On Thursday, BJP MP Varun Gandhi criticised film actress Kangana Ranaut for her reported remarks that India gained independence in 2014 and received “alms” in 1947, calling it an anti-national act that must be called out.
People will never forget the incalculable sacrifices made by our freedom movement, including the millions of lives lost and families torn apart, he added, adding that dismissing it in such a “shameful” manner cannot be justified simply as a casual 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,” the Lok Sabha MP said.
He also posted a short clip of Ranaut’s remarks during a new channel programme in which she is heard saying in Hindi, “That was not freedom but ‘bheekh’ (alms), and the freedom came in 2014.”
Ranaut, who was recently given Padma Shri, was apparently referring to the BJP coming to power in 2014. She has sparked controversy in the past with her right wing comments and jibes at opposition politicians.
Slamming her, 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?”
