New Delhi: IndiGo on Tuesday announced that it was suspending comedian Kunal Kumra from flying on the airlines for six months.

The airline also advised passengers to avoid “personal slander” of other passengers.

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. 2/2@MoCA_GoI @HardeepSPuri — IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) January 28, 2020



The announcement came in the aftermath of Kamra sharing a video where he is seen having a one-sided conversation with journalist Arnab Goswami on a flight.

In the video, Kamra remains unseen and his voice is heard berating Goswami for his stance on various political issues. Among other things, he calls him a “coward” and mimics Goswami’s style of speaking in the video.

I did this for my hero…

I did it for Rohit pic.twitter.com/aMSdiTanHo — Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 28, 2020



Although Goswami does not react or acknowledge him in the course of the video, Kamra uploaded a statement on Twitter which says he called the comedian “mentally unstable.”

In the statement, Kamra also said he delivered the monologue at Goswami when the seat belt signs were off and that when it came to inconveniencing fellow passengers, he apologises to “every passengers except one.”

His statement and the video’s caption mentions Rohith Vemula, the Dalit Hyderabad University scholar who took his own life in 2016, triggering a nationwide protest movement against the Modi government.

Kamra has tweeted several times on the issue. Reacting to the IndiGo ban, he wrote that a six-month suspension was “very kind” and sought to bring up the fate of Air India.

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

Tharoor says Arnab’s reporters did same to him on two flights

While Kamra has been criticised by both supporters of the Republic TV anchor as well as detractors, and drawn praise from the latter, the comedian’s action drew public praise from the Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who tweeted that Goswami’s reporters had twice accosted him during flights:

Minister wants total flight ban on Kamra

Union minister for civil aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, whom IndiGo had tagged in its tweets with the announcement has asked other airlines to impose similar restrictions on Kamra.

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

The minister’s swift intervention led some to question why the government had overlooked earlier instances of disruptions, on flight or off. The commentator Dhruv Rathee posted a video clip of a Times Now journalist getting up from her seat on a flight and going up to where RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was seated in order to extract an “exclusive” interview.

Journalist Swati Chaturvedi raised the issue of BJP MP Pragya Thakur refusing to cooperate with in-fight crew on a matter of flight safety, leading to a delay in departure and ager among her co-passengers.

Hello Mr. Puri, Does this behavior also qualify as disturbing?

Or are your rules not applicable for media houses which are sold out to your government? pic.twitter.com/dzvRo7btj2 — Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) January 28, 2020

Mr Puri, I am extremely impressed with your swift action. Just wondering why no action was taken against terror accused, MP from your party Pragaya Thakur Singh? She disrupted a flight https://t.co/7cywS1d8eI — Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) January 28, 2020

Are you also taking action against this Republic TV reporter? https://t.co/46I81zmgcm — Salil Tripathi سلیل تریپاٹھی સલિલ ત્રિપાઠી (@saliltripathi) January 28, 2020

Some airlines, though, complied with Puri’s demand. Air India said Kamra will be not be allowed to use the airlines indefinitely.

#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

SpiceJet and GoAir too have followed suit, barring Kamra from flying “till further notice”.

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

GoAir has suspended Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with the airline till further notice @MoCA_GoI @DGCAIndia @HardeepSPuri @IndiGo6E — GoAir (@goairlinesindia) January 29, 2020

Vistara has said it will review the demand and follow due process.

Kamra reacts

Reacting to four airlines banning him, the stand-up comedian on Wednesday said he was never “unruly or disruptive”.

He also said the flying suspension was not “shocking” for him.

Shortly after SpiceJet suspended him from flying with the airline, the comedian posted a sarcastic tweet: “Modi ji, can I walk, or is there a ban even on that?”

In a statement issued on Twitter, Kamra said at no point did he not follow the orders of the cabin crew in the (Mumbai-Lucknow) flight.

“It’s not shocking at all to me that for exercising my right to speech, which falls under Article 19 of our constitution, 3 airlines have given me a temporary ban from flying. Fact of the matter is that at no point was I disruptive and at no point did I not follow the orders of the cabin crew or the captain,” he tweeted.

“At no point did I endanger the safety of any passenger on board, the only damage I caused was to the inflated ego to the ‘journalist’ Arnab Goswami,” he stated.

Kamra said he had not travelled with SpiceJet or Air India in this event and there is no “pattern of him being unruly”.

“This was the first time something like this has happened, so why have they jumped the gun and banned me? I’ve travelled SpiceJet and Air India in the past. There have been no complaints against me ever, only selfies and love has been shared by the crew,” he tweeted.

*My statement on my flight bans* pic.twitter.com/qWT2OawSmx — Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 29, 2020

Kamra has also asked Vistara to suspend him in a fell swoop. The airline is the only one which has not banned him yet and has said it will resort to ‘due process’.

Arrey @airvistara kar hi do yaar, I won’t judge you, Main drive karke goa nikal ne ka plan bana hi raha hoon… thoda break bhi lena Banta hai… — Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 29, 2020

(With PTI inputs)