File sedition case against Kangana, revoke her Padma award: Shiv Sena, Congress

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut is under fire after she said during a recent event organized by a news channel that the country's Independence in 1947 was not freedom but "bheek" (alms). All India Mahila Congress President Netta D'Souza, on Thursday, wrote a letter to President of India Ram Nath Kovind, seeking immediate action on actress Kangana Ranaut by recalling her Padma Shri award.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe on Thursday lashed out at Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut saying that she should face a sedition case for terming India's independence as "alms", and her Padma Shri award should be revoked.

The actor is under fire after she said during a recent event organized by a news channel that the country's Independence in 1947 was not freedom but "bheek" (alms). "And we got real freedom in 2014," Ranaut said, apparently referring to the BJP coming to power.

Gorhe, who is Deputy Chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, said in a release that the actor made a very irresponsible, baseless and unhistorical statement. She has also insulted all former prime ministers including late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she added.

Further speaking the Shiv Sena leader said, "Kangana should be charged with sedition for her comments. Her Padma award should also be revoked,"

Earlier in the day, the Aam Aadmi Party submitted an application to Mumbai Police demanding that a case be registered against Ranaut. Meanwhile,
the AAP's national executive member Preeti Sharma Menon termed the actor's remarks as seditious and inflammatory".

Ranaut has sparked controversies in the past with her comments and jibes at opposition politicians. All India Mahila Congress President Netta D'Souza, on Thursday, wrote a letter to President of India Ram Nath Kovind, seeking immediate action on actress Kangana Ranaut by recalling her Padma Shri award for making controversial remarks that India got freedom in 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power.

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Speaking at a summit, the actress stated that India got "real freedom" in 2014, while the country’s Independence in 1947 was "bheek" (alms). "The usage of words and phrases is a clear manifestation of intent and disrespect that the Padma Shri Awardee carries towards the freedom fighters and their contribution to attain independence," D'Souza said in her letter.

She further added, "She has questioned the sacrifice of our freedom fighters and forefathers who have laid their lives for India's Independence. The congress party who served India for the longest time is the birth child of ideals that the father of the Nation Mahatama Gandhi and First Prime Minister of India Pt. Nehru propagated. Nevertheless, the Padma awardee calls it an extension of British rule."

While mentioning the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, she demanded, "The overt act of Padma Shri Awardee should be condemned and she must be ordered to return the Padma Award considering the idea and dignity attached to it."

Earlier today, BJP MP Varun Gandhi had also lashed out at Ranaut by tweeting, "Insulting the sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi sometimes, praising his killer sometimes, and now the disdain for the sacrifices of Mangal Pandey, Rani Laxmibai, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and lakhs of freedom fighters. Should I call this thinking madness or treason?"

With agency inputs