New Delhi: Activist Priya Pillai and three others held up placards in a Varanasi-Delhi IndiGo flight on Thursday condemning the airline’s decision to ban comedian Kunal Kamra from its flights after he confronted Republic TV news anchor and editor Arnab Goswami on a flight.
According to a report in The Telegraph, Pillai, Medha Kapoor, Debayan Gupta and another person, stood up with placards while the evening flight was still on the Varanasi tarmac.
The placards read: “We condemn Indigo’s ban on Kunal Kamra #YouDivideWeMultiply”.
After they stood with placards for a while, IndiGo’s staff asked them to take their seats, which they did. IndiGo sources later described the protest as “peaceful”.
Speaking to The Wire, Pillai said the ban must be seen in the backdrop of the current political context that is suppressing dissent and the strong nexus between the government and corporations.
“I protested peacefully in my individual capacity as a citizen of this country. The way Indigo arbitrarily and hastily banned Kunal Kamra from flying without even an inquiry (which the IndiGo pilot himself has made public through his letter) followed by others including the government-owned Air India clearly smells of collusion between corporates, corporate-owned media and the government to suppress dissent and freedom of opinion.”
Pillai also objected to a government-owned airline banning a traveller wihout an inquiry.
“Arnab Goswami works for a private media house and what is the justification for a government owned Air India to ban someone allegedly violating the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines without even waiting for a proper inquiry when the incident did not even happen on board their flight. So, the message is loud and clear – nobody can question people who support the government directly or indirectly. We need to condemn all such high handed acts as they are against the basic principles of our Constitution,” she added.
She said that some fellow passengers congratulated them and asked them to lift the banners so that they could be seen clearly. Few others claimed that the protest goes against the guidelines.
07/02/20 The Wire
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According to a report in The Telegraph, Pillai, Medha Kapoor, Debayan Gupta and another person, stood up with placards while the evening flight was still on the Varanasi tarmac.
The placards read: “We condemn Indigo’s ban on Kunal Kamra #YouDivideWeMultiply”.
After they stood with placards for a while, IndiGo’s staff asked them to take their seats, which they did. IndiGo sources later described the protest as “peaceful”.
Speaking to The Wire, Pillai said the ban must be seen in the backdrop of the current political context that is suppressing dissent and the strong nexus between the government and corporations.
“I protested peacefully in my individual capacity as a citizen of this country. The way Indigo arbitrarily and hastily banned Kunal Kamra from flying without even an inquiry (which the IndiGo pilot himself has made public through his letter) followed by others including the government-owned Air India clearly smells of collusion between corporates, corporate-owned media and the government to suppress dissent and freedom of opinion.”
Pillai also objected to a government-owned airline banning a traveller wihout an inquiry.
“Arnab Goswami works for a private media house and what is the justification for a government owned Air India to ban someone allegedly violating the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines without even waiting for a proper inquiry when the incident did not even happen on board their flight. So, the message is loud and clear – nobody can question people who support the government directly or indirectly. We need to condemn all such high handed acts as they are against the basic principles of our Constitution,” she added.
She said that some fellow passengers congratulated them and asked them to lift the banners so that they could be seen clearly. Few others claimed that the protest goes against the guidelines.
07/02/20 The Wire
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