Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has decided not to fly in any of the four airlines which have banned stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra after he allegedly heckled television anchor Arnab Goswami on a flight. Kashyap told The Telegraph, “I will wake up at 4 am but I will not fly IndiGo.” He took a Vistara flight for which he had to wake up at 4 am. He tweeted about the same, “No @IndiGo6E .. on @airvistara .. in solidarity with @kunalkamra88.”
Anurag Kashyap was in Kolkata to open a film festival. In his address at the event, the filmmaker said, “I took the decision because of the way the things happened. The thing is: one minister says Kunal Kamra won’t be allowed to fly Air India and requests other airlines to follow suit. 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.”
Kunal Kamra himself took a Vistara flight on Monday. In a tweet, Kamra posted a photo of himself posing in front of a Vistara counter at the airport and wrote,”My airport look all thanks to @airvistara following due process…”Kamra had demanded a sum of 25 lakhs from Indigo for the mental pain and losses incurred by him on account of the cancellations of his scheduled shows. Apart from IndiGo, Air India, Spicejet, and GoAir also imposed a flying suspension on him.