Politician and actor Kangana Ranaut has clarified her controversial “Generation Gutter” remarks, saying she was not referring to all young people. Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Ranaut said her comments were specifically aimed at people who “label themselves as cockroaches” and insisted that she had not made a blanket statement about the youth.Ranaut defended her comments while addressing the backlash over her remarks on videos from a protest at Jantar Mantar related to the NEET-UG paper leak.“Those who call themselves cockroaches, and we say that cockroaches emerge from gutters, what is wrong with that? My point is simply this: if people label themselves as cockroaches, and we say the gutter is their home, why should they be offended?” she said.“I certainly don’t consider myself a cockroach. 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?” Ranaut added.She further rejected the suggestion that she had referred to an entire generation.“But to claim that I was referring to all youth is simply not the case,” she said.
‘I specifically referred to some people or some women’
Ranaut said her comments were directed at a specific section of young people and not the entire youth population.“If some young people use drugs, or if we discuss the current trend of addiction involving drugs, betting, gambling, or the dark web, addressing a specific segment of the youth doesn’t mean I was making a blanket statement about everyone,” she said.“Did I say that all youth belong to the gutter? I specifically referred to some people or some women. So, how else should we address this?” she added.Ranaut had earlier criticised videos from the Jantar Mantar agitation led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) over the NEET-UG paper leak. In a series of Instagram Stories, she described the videos as “puke-inducing” and objected to the language used by some protesters.“I call them Generation Gutter. Some of them have nothing to offer to the system. They are not good at studies…” she had said.
Kangana Ranaut takes aim at Opposition
The BJP MP also criticised the Opposition over its position on a discussion concerning the students’ protest. The government had said Union Home Minister Amit Shah would respond to the debate.“Do you expect Amit Shah ji to come out into the Parliament courtyard and answer you one-on-one? So, what can you expect from people with such low IQs?” Ranaut said.Case filed against Kangana Ranaut over ‘Generation Gutter’ remarkMeanwhile, the controversy has also taken a legal turn. Speaking in Agra on Wednesday, Rajiv Gandhi Bar Association president and advocate Ramashankar Sharma said he had filed a case against Ranaut over her “Generation Gutter” remarks.The Special Court for MPs/MLAs is scheduled to hear the matter on August 21.
