Ex-MP Simranjit Singh Mann sparks row with ‘rape’ remark against Kangana

The Mandi MP, whose upcoming movie ‘Emergency’ has invited flak from Sikh groups who allege that the community is being misrepresented.

Former MP Simranjit Singh Mann has courted controversy with derogatory remarks against actor-MP Kangana Ranaut, saying she “knows how rape happens due to her experience”.

Former MP Simranjit Singh Mann has courted controversy with derogatory remarks against actor-MP Kangana Ranaut, saying she “knows how rape happens due to her experience (HT File)

Mann’s comment comes days after Ranaut said in an interview that the farmers’ protests in Delhi could have led to a Bangladesh-like crisis, where “bodies were hanging” and “rapes were taking place”, if India’s leadership was not strong enough.

At a press conference in Karnal on Thursday, Mann, the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), said, “You can ask her (Ranaut) how rape happens...She has a lot of experience about rape.”

Responding to the hardliner’s remarks, Ranaut told news agency IANS, “They, in a way, are giving me rape threats. But by doing all this, they cannot suppress my voice.”

The Mandi MP, whose upcoming movie ‘Emergency’ has invited flak from Sikh groups who allege that the community is being misrepresented, further said, “They are trying to suppress an artiste and my creative liberty for the film.”

Later taking to social media site ‘X’, Ranaut wrote, “It seems this country will never stop trivialising rape.”

Haryana State Commission for Women chairperson Renu Bhatia also condemned Mann’s comments. Giving such a statement is an “insult to our daughters”, she said. Bhatia has sought an apology from Mann in five days.

Amid widespread criticism on Ranaut’s comments on the farmers’ protest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had distanced itself from her remarks, stating that she was not authorised to comment on party policies. Her remarks had put the saffron party in an awkward position in poll-bound Haryana, where farmers form a major part of the electorate.

Reiterating the party’s stance, chief minister Nayab Saini, had said in Chandigarh on Wednesday, that the party has nothing to do with her statement and instead his government is working for the welfare of the farmers.