Indian airlines ban comedian Kunal Kamra from flying following in-flight 'altercation' with Arnab Goswami
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Indian comedian Kunal Kamra is suspended from flying with IndiGo, Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet after confronting news presenter Arnab Goswami on an IndiGo flight this week.
Kamra, who has previously performed in Dubai, was flying from Mumbai to Lucknow when he berated fellow passenger and journalist Goswami.
Shortly after the flight landed, IndiGo announced it was banning Kamra from taking any flights with the airline for six months.
Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted that other airlines should follow suit.
Similar bans are now in force from Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet with the airlines implementing the move until "further notice".
In-flight argument
According to Kamra, who posted a statement about the incident on Facebook, he initially approached Goswami on board the flight and politely requested to speak with him.
The news anchor allegedly ignored him and called him mentally unstable.
Footage of the incident, which Kamra filmed and posted on social media, shows Goswami ignoring Kamra, keeping his sunglasses on and wearing headphones.
In the video, Kamra repeatedly asks: "Are you a coward or a journalist?" and says, "The nation wants to know," in what appears to be an imitation of Goswami's interrogative interviewing technique.
When a crew member approaches Kamra, he admits that he knows his actions are not allowed saying: "I'll go to jail for this, it's fine."
IndiGo cites unacceptable conduct
IndiGo announced it was banning the comedian from flying with the airline citing unacceptable conduct and personal slander by Kamra as the basis for its decision.
The move sparked social media uproar with fans of the comedian disputing the airlines' decisions.The news anchor allegedly ignored him and called him mentally unstable.
Footage of the incident, which Kamra filmed and posted on social media, shows Goswami ignoring Kamra, keeping his sunglasses on and wearing headphones.
In the video, Kamra repeatedly asks: "Are you a coward or a journalist?" and says, "The nation wants to know," in what appears to be an imitation of Goswami's interrogative interviewing technique.
When a crew member approaches Kamra, he admits that he knows his actions are not allowed saying: "I'll go to jail for this, it's fine."
IndiGo cites unacceptable conduct
IndiGo announced it was banning the comedian from flying with the airline citing unacceptable conduct and personal slander by Kamra as the basis for its decision.
The move sparked social media uproar with fans of the comedian disputing the airlines' decisions.
#BoycottIndigo and #IstandwithKunalKamra were trending on twitter.
Source: https://www.thenational.ae