FIR against Kangana Ranaut in Mumbai for ‘derogatory’ remarks against Sikhs

Police on Tuesday registered an FIR against Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut for allegedly using derogatory language against the Sikh community in a social media post, an official said.

The FIR was lodged at the suburban Khar police station a day after the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) submitted a complaint against the actor.

Ranaut (34) was booked under section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and further investigation was underway, the official said.

According to the official, the complainant in the case is Amarjeet Singh Sandhu, a Mumbai-based businessman who was part of a DSGMC delegation that submitted the complaint on Monday.

In a statement, Sandhu accused the actor of making derogatory remarks against his community in a post on Instagram.

After submitting the complaint, the DSGMC delegation, led by Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader who is also president of the organisation, had met Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil and top officials of the Mumbai police, and demanded action against Ranaut.

In the complaint, the DSGMC mentioned that Ranaut had intentionally and deliberately portrayed the farmers' protest (Kisan Morcha) as a "Khalistani" movement and also dubbed the Sikh community as "Khalistani terrorists".

She also made references to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, it said.

In the post, the actor has used very derogatory and insulting language against the Sikh community, according to the complaint.

"This act on her part is most degrading, disrespectful and contemptuous, which has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community settled all over the world," it added