DCW chief asks President to withdraw Kangana's Padma Shri over ‘freedom’ remark

DCW Chief Swati Maliwal has asked that Kangana Ranaut's Padma Shri award be taken away and an FIR should be registered against the actor under charges of sedition.
A file photo of Kangana Ranaut wearing a black suit and looking into camera
A file photo of Kangana Ranaut wearing a black suit and looking into camera
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Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal has written to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding withdrawal of Kangana Ranaut's Padma Shri award for the actor’s controversial remark India attained “freedom in 2014” and what it got in 1947 was "alms." The DCW chief has also asked that an FIR be registered against the actor under charges of sedition. 

Urging the President to take immediate cognisance of the statement, the DCW chief said, "The remarks are not only derogatory but also completely disregards and insults the sacrifice made by our freedom fighters." Kangana, known for provocative and often inflammatory statements that have gotten her suspended from Twitter, had claimed that India's Independence in 1947 was not freedom but "bheek" (alms). "And we got real freedom in 2014," she said at an event organised by Times Now, with some people in the audience heard clapping. Ranaut, who was recently given the Padma Shri, was apparently referring to the BJP coming to power in 2014.

In the letter, Maliwal wrote, "Our great freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and countless others have sacrificed their lives to bring freedom to our nation...It was only through these sacrifices and martyrdom that we got freedom from British rule. Ranaut's comments have hurt the sentiments of lakhs of Indians and this statement is seditious in nature." 

Maliwal also expressed her protest to Ranaut's statements over Twitter.

"Kangana Ranaut is such a woman who mocks the martyrdom of Gandhi, Bhagat Singh; and the freedom achieved by the sacrifice of millions of people seems to her as alms! She needs treatment, not reward," tweeted the DCW chief.

Kangana’s remark had sparked a massive row on social media, with members from within the BJP also condemning what she claimed. 

BJP's Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi shared a video of Ranaut's remarks on his Twitter handle and slammed her. "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," Gandhi said in his tweet in Hindi.

Aam Aadmi Party had submitted an application to the Mumbai Police, demanding that a case be registered against the film actor. AAP's national executive member Preeti Sharma Menon termed the remarks “seditious and inflammatory."

With agency inputs
 

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