BJP MP Varun Gandhi strongly criticised film actor Kangana Ranaut on Thursday for her reported remarks that India attained freedom in 2014 and what it got in 1947 was “alms”. He said it was an anti-national act and must be called out as such.
Mr. Gandhi tweeted, “Insulting the sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi sometime, respecting his killer sometime, and now the disdain for the sacrifices of Mangal Pandey, Rani Laxmibai, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and lakhs of freedom fighters. Should I call this thinking madness or treason?”
He said that “people can never forget the infinite sacrifices of our freedom movement and the millions of lives lost and families destroyed,” and that to belittle it in this “shameful manner” cannot be condoned simply as a careless or callous statement.
“It is an anti-national act and must be called out as such. To not do so would be a betrayal of all those who shed blood so that today we may stand tall and free as a nation,” he stated.
He also posted a short clip of Ms. Ranaut’s remarks during a programme on a news channel in which she is heard saying in Hindi, “that was not freedom but ‘bheekh’ [alms], and the freedom came in 2014.”
Ms. Ranaut, who was recently given Padma Shri, has sparked controversy in the past with her right- wing comments and jibes at Opposition politicians. Her remarks also come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has drawn up elaborate plans to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence as “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” to run throughout the year.
