Legal notice to Kangana Ranaut for her tweet over farmers' stir

Mumbai, Dec 3: A member of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee on Thursday sent a legal notice to Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut over her tweet allegedly targeting farmers protesting against the new farm laws.

The notice was sent by advocate Harpreet Singh Hora on behalf of the committee member Jasmain Singh Noni. The notice said that when Ranaut's premises (in Mumbai) were demolished, she used social media "to gather solidarity" from her fans, stating that the action was an attack on her fundamental rights.

"Similarly, the right to peacefully protest is part of the farmers' rights under the Constitution of India and she cannot claim a right to demean and insult the farmers," the notice said.

As per the notice, Kangana had shared a tweet alleging that the 'Shaheen Bagh dadi', who made international headlines during the anti-CAA protests earlier this year in the Delhi neighbourhood of Shaheen Bagh, also joined the farmers' agitation over the new agri laws. The notice stated that the actor said in her tweet that the "same Dadi" who featured in Time Magazine was "available in 100 rupees".

The legal notice also said that several news reports claimed that the said two women were not the same. "And even otherwise, she has no right to defame any old woman for her political mileage," it said.

"This is a clear example of a hate tweet andneeds to be tackled at the earliest," the notice said. Thousands of farmers have gathered at Delhi's gateways to demand a repeal of the Centre's three new farm laws.

The protesting farmers are worried the new laws will eliminate the safety cushion of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and procurement system, while rendering ineffective the mandi system that ensures earnings for various stakeholders in the farm sector. The government has been in talks with farmer leaders to resolve the issue.