Protest Inside IndiGo Flight Against Its Ban On Kunal Kamra

IndiGo Airlines’ decision to ban stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for six months has brought public outrage to its doorsteps, literally. Three women environmental activists protested against the ban by holding banners on an Indigo flight, that read, “We condemn IndiGo’s ban on Kunal Kamra #YouDivideWeMultiply.” The photographs from this in-flight protest are now going viral on social media.

It is reported that the plane was still on tarmac when they stood up to protest. Although, when IndiGo’s security ground staff requested them to take their seats, the activists obliged.

The activists, seen in viral images, were reportedly flying on an Indigo flight from Varanasi to Delhi. Priya Pillai, Medha Kapoor, Debayan Gupta and one another person staged this protest, while their friend Munna Jha took pictures. It is reported that the plane was still on tarmac when they stood up to protest. Although, when IndiGo’s security ground staff requested them to take their seats, the activists obliged. Sources from the airline have described the protest as “peaceful”.

Also Read: Women Are On The Streets To Protest, Because They Want To

Why was Kunal Kamra Banned by Indigo

Comedian Kunal Kamra grabbed headline recently when he posted a video in which he could be seen confronting Republic TV journalist Arnab Goswami. "Today I met Arnab Goswami in a flight to Lucknow, and politely asked him to have a conversation. At first, he pretended to be on a phone call. I waited for his so-called phone call to get over. Seatbelt signs were off at this time. I gave him a monologue about what I felt about his 'Journalism'. He refused to answer any questions, he called me 'mentally unstable,'" Kamra wrote in his tweet.

The incident happened on an IndiGo Airlines flight to Lucknow. Following which Kamra was not only banned by Indigo but three other domestic airlines namely Air India, GoAir and SpiceJet.

Celebrities show support to the comedian

The ban handed to Kamra has received criticism from many celebrities. Actor Swara Bhasker said that Kamra's act should be seen as an act of resistance. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap also showed solidarity with Kamra saying that he won't fly with IndiGo airlines until Kamra is allowed to do so as well. In an interview with The Telegraph, he revealed, “I was booked on IndiGo by the organisers. After Kamra was banned, I told the organisers I will not fly IndiGo. I told them I will not fly this airline because I thought the ban was very unreasonable.”

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has said that he won't fly with IndiGo airlines until Kamra is allowed to do so as well.

Also Read: I Went To A Protest For The First Time And This Is What I've Learned

Television actor Kritika Kamra took to Twitter to criticise the ban. “Regardless of what one thinks about what Kunal did..we have to agree this is the swiftest the state has acted lately. They CAN act,they just choose to ignore hateful speech and shameful behaviour of their own. No ban for anybody but a comedian is banned by 3 airlines. Priorities,” wrote Kritika.

The ban on Kamra however, has also led to what the comedian called “collateral damage” when Air India blacklisted his namesake from Boston on a domestic route.

Image Credit: Medha Kapoor/Twitter