Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the no-fly ban against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra by four airlines, and called it an “act of a coward leveraging his influence with the government to silence a critic”.
Referring to television news anchor Arnab Goswami, he took a jibe at him, saying “those who use their “news” cameras as 24×7 tools of propaganda, should show some spine when the camera is turned on them.”
Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader wrote: “The ban imposed on #kunalkamra by 4 airlines is the act of a coward leveraging his influence with the Govt to silence a critic. Those who use their “news” cameras as 24×7 tools of propaganda, should show some spine when the camera is turned on them.”
The ban imposed on #kunalkamra by 4 airlines is the act of a coward leveraging his influence with the Govt to silence a critic.
Those who use their “news” cameras as 24×7 tools of propaganda, should show some spine when the camera is turned on them. https://t.co/NNwVcq4ZOj
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 29, 2020
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Kamra was banned from flying for six months by IndiGo for heckling Goswami on the airline’s flight from Mumbai to Lucknow.
Subsequently, public-carrier Air India suspended him for his “unacceptable behaviour” based on Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s advisory. Go Air and SpiceJet followed suit and suspended Kamra until further notice on Wednesday.
I did this for my hero…
I did it for Rohit pic.twitter.com/aMSdiTanHo— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) January 28, 2020
Meanwhile, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday said the action by the carriers is in complete consonance with its regulations.
“This is to reiterate that the action taken by the airlines is in complete consonance with Civil Aviation Requirements Section-3, Series M Part VI on Handling of unruly passengers,” the DGCA said in a statement.