needs to bridge the trust deficit with farmers. It is good that the Mandi MP has been reprimanded. However, I feel that the party should have intervened much earlier. This definitely hurts Punjabis in general. It has left a deep mark on the psyche of farmers. Such statements have a direct effect on the whole section of Punjabis and not only farmers as the agitation continued on the Delhi border … Anyone can have a difference of opinion but no one has the right to profile the entire community,” Jakhar said.
Targeting the BJP, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said the “propaganda machinery of the Modi government, which has failed to fulfil the promises made to the farmers, is continuously engaged in insulting the farmers”.
“The farmers who sacrificed 700 fellow farmers during the 378-day marathon struggle as rapists and representatives of foreign forces is another proof of the BJP’s anti-farmer policy and intentions … These shameful anti-farmer statements are a gross insult to the farmers of the entire country, including western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, which cannot be accepted under any circumstances,” he added.
Gandhi said a government committee formed at the time the 2020-’21 protests were withdrawn was still in “cold storage”. He added, “The government has not been able to clarify its stand on MSP till date, no relief has been given to the families of the martyred farmers and on top of that, their character assassination is continuing … The betrayal of farmers by the Modi government cannot be hidden by disrespecting the food providers and attacking their dignity. No matter how much Narendra Modi and BJP conspire, INDIA will ensure legal guarantee of MSP for farmers.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had disrespected the farmers by calling them “aandolanjeevi (agitators)” and “parjeevi (parasites)” in Parliament. “He even refused to observe two minutes of silence for them in Parliament … When Modi ji can do all this himself, then what else can the country expect from his supporters except insult to the martyred farmers?” Kharge wrote on X.
Anandpur Sahib MP Malwinder Singh Kang of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also criticised the BJP. “The BJP’s reprimand of Kangana Ranaut is purely political. The BJP has many such persons in different states to create controversies and then it issues statements distancing itself … The BJP is anti-farmer and anti-Punjab,” he said.
Farmers’ organisations also targeted the BJP over the Mandi MP’s comments. Kisan Mazdoor Morcha coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher asked the BJP to take disciplinary action against Ranaut. “No doubt that the party reprimanded her in light of the coming polls,” said Pandher, whose outfit has been camping at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after being stopped from marching to Delhi with its demands.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which was at the forefront of the 2020-’21 agitation, said if Ranaut did not issue an “unconditional apology”, it would be forced to “call for her public boycott”.
Kangana Ranaut’s controversies
This is not the first time that Ranaut, a first-time MP, has made controversial statements — on farmers and other issues.
Two months ago, a CISF officer allegedly slapped Ranaut at Chandigarh airport. The officer was reportedly heard saying that her mother participated in the farm agitation and that the BJP MP had defamed the women who joined the protests by alleging they were paid to do so.
Late in 2020, referring to an old woman participating in the farm protests, Ranaut had alleged, “She is the same dadi who featured in Time Magazine for being the most powerful Indian. And she is available in 100 rupees. Pakistani journos have hijacked international PR for India in an embarrassing way. We need our own people to speak for us internationally.”
Ranaut misidentified the woman as Bilkis Bano, who took part in the Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act. When social media users pointed it out, the actor reportedly deleted her post. This comment is believed to have triggered the row at Chandigarh airport.
In September 2020, Ranaut created controversy comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the actor was scared of Mumbai Police. Ranaut, who was in Himachal Pradesh at the time, had created controversy by alleging a drug mafia in Mumbai and crying foul over the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
When illegal alterations of her bungalow were demolished soon afterwards, she posted a video saying that the “ego” of then CM Uddhav Thackeray would be “crushed” just like her property was.
In 2021, Ranaut said the independence achieved in 1947 was “bheekh (alms)” and India got real freedom in 2014, a reference to the year when Narendra Modi became PM. Congress leader Anand Sharma condemned her statement and called upon the President to withdraw her Padma Shri award, which was conferred in 2020.
This April, Ranaut ruffled feathers once again when she called Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose the first PM of India. She drew ire as well as ridicule on social media over the comment.
