For Kangana 1947 freedom was alms, Varun Gandhi doubts if she is mad or treasonous

New Delhi: BJP MP Varun Gandhi has hit out at remarks made by actress Kangana Ranaut regarding the battle for Indian independence where the actress described the 1947 Independence as "alms" given to us by the British, whereas India achieved true "azaadi" after the election of Modi in 2014.

"Sometimes Mahatma Gandhi's dedication and sacrifices are insulted, sometimes his killer is respected. And now lakhs of freedom fighters, from Shaheed Mangal Pandey to Rani Lakshmibai, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, are being insulted. Should I call this thinking madness or treason?" the MP tweeted.

Ranaut's speech at the Times Now Summit 2021 has drawn ire from prominent Congress leaders and social media at large.

"Indians cultivated in themselves a strong sense of being wronged. In that phase where you're stripped of everything, all you want is to fight. I'm not saying 'this is right' or 'this is wrong. I'm saying that is what the human psyche is," the actress said. "And the British were acutely aware that blood will flow but they decided whose blood will flow. It shouldn't be their blood. And for that, they needed some people who could help them. For that, they needed some people who could help them so that Indian blood flows. These are the people who were labelled as liberals, Congress."

She also labelled secularism in India as a remnant of the British themselves, saying that fighters such as Subash Chandra Bose, Maharani Laxmi Bai and Sarvarkar knew the cost of blood needed to truly free India. Kangana said she has no intention of joining politics but she is very aware, and as an artist and nationalist she would speak about India's freedom struggle, labelling herself a "patriot" in response to questioning by anchor Navika Kumar who is Group Editor of Times Network, and Editor-in-Chief, Times Now Navbharat.

Aam Aadmi Party member Preeti Menon has filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police regarding the "seditious and inflammatory" statements made by the actress.

For her upcoming movie 'Tejas', Kangana recently visited the Andaman, Nicobar islands and paid tribute to Veer Savarkar in his cell at the infamous Kala Pani prison. The actor said history has been distorted by omitting many parts and depriving many heroes of their due credit. She also opened up about feeling silent due to her ban from social media platform Twitter.

"A digital identity is something, which has a life of its own. When it is killed like that with that kind of violence, it does affect you," Ranaut said, adding that she felt 'wronged' but that she wanted to put her ideas out in different forms anyway. "I was called to cop stations almost every week for my tweets. It was not a business dealing that I was doing, but I was just bringing attention to things no one was talking about," she lamented.