Kangana Ranaut in legal trouble over ‘gutter’ remark on Gen Z protesters; later clarifies: ‘Cockroach would live in…’

A case has been filed against actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kangana Ranaut over her contentious “gutter” remark referring to students who held protests over irregularities in the NEET examination, news agency ANI reported. The court is scheduled to hear the matter on August 21.

The Lok Sabha MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, however, later clarified that her remarks had been misinterpreted and were directed at people who label themselves as “cockroaches”, rather than all youths.

“If someone claims to be a cockroach, then naturally, they would live in a gutter," Ranaut said while explaining her earlier comments.

She added that she did not consider herself a “cockroach” and would reject such a description if it were directed at her. “If someone were to say I live in a gutter, I would deny it. But if someone claims to be a cockroach, then naturally, they would live in a gutter. Where else?" she said.

Rajeev Gandhi Bar Association president Advocate Ramashankar Sharma confirmed to ANI that he had filed a suit against Kangana. “The suit concerns Kangana Ranaut referring to students protesting at Jantar Mantar as the ‘gutter generation’,” Sharma said. He alleged that the BJP MP had insulted the country’s students and abused their parents.

“This is a matter concerning the students’ future. The court will hear the case on August 21,” he added.

Kangana calls protest videos ‘puke-inducing’

The BJP MP had criticised the protests held at Jantar Mantar over NEET irregularities and condemned the behaviour and language used by some protesters. In a series of posts on Instagram, Kangana described videos from the protests as “puke-inducing”.

“Never in my life have I seen so much ugliness in one place. These reels from Gen Z protests are puke-inducing. The way they speak and the kind of language they are using... never in my life have I seen everything in each and every frame so jarring and so crass all at once,” she wrote.

“Ewww, who is birthing and raising them?” she added.

'Most appalling'

In another post, Kangana criticised the behaviour of some young women participating in the protests.

“Most appalling is the behaviour of young Hindu women who want to imitate the lives of independent career women without earning that freedom,” she wrote.

She added that truly independent women make “rebellious choices and bold opinions”, take responsibility for their actions and make unconventional career choices.

“I call them Generation Gutter. Some of them have nothing to offer to the system. They are not good at studies. They are so ugly and corrupt that they can’t even be homemakers,” she wrote.

CJP-led protest over NEET irregularities

The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led protest over irregularities in the NEET examination continued for around 37 days and culminated in the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

(With inputs from ANI)