Passenger airline IndiGo on Tuesday said that it has barred stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for six months for portraying "unacceptable behaviour" onboard one of its flights. On Tuesday, Kunal posted a video in which he confronts and repeatedly questions Republic TV news anchor Arnab Goswami while travelling on a Mumbai-Lucknow IndiGo flight.
@MoCA_GoI @HardeepSPuri In light of the recent incident on board 6E 5317 from Mumbai to Lucknow, we wish to inform that we are suspending Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with IndiGo for a period of six months, as his conduct onboard was unacceptable behaviour. 1/2
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) January 28, 2020
"Hereby, we wish to advise our passengers to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard, as this can potentially compromise the safety of fellow passengers," the airline added.
Following IndiGo's announcement, Air India also barred Kunal from flying on any of its flights until further notice.
#FlyAI: In view of the incident onboard @IndiGo6E, Air India wishes to inform that conduct of Person concerned is unacceptable.With a view to discourage such behavior onboard flts, Mr Kunal Kamra is suspended from flying on any Air India flt until further notice. @HardeepSPuri .
— Air India (@airindiain) January 28, 2020
The 1.51-minute video posted by Kunal on Twitter shows Arnab seated on the flight wearing shades and earphones, as Kunal questions him about his journalistic ethics. “I am asking coward Arnab Goswami questions about his journalism and he is doing exactly what I expected him to do... is being a coward. First he called me mentally unstable and now he’s saying, ‘I’m watching something.’” Later he asks, “Are you a coward or are you a journalist?”
As of Wednesday, the video has over 2.1 million views.
I did this for my hero...
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 28, 2020
I did it for Rohit pic.twitter.com/aMSdiTanHo
Reacting to the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted: "Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers.”
"We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned."
Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 28, 2020
We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned. https://t.co/UHKKZfdTVS
In response, Kunal posted a statement on his Twitter handle which read: "Today I met Arnab Goswami on a flight to Lucknow, and politely asked him to have a conversation. At first, he pretended to be on a phone call. I waited for his so called phone call to get over. Seatbelt signs were off at this time. I gave him a monologue about what I felt about his 'Journalism'. He refused to answer any questions, he called me 'mentally unstable'."
In another tweet, Kunal said: "Thank you Indigo a six month suspension is honestly very kind of you... Modiji might be suspending Air India forever."
While many questioned the action against Kunal, others welcomed it.
Ahh sadly that’s not how it works Indigo.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) January 28, 2020
You can’t just ban @kunalkamra88 because @HardeepSPuri wants to protect his dawg Arnab Goswami.
Now here’s the law -
u first need an internal committee headed by a retired district or sessions judge to examine any such case.
(1/3) https://t.co/Azaue7dmM7
When is @HardeepSPuri banning terror accused Pragya who created a huge nuisance on a flight and inconvenienced all passengers? Or the man who heckled @kanhaiyakumar? RT if you want the minister to issue advisories banning both.
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) January 28, 2020
Dear @IndiGo6E banning @kunalkamra88 for 6 months doesn’t serve any purpose. There are many other airlines to fly. Better file a case against him. https://t.co/ta8leawacA
— Pratap Simha (@mepratap) January 28, 2020
With IANS inputs