Filmmaker Karan Johar addressed the recent controversy surrounding actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut’s alleged assault by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable at Chandigarh airport. During the trailer launch of his upcoming film ‘Kill’, Karan was asked by a Mumbai-based reporter to comment on the incident. Karan responded succinctly, “I do not support or condone any form of violence, verbal or physical.”
Earlier, veteran actors Anupam Kher and Shabana Azmi also expressed their views on the incident. Shabana Azmi, despite her known disagreements with Kangana, condemned the act, stating on social media platform X, “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 the law into their hands, none of us can be safe.”
Anupam Kher, speaking to paparazzi at an event last week, voiced his support for Kangana. He said, “Mujhe bada afsos hua. Ek mahila ke saath ek mahila ke dwaara jo apne position ka fayeda uthakar is tarah ki harkat ki, bilkul galat hai. Iski kanooni karwaayi honi chahiye. Unka koi bhi rosh hai, main yeh nahi keh raha hoon k inka rosh nhi ho sakta jisne aisa kiya, but yeh apne audhe ka ya position ka fayeda uthakar nahi karna chahiye (I deeply regret it. The way a woman slapped another woman by taking advantage of her position is wrong. This should be legally investigated. She can have grievances, but it shouldn’t be done by taking advantage of one’s power. Any kind of violence towards anyone is not right).”
The incident reportedly took place at Chandigarh airport on June 6 around 3:30 pm as Kangana was preparing to board a flight to Delhi to attend a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting. According to reports, a CISF woman constable allegedly slapped Kangana. An FIR has been lodged against the constable under IPC sections 321 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint), but no arrest has been made.
Hours after the incident, Kangana released a video on her official Instagram page, detailing the assault and expressing her concerns about increasing extremism in Punjab. In the video, she said, “I am getting a lot of phone calls from the media and my well-wishers. Firstly, I am safe, I am perfectly fine. The incident that took place at Chandigarh airport with security staff. The moment I came out after the security check, a security staff member in another cabin came from the side and hit me on my face and started abusing me.”
Kangana claimed that the constable attacked her due to her stance on the farmers’ protest. “When I asked her (CISF jawan), why did she do this, she said that she supported the farmers’ protest. I am safe but my concern is that jo aatankwad aur ugarwad Punjab mai bad raha hai (the terrorism and extremism that is rising in Punjab), how do we handle that?” she questioned.
