Air India, IndiGo ban comedian Kamra

New Delhi: Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra was on Tuesday banned by national carrier Air India, hours after IndiGo Airlines did the same after an incident where he allegedly "heckled" journalist Arnab Goswami onboard its Mumbai-Lucknow flight.

"In view of the incident onboard @IndiGo6E, Air India wishes to inform that conduct of Person concerned is unacceptable. With a view to discourage such behavior onboard flts, Mr Kunal Kamra is suspended from flying on any Air India flt until further notice," Air India said in a tweet posted late on Tuesday night, tagging Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Puri took notice of the incident and "advised" other airlines in India to impose similar restriction on Kamra, stating "offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers". While IndiGo has suspended Kamra for six months, Air India has done so "until further notice". In a video clip posted by Kamra on Twitter, the stand-up comedian is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist", while Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in.

In a statement, Kamra had said that his actions came after trying to engage with Goswami in a discussion and that it was for Rohith Vemula.