Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has refused to fly with IndiGo and other airlines which have imposed a flying ban on stand up comedian Kunal Kamra, following his confrontation with Arnab Goswami on an IndiGo flight, which went viral on social media. In Kolkata, for a film festival, Kashyap said that he will only fly Vistara or Air Asia.
He was booked on IndiGo by the organizers, but he declined after he learned of the ban imposed on Kamra. “The IndiGo flight was in the afternoon and the Vistara flight was in the morning. The organisers informed me that to fly Vistara, you have to wake up at 4 am. I said, ‘I will wake up at 4 am, but I will not fly IndiGo’,” he said in an interview to The Telegraph.
“There is nothing I can do about it. It does not make much of a difference. But as I wanted to register my dissent, I thought that I would not fly IndiGo. I want to fly Vistara.”Anurag Kashyap
Kashyap further explained his stand on not flying with the four airlines. “Airlines are trying to appease the government. Imagine, the government is being the bully and everybody is so afraid of the government (they are) trying to appease him. Without any official order, without any investigation, they declare a ban on this man. They have not bothered to speak to the pilots. This is arrogance, this is bullying by this government. I will not fly the four airlines till Kunal Kamra is allowed to fly,” he said.
Recently, Kunal Kamra posted a picture of himself at the airport, thanking Air Vistara for ‘following due process’ and not imposing a ban on him. Sharing the picture, he wrote, “My airport look all thanks to @airvistara following due process...#lovevistara.”
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