Mumbai: Amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding the actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut's alleged assault by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable at Chandigarh airport, filmmaker Karan Johar on Wednesday was asked to express his views about the same at the trailer launch of his film 'Kill'.
Responding to a question asked by a Mumbai-based reporter about the incident, Karan simply said, "I do not support or condone any form of violence, verbal or physical."
Earlier, veteran actors Anupam Kher and Shabana Azmi also reacted to the incident. "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," Shabana said in a post on X.
Speaking to a paparazzi at an event last week, Anupam Kher came out in support of 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 power 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. It's very sad and unfortunate. Any kind of violence towards anyone is not right)."
The incident occurred at Chandigarh airport on June 6 around 3:30 pm when Kangana was about to board a flight to Delhi to attend a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Kangana was allegedly slapped by a CISF woman constable while she was headed to Delhi for the NDA meeting. An FIR has been lodged against the constable under IPC sections 321 and 341, but no arrest has been made.
Hours after the incident, Kangana released a video on her official Instagram page, where she narrated the details and expressed concern over "rising terrorism and extremism in Punjab."In the video, Kangana 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."
"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 asked.
On the day of the incident, another video went viral, where the constable said that her mother was among the farmers holding a sit-in protest against the farm laws, which have now been repealed.
She was heard saying, "Isne (Kangana) byan diya tha na 100-100 Rs ke liye baith ti hai waha pe, ye baithi thi wha pe? Meri Maa baithi thi us time jab isne byan diya tha. Maa ki insult sehan nai huyi (She had given a statement that women farmers were sitting at the farmers' protest for Rs 100 each. My mother was also sitting there when she gave this statement. I could not tolerate the insult of my mother)."
