Indigo, Air India Ban Stand-Up Comedian Kunal Kamra For Six Months From Flying After He Heckles TV Journalist Arnab Goswami On-Flight

Indian airlines Air India and IndiGo Tuesday suspended stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with the airline for a period of six months after he accosted journalist Arnab Goswami on one of its flights.

However, the suspension could likely be extended to other airlines as Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said his ministry would advice them to impose similar restrictions on Kamra.

Tagging Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri, IndiGo tweeted, “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.”

“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.”

@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

Responding to IndiGo’s statement, 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.

We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned. https://t.co/UHKKZfdTVS

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 28, 2020

On Tuesday, Kamra posted a video on his Twitter handle in which he was heard slamming Goswami over his brand of “journalism”. He can be heard provoking Goswami to speak out against him as he is an “anti-national” and belongs to the “tukde-tukde gang”.

I did this for my hero...
I did it for Rohit pic.twitter.com/aMSdiTanHo

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 28, 2020

Goswami, known for his aggressive monologues during television debates, chose not to respond to Kamra.

Kamra also took a dig at the air carrier for suspending him, saying it was “honestly very kind of you”.