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Indian actor Kangana Ranaut, who was just elected as a member of parliament on a Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) ticket, was slapped by a security guard at Chandigarh airport on Thursday, Dawn reported.

Ranaut was travelling to New Delhi days after her Lok Sabha election win from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi constituency. After the security check, Ranaut went to the boarding gate where she was slapped by the security guard.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable, identified as Kulwinder Kaur, has been suspended and an FIR registered against her, reports said. A complaint has also been submitted by the CISF to the local police.

According to NDTV, Kaur was offended by an old remark the Queen actor made about the farmers’ protest. The publication quoted the CISF constable — who reportedly comes from a family of farmers — as having said, “She gave a statement… that farmers are sitting there for INR 100. Will she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she gave this statement”.

Kaur also accused Ranaut of “disrespecting farmers”.

In a social media post, the actor had tweeted about an elderly woman seen at one of the protests and said she was “available for INR 100” — she was forced to delete the tweet after public outrage, NDTV reported.

After the incident, Ranaut took to her Instagram account to detail what had happened. “I am safe, I am perfectly fine. The incident happened at the security check-in. The woman guard waited for me to cross. She then came and hit me and started throwing expletives. I asked [her] why she hit me. She said, ‘I support farmers protest’. I am safe but my concern is terrorism is rising in Punjab. How do we handle that?”

The farmers’ movement in India’s Punjab has been active since the Modi regime approved three controversial agricultural bills in 2020.

Ranaut has repeatedly spoken out against the movement, and in October 2021, the Karnataka Police filed a FIR against the actor for her calling farmers protesting the Indian government’s new agriculture laws “terrorists”, The Business Standard reported.

After the 2021 farmers protests, led by Sikh farmers from the wheat and rice-growing state of Punjab in India’s north, singer Rihanna shared a CNN article and questioned why people weren’t talking about it.

In a deleted tweet from 2021, Ranaut lashed out at Rihanna. “No one is talking about it because they are not farmers; they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like USA…” Ranaut said, adding: “Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies.”

After Thursday’s incident, military officer Gaurav Arya said on X (formerly Twitter) that Kaur “will be punished” and alleged that the occurrence was “planned all along” as a way for the CISF to enter politics. Ranaut took to her Instagram to voice her agreement.

“She strategically waited for me to cross her and in a signature Khalistani style quietly came behind and hit my face without saying a word when I asked why she did that, she looked away and started to speak into the phone cameras focused on her, hogging sudden public attention”.

Ranaut highlighted that the farming laws were repealed and didn’t concern anyone, claiming that Kaur’s move was “her way of joining [the] Khalistani bandwagon which is getting major political seats in Punjab”.

Khalistan refers to a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno-religious sovereign state called Khalistan in Punjab.

In a truly bizarre comparison, Ranaut also came after supporters of Palestine in her posts about the incident. “All eyes on Rafah gang, this can happen to you or your children as well… When you celebrate a terror attack on someone be ready for the day it comes back to you as well.”

In a since deleted Instagram story, the actor also called out the Bollywood fraternity for remaining silent about what happened to her. According to India Today, Ranaut said, “Dear film industry you all are either celebrating or are totally mum on the airport attack on me. Remember if tomorrow if you walking disarmingly on some street of your country or anywhere else in the world and some Israeli / Palestinian hits you or your children just because you tried to bring eyes to Rafah or stood up for Israeli hostage… then you will see I will be fighting for your rights of free speech, if someday you wonder why I am where I am remember you are not me.”

Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who played a second iteration of Gopi Bahu in the viral Indian drama Saath Nibhana Saathiya, was one of the few celebrities who spoke out about the incident. In a series of tweets, Bhattacharjee said, “It is not just a slap. It’s a matter of Indian security. It can be more dangerous than one can think of. Nothing less than a security threat, should be dealt like one.”

She added that the incident was “deeply troubling” and “such actions represent a severe breach of public trust and security protocols”.

Looks like things are going to get even more dramatic in the Indian political arena.