‘I respect every mata’: Kangana apologises in Punjab defamation case for comment on woman at farm protest
The actor issued an apology in the Bathinda court for her comments on 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur during the farmers' protest in 2020-21.
BJP MP and actor Kangana Ranaut on Monday said in Punjab's Bathinda that there was a “misunderstanding” over her post on X about an old woman during the 2020-21 farmers' protest, for which she's facing a defamation case. She said that every ‘mata’ (mother) is respectable to her, reported PTI.
The remarks came as she appeared before the court in a defamation case linked to her post related to 73-year-old Mahinder Kaur during the farmers’ protest in 2020-21.
In her complaint against the MP, the 73-year-old had alleged that Kangana defamed her in a post on social media platform X by wrongly identifying her as a Shaheen Bagh protester, Bilkis Bano, and suggesting that such women could be hired to protest for ₹100 during the farmer protests against the now-repealed farm laws.
Soon after appearing in the court on Monday, the BJP MP told reporters that she apologised to the complainant's husband in the court. Mahinder Kaur was not present.
She also asserted that she had made no comments against any individual. "Whatever misunderstanding happened with the family of Mahinder (Kaur) ji, I gave a message to 'mata ji' to her husband about how she was the victim of a misunderstanding," Ranaut said, according to PTI.
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"Never in my dreams could I imagine this… Every 'mata', be she from Punjab or Himachal, is respectable to me," the actor added.
When asked if she acknowledged that she committed a mistake, she replied that if one looked at the case properly there was nothing from her side. "There was a retweet which was used as a meme. I have also spoken and discussed this with the husband of Mahinder ji," she said. Ranaut said that she regrets the “misunderstanding” that arose from the post.
In February 2022, a judicial magistrate in Bathinda issued summons directing Kangana to appear before the court in connection with the case.
Aggrieved by the order, she approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in July 2022, seeking the quashing of the defamation complaint and the lower court’s summoning order.
The HC found no merit in the petition and dismissed it, prompting Kangana to approach the Supreme Court.
On September 12 this year, the apex court declined to entertain her plea. Later, Kangana’s counsel chose to withdraw the special leave petition (SLP) in the matter.
In a somewhat related incident in 2024, the actor was slapped by a female constable during a mandatory security check at the Chandigarh airport over the controversial remarks related to the farmers’ protest.
