The statement came after a video of Kunal Kamra heckling Republic TV journalist, Arnab Goswami went viral on social media
New Delhi: On Tuesday evening, IndiGo airlines and Air India stated on Twitter that they had banned comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with them for a period of six months and indefinite respectively. On Wednesday, SpiceJet banned Kamra from flying with them “till further notice”.
The statement came after a video of Kunal Kamra heckling Republic TV journalist, Arnab Goswami went viral on social media.
In the video, which went viral on social media Kamra can be seen heckling, Arnab Goswami trying to provoke and get a few words out of him. He raised multiple questions at Goswami and mocks him in order to get the news anchor to speak, even calling him names, to get a response. However, the journalist remains silent throughout the incident.
#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
People on the Internet remained divided over incident and video which went viral: Some felt that this was much needed, but others opined that he may have gone overboard with his constant questions.
Not just Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also reached out on social media and tweeted and said “absolutely unacceptable” and “endangering the safety of air travelers.”
SpiceJet has decided to suspend Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with the airline till further notice. @MoCA_GoI @DGCAIndia @HardeepSPuri @IndiGo6E
— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) January 29, 2020
When the news of the ban broke on social media, people raised questions about the airlines‘ decision, also pointing out airline company Spicejet, and a recent incident involving BJP MP from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur had stirred up a controversy, delaying a passenger flight by over 45 minutes.
In December a viral video showed a passenger pointing out that Thakur’s refusal to change her seat, which led to the flight being delayed for 45 minutes.
Later on, SpiceJet clarified that Thakur was asked by the crew on Delhi-Bhopal flight to move to a non-emergency row seat as she was in a wheelchair but she refused and caused the flight to delay.
Meanwhile, some angry passengers requested Thakur to change her seat from emergency row to non-emergency row, a few others requested the crew to dump her as she was refusing to change the seat, according to the SpiceJet airline’s spokesperson.
Soon after, Thakur filed a complaint here against SpiceJet for allegedly denying her the seat she had booked during the Delhi-Bhopal flight.
Twitter questioned why Thakur’s actions were not banned, and other instances of airline manhandling passengers were also shared. ‘#BoycottIndiGo’ and ‘Pragya Thakur’ were soon top trendings on Twitter.
Now, SpiceJet has also put out an advisory against Kunal Kamra. They have not put out an advisory against Thakur. After three airlines condemning, GoAir also put out similar comments.
GoAir has suspended Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with the airline till further notice @MoCA_GoI @DGCAIndia @HardeepSPuri @IndiGo6E
— GoAir (@goairlinesindia) January 29, 2020
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