Recently, an incident took place at the Chandigarh airport where CISF constable Kulwinder Kaur slapped BJP MP Kangana Ranaut after a row over the actor’s comment in 2020 about the protesting farmers.
Two days after the shocking incident, a video of a call recording is being shared on X (formerly Twitter) of an army officer who came out in support of Kulwinder Kaur. The call recording shows the army officer narrating what happened at the airport. He says that Kulwinder Kaur had requested Kangana Ranaut to put her phone and purse through the security check. However, Kangana refused to do so, and after seeing the name badge of Kulwinder on her uniform, she asked if she was from Punjab and called her a Khalistani.
A propaganda account on X, Tracking Hate Against Sikhs, sharing the call recording wrote, “So here’s the story behind the slap.” (Archived link)
So here’s the story behind the slap.
— Tracking Hate Against Sikhs (@thaSikhs) June 9, 2024
Kulwinder Kaur had requested @KanganaTeam to put her phone and purse through a security check.
Arrogant Kangana Ranaut not only refused to follow security guidelines but also called Kulwinder a ‘Khalistani.’
The Mohali airport falls under… pic.twitter.com/5k0zufmIMU
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Fact check
In our fact-check research, we did a reverse image search of the army officer seen in the call recording video. The reverse image search led us to an article by The Week, in which we found a picture of the same officer.
According to a report by The Week, the army officer is the late Head Constable Vijay Bhan Singh, who was Killed In Action in open firing by Bangladeshi border guards in 2019. On October 17, 2019, the Bangladeshi border guard had opened fire with his AK-47 rifle during a ‘flag meeting’ at the international border of the two countries in West Bengal.
As per the Economic Times, the incident took place at the BSF’s Kakmarichar border outpost in Murshidabad district. The firing had taken place over the issue of detention of Indian fishermen by Bangladeshi border guards.
The report mentioned that a group of BSF personnel had approached the BGB personnel to address an issue pertaining to Indian fishermen. However, the BGB personnel had detained three Indian fishermen who had been given permission by the BSF to fish within the international boundary, which runs through the middle of the 3-km-wide Padma River.
After the two fishermen informed the BSF about the capture of the third person, the BSF post commander set out with a six-member team on a motorboat to resolve the matter. While they were returning, a BGB jawan named Sayed opened fire from behind. He shot BSF head constable Vijay Bhan Singh in the head with his AK-47 rifle, while constable Rajveer Yadav sustained bullet injuries in his hand. The BSF jawan, Vijay Bhan Singh, died on the boat but the injured Constable Yadav skillfully saved the boat from sinking and brought it back safely to the Indian border.
The fact that the late Head Constable Vijay Bhan Singh was already Killed In Action in 2019 raises doubts about the authenticity of the video. It’s impossible for him to speak in support of Kulwinder Kaur and recount the events leading to Kangana’s slap incident. This suggests that the call recording is fake.
Further, the NDTV report mentioned that after the incident, Kulwinder Kaur gave a statement that she was unhappy with Kangana’s remarks about farmers in 2020 and said, “She (Kangana) made a statement that farmers were protesting for Rs 100. Would she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she made that statement.”
Live Hindustan has shared a video of Kulwinder Kaur in which she can be seen making the same statement that she had slapped Kangana in 2020 over the farmers’ protest.
Moreover, on X, a video of Deputy Inspector General of CISF, Vijay Kalja, was shared by a user. In the video, Vijay Kalja gave a briefing about what happened at the airport. He stated that Kulwinder Kaur was standing at the frisking booth in the adjacent place. The MP (Kangana) went to the adjacent booth across from where the CISF constable was positioned. The MP was engaged in conversation with another passenger, and there was no direct contact between her and the constable until the altercation occurred. (Archived link)
Vinay Kajla, Deputy Inspector General of CISF, has exposed the false propaganda against Kangana Ranaut in the Kulwinder Kaur incident. It was clearly pre-planned. Hear him out 👇🏻#KanganaRanaut #KulwinderKaur pic.twitter.com/JLbiMmp7mD
— Rahul Chauhan (@RahulCh9290) June 8, 2024
Conclusion: The video, which includes the picture of BSF jawan Vijay Bhan Singh and depicts him speaking in support of Kulwinder, alleging that Kangana was slapped for not following security protocols and calling Kulwinder Kaur a Khalistani upon seeing her name badge, is fake. This is because Vijay Bhan Singh was Killed In Action in 2019 at the Kakmarichar border in firing by Bangladeshi border guards.
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