Not a National Issue: Kangana Likens JNU Violence to Gang Wars

The actor said such incidents leave both sides hurt.

Kangana Ranaut at an event in Mumbai.

(Photo: Yogen Shah)

When asked to comment on the recent violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Kangana Ranaut compared it to a gang war being fought by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and other JNU students. Addressing the media during a promotional event for her upcoming film Panga, Kangana said,

“The attack on JNU by a masked mob is under investigation. As far as I understand, there are two kinds of people involved in the matter – ABVP and JNU – which are like two different unions. I would like you to know that gang wars are common in colleges.”

Kangana Ranaut, Actor

“I used to stay at girls’ hostel in Chandigarh, which was beside boys’ hostel. Boys would often stalk people and murder them in broad daylight.” She went on to narrate an incident in which a boy jumped into the girls’ hostel with a mob in hot pursuit, only to be saved by the hostel manager.

She added,

“These gang wars are managed by some powerful and dangerous people which leaves both sides hurt and such things should not be made a national issue. The police should take some into custody and give them a few slaps to knock some sense into them. Such people are found everywhere in every street, college and these incidents aren’t worth being made into a national issue.”

Kangana Ranaut

On the night of 5 January, a masked mob armed sticks and rods and attacked students and teachers and damaged property, prompting the administration to call in the police. At least 28 people, including JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has been accused of being behind the attack.

Kangana plays Jaya Nigam, the captain of India’s Kabaddi team in 2010, in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Panga. The film also stars Richa Chadha and Neena Gupta and releases on 24 January.