New Delhi: More than five years after Bollywood actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut made a controversial remark during the 2020-21 farmers’ protest, 82-year
old Mahinder Kaur from Punjab’s Bahadurgarh Jandian village stands firm in her resolve to continue her legal battle.
Kaur, whose image from the farmers’ agitation had gone viral, was falsely compared by Ranaut to a protester from Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh movement. In a social media post at the time, Ranaut implied the elderly woman participated in agitations for money.
Apology did not close the case
Ranaut, who appeared before a Bathinda court this week, apologised and furnished a Rs 50,000 bail bond. The court has fixed the next hearing for November 24. But for Kaur, the apology has not closed the chapter.
“She has never met me. I will not forgive her,” Kaur said from her modest home near a village bus stand. “She is a big actress and political leader, while I am a small farmer. Yet she has made me come to court at this age. She should realise how much her visit costs the public. She says her remark was misinterpreted, but it’s not true.”
Kaur, frail and unable to attend the court due to health issues was represented by her husband Labh Singh, 80. The couple lives with their son Gurdas, who suffers from a serious medical condition, according to a Tribune report. Despite her age and illness, Kaur continues to shoulder most household responsibilities following the passing of her daughter-in-law last year.
“Ladayi ta ladni pendi hai, the fight has to be fought,” said Labh Singh. “God has given us courage, otherwise we are nothing.”
Kaur’s defamation traced to farmers protest
The case has its roots in a heated public exchange in 2020, when Punjabi singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh called out Ranaut for her remarks. He shared a photo of Kaur and asked her to apologise.
Ranaut, responding outside court, said that her comments were not aimed at any individual. “Every ‘mata ji’, whether from Punjab or Himachal, is respectable to me,” she said.
“This is about dignity,” she said quietly, her voice steady despite her frailty. “What happened was wrong — and I will see this through,” said Kaur.
