Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president and former MP Simranjit Singh Mann on Thursday made derogatory remarks against BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who had recently courted controversy with her comments on the farmers' protest.
Mann, 79, made the disparaging remarks mentioning “rape” when a reporter in Karnal asked him to comment on an interview given by the Mandi MP.
The actor-politician recently posted a clip from the interview where she suggested that a "Bangladesh-like situation" could have erupted in India but for the country's strong leadership.
She alleged that bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place during the farmers' protest against the now-repealed agri laws.
Ranaut reacted sharply to Mann’s comments. “It seems this country will never stop trivialising rape,” she posted on X.
"...today this senior politician compared getting raped to riding a bicycle no wonder rapes and violence against women for fun, is so deep rooted in the psyche of this patriarchal nation that it is casually used to tease or mock a women even if she is a high profile filmmaker or politician," she added.
Haryana State Commission for Women chairperson Renu Bhatia also condemned Mann's comments. Making such a statement was an “insult to our daughters”, she said.
Mann, a former Indian Police Service official who has been a proponent of Khalistan, was in Karnal to attend a party event.
The Haryana Assembly polls are being held on October 1.
Mann resigned from the IPS in 1984 following Operation Bluestar at Amritsar’s Golden Temple to flush out militants hiding in the complex.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tarn Taran in 1989, Sangrur in 1999 and from the same constituency again in a 2022 bypoll.