Kunal Kamra confronts Goswami on flight, gets banned by Indigo for 6 months

IndiGo on Tuesday barred stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for six months for allegedly heckling journalist Arnab Goswami onboard a flight from Mumbai to Lucknow. Air India also said Kamra has been suspended from flying with it until further notice.

Goswami, founder of Republic TV, was in for a rude shock when stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra accosted him on a flight on Tuesday. Kamra, who has filmed the entire incident and posted the same on social media, has called Goswami out for his journalism, calling him a ‘coward’ among other things. 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".

Goswami, who can be seen glued to his laptop in the video with earphones plugged in, did not respond to Kamra’s questions and comments that included a reference to the death of student Rohit Vemula.

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

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 28, 2020

@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

Kamra responded to IndiGo's decision by tweeting;

Thank you Indigo a six month suspension is honestly very kind of you...
Modiji might be suspending Air India forever. https://t.co/ari4erSE5F

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 28, 2020

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri exhorted other airlines to take the cue from IndiGo and impose "similar restrictions" on Kamra.