BJP MP and actress Kangana Ranaut waded into a debate over how women's personal lives are weaponised against them, telling reporters in Kullu on Monday that society needs to take a hard look at how it treats women.
Question sparked by Tamil Nadu CM Thalapathy Vijay's warning
Ranaut was responding to questions about a speech by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, in which he warned the opposition DMK that anyone making personal attacks, using double-meaning jibes or passing objectionable remarks about women would face swift and strict legal action. She made the comments after chairing a meeting of the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee, known locally as the Disha committee, in Kullu.
Ranaut argued that the problem is far bigger than India alone. "This happens across the world," she said, adding that working women, successful women, actresses, politicians and women holding positions of power are routinely targeted this way so they can be cut down to size.
References to Jayalalithaa and an unnamed actress
In his speech, Vijay also described how, inside the Tamil Nadu assembly, late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had allegedly been mistreated and insulted. Without naming anyone, he further said a leading actress had been targeted through personal attacks.
The subject strikes close to home for Ranaut, who played Jayalalithaa in a 2021 biopic on her life. She said a very well-known actress in Tamil Nadu had been defamed over her personal relationships, even though any relationship involves two people equally. According to her, it is almost always the woman who ends up facing abuse and character assassination, not the man. She added that society as a whole needs to introspect on how it views women and whether it genuinely respects them or merely talks about it.
Kangana also took aim at officials in Mandi
Earlier, at the Disha committee meeting in Mandi, Ranaut had sharply questioned the way local officials were functioning. She alleged that despite releasing Rs 11 crore from her MP fund, officials had failed to carry out any meaningful work on the ground.
