Following the criticism received by IndiGo airlines for imposing a flying ban against stand up comedian Kunal Kamra, some passengers travelling by the airlines protested against the same inside a flight. Photographs emerged of people holding placards, which read, “We condemn Indigo's ban on Kunal Kamra #YouDivideWe Multiply'”, and are going viral on social media. A passenger from the same flight, shared the pictures and videos on Facebook.
Celebrities like Anurag Kashyap and Ashish Shakya also commented against the move by the airlines. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap refused to fly with IndiGo and other airlines which have imposed a flying ban o 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.
Following his confrontation with Goswami, IndiGo suspended Kamra for six months. This was followed by Air India, which barred him “until further notice” to “discourage such behaviour”, as well as SpiceJet and Go Air which decided to suspend him from flying with the airline till further notice on 29 January.
IndiGo, in its tweet, had termed Kamra’s conduct as ‘unacceptable behaviour’ and urged passengers “to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard”. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has asked other airlines to follow suit.
After the suspensions, Kamra issued a statement saying it was “not shocking at all” that he was being banned from these airlines for “exercising my right to free speech”. Kamra also issued a legal notice against IndiGo.
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