Image Courtesy:timesnownews.com
Times Now in its branded Times Now Summit 2021 gave a free run to actor Kangana Ranaut to make seditious statements on India’s independence and get away with it. The recent Padma Shri recipient was allowed by anchor Navika Kumar to make statements claiming that India’s freedom in 1947 was a “bheek” (alms given to a beggar) and that “real freedom came in 2014” as that was when the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power.
Kangana virtually conducted her monologue on her own version and idea of “nationalism”, patriotism, “history” and India’s freedom struggle. Understandably she mostly spoke about herself, and her admiration for PM Modi, Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, etc. However, while she was on a roll on these and other subjects she has claimed to do “research on”, Kangana Ranaut’s remarks about the freedom struggle, and Independence being given as ‘alms’ have been called out by many.
National Executive Member of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Preeti Sharma Menon, has filed a complaint against Ranaut for these remarks. She tweeted, “Submitted an application to @MumbaiPolice requesting action on Kangana Ranaut for her seditious and inflammatory statements on @TimesNow under sections 504, 505 and 124A. Hope to see some action”.
Submitted an application to @MumbaiPolice requesting action on Kangana Ranaut for her seditious and inflammatory statements on @TimesNow, under sections 504, 505 and 124A.
Hope to see some action @CPMumbaiPolice @DGPMaharashtra pic.twitter.com/9WxFXJFnEn— Preeti Sharma Menon (@PreetiSMenon) November 11, 2021
The AAP strongly condemns the derogatory statement made by actress Kangana Ranaut at the Times Now Summit 2021 – claiming that India’s independence of 1947 was “bheek” and not real independence.
@PreetiSMenon, National Executive Member of AAP has submitted an application to the pic.twitter.com/ZSbKsc6Zlq— AAP Mumbai (@AAPMumbai) November 11, 2021
Kangana Ranaut also called the Congress party an ‘extension of the British,’ and said, “Savarkar, Lakshmibai, or Netaji Bose…these people knew that the blood will flow but it shouldn’t be Hindustani blood. They knew it… They paid a price, of course. Woh azaadi nahi thi, woh bheek thi. Aur jo azaadi mili hai woh 2014 mai mili hai (That wasn’t freedom, that was alms. We got real freedom in 2014.)”
Most people have taken this as an insult to India’s freedom fighters, and freedom struggle. Many have also said that any other citizen would have been pulled up by the police for making such seditious statements by now. Kangana however, was not even questioned or interrupted by anchor Navika Kumar, who encouraged the conversation to carry on that tangent.
Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena called her a “WhatsApp history fan”.
The new Ruchi Pathak on the block. From 99 year lease to bheek main mili azaadi. All the blood, sweat and balidan of our freedom fighters including Jhansi ki Rani dismissed to please the master. The WhatsApp history fans. pic.twitter.com/LdFCt9lCoR
— Priyanka Chaturvedi?? (@priyankac19) November 10, 2021
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi took to Twitter posting a clip of Kangana’s comment and asked if this was madness or treason to disrespect freedom fighters’ sacrifices and adding that Kangana had insulted the “sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi sometime” and was “respecting his killer sometime”
कभी महात्मा गांधी जी के त्याग और तपस्या का अपमान, कभी उनके हत्यारे का सम्मान, और अब शहीद मंगल पाण्डेय से लेकर रानी लक्ष्मीबाई, भगत सिंह, चंद्रशेखर आज़ाद, नेताजी सुभाष चंद्र बोस और लाखों स्वतंत्रता सेनानियों की कुर्बानियों का तिरस्कार।
इस सोच को मैं पागलपन कहूँ या फिर देशद्रोह? pic.twitter.com/Gxb3xXMi2Z
— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) November 11, 2021
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says India belongs to Hindus
The Times Now Summit 2021 also gave a platform to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to say that “India belonged to Hindus”. He added that madrassas should also be shut down. Sarma was to speak at the summit on how to overcome various challenges in the North-East.
However, the Chief Minister continued to make communally coloured statements such as, “Some people in Assam want to make mullahs through madrassas… If I go to a Muslim area and say that I want to make their kids doctors, they should feel happy. This is part of my freedom of expression to suggest that I want them to be doctors, not mullahs. The choice, obviously, is theirs.” According to the CM, “Everyone should go to Muslim areas and ask them to shut down madrassas. They should ask them to make schools. Politicians should have the guts to say this even if it creates fault lines. I have stopped giving funds to all government madrassas.” When he was asked about the settlement of Hindus from Bangladesh, the CM added, “India belongs to Hindus. The word ‘Indian’ came in 1947, for 7,000 years, we were known as Hindus. I believe in civilisation and this is a Hindu civilisation. You cannot disconnect us from our roots. Every Hindu who is in trouble has his motherland to come back to.”
#TimesNowSummit | Assam CM @himantabiswa shares his perspective on the Citizenship Amendment Act.#TimesNowSummit2021 pic.twitter.com/ouTSpZPL5M
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 10, 2021
When asked about CAA-NRC and immigrants in India, he said, “If you are from UP and Bihar, religion does not matter but if you are from my neighbouring state, it does matter. If you have a passport, visa, you can certainly come to the state.” According to Sarma, “Immigrants have posed a threat to Assam’s culture and identity. Once communal politics was started by the other side, people of Assam responded. It started in 2006, when the United Democratic Front (UDF) under the leadership of Badruddin Ajmal, emerged in Assam and since then, polity has fragmented. If immigrant Muslims have tried to assert their identity, indigenous Muslims, Hindus and Christians have equally said that they have the right to counter communal politics” this transcript was quoted by Mirror Now online, proudly shared by Times Now and retweeted by Sarma himself.
#TimesNowSummit | Immigrants have posed a threat to Assam culture and identity. Earlier, we were not so vocal. But once communal politics entered, we started responding: @himantabiswa, Assam CM, tells Padmaja Joshi.#TimesNowSummit2021 pic.twitter.com/GiAn6aTQB6
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 10, 2021
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