New Delhi: IndiGo suspended Tuesday stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with it for six months after he allegedly heckled journalist and editor of ‘Republic TV’ Arnab Goswami aboard its Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight.
Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also took notice of the incident and ‘advised’ other airlines in India to impose similar restriction on Kamra, stating ‘offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers’.
“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,” IndiGo said Tuesday evening on Twitter.
“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.
In a video clip posted by Kamra on Twitter, the stand-up comedian is seen asking Goswami if he is a ‘coward or a journalist’.
While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamra is heard as telling him: “Viewers want to know if Arnab today is a coward or a nationalist. Arnab, this is for national interest. I am part of the tukde-tukde narrative. You should deflate me. You should take the enemy of the states down. You should make sure that the country is in safe hands of Narendra Modi.
See link: https://twitter.com/kunalkamra88/status/1222109025812320257
“You should fight against dynasts like Rahul Gandhi, who I support, on 10 Tughlaq Lane. Arnab, you should have a reply, Arnab. Arnab, are you a coward or are you a journalist? Are you a coward or are you a journalist or a nationalist? Who are you, Arnab? Who are you?”
The comedian goes on to say: “You know, you do not deserve my politeness. This is not for you. This is for Rohith Vemula’s mother whose caste you were discussing on your…show. I know this is not allowed. This is fine. It’s fine if it is not allowed. I’d go to jail for this.
“But this is for Rohit’s mother. And go…find time and read that 10-page suicide letter that Rohit wrote so that you have some emotion or some heart or you just become human. Do that. Do that you in your free time. You nationalist.”
While IndiGo has barred Kamra from flying in its flights for a period of six months, other airlines have not stated if they will be doing the same.
On IndiGo’s decision to suspend him for six months, Kamra said on Twitter, “Thank you IndiGo. A six month suspension is honestly very kind of you. Modiji might be suspending Air India forever.”
Rohith Vemula was a PhD scholar at University of Hyderabad. His suicide on the campus on January 17, 2016 sparked a wide outrage. Opposition parties had blamed Vemula’s alleged harassment by groups affiliated to the BJP and the RSS for his suicide, and had launched protests against the saffron party.
Agencies
