South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong English-language newspaper, in a recent article has called Arnab Goswami as an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Goswami was recently heckled by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on board an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Lucknow on January 28 and for this act, Kamra was banned from several airlines, including Air India.

Reporting the incident, the South China Morning Post carried a news item on Thursday with the headline “Indian comedian Kunal Kamra banned from IndiGo and Air India after heckling BJP ally“.

“An Indian stand-up comedian who heckled a television anchor and ally of India’s ruling party onboard an IndiGo flight has been banned from several airlines, including the country’s national carrier- prompting speculation that the government pressured the airlines to do so,” reads the first line of the said news item.

“Goswami is a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and has labelled critics of the party as traitors,” reads another line from the news.

Even though the exact reason for calling Arnab Goswami a BJP ally is not yet known, however, media pundits in Assam say “since he is soft on the BJP and its policies, the Chinese paper may have said so”.

Arnab Goswami is the editor of Republic TV, which is co-owned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar- a former independent legislator of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).