Kamra-Goswami incident takes social media by storm
The video of stand up comedian Kunal Kamra's encounter with noted Indian journalist Arnab Goswami on an IndiGo flight went viral on social media
Major controversy broke out on Tuesday evening when the popular stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra heckled Arnab Goswami, a reputed Indian journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV during a flight from Mumbai to Lucknow.
Kamra shared a video of the encounter through his social media accounts and it went viral within a few minutes. In the video, Kamra can be seen continuously disturbing Goswami with his rants while Goswami sits there working on his laptop with earphones plugged in ignoring Kamra.
The controversial video of the two well-known personalities reached millions of people within seconds. Seeing Kamra's ill-behaviour during the flight, IndiGo banned him from travelling on their flights for the next six months.
Moments after, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted urging other airlines to do the same."Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable and endangers the safety of air travellers. We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned," Tweeted Puri.
Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 28, 2020
We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned. https://t.co/UHKKZfdTVS
Expressing their agreement with the minister, other airlines also banned Kamra from flying on their flights. This chain reaction of banning Kamra and the intervention of the minister triggered a debate on social media. Interestingly, the Kamra incident took social media by storm and became the top trend on Twiter by Tuesday night.
Kamra's actions left social media users divided, while one lot, including Goswami fans, unequivocally condemned Kamra for his behaviour, the other agreed with Kamra.
Twitter and Facebook are witnessing heated arguments between the fans of Kamra and the supporters of Goswami and there were around 90 thousand social media posts around the incident.
Documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan described Kamra’s act as “non-violent satyagraha” against a news anchor known for “violent diatribes” on his channel, while Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor said Kamra had given Goswami a “taste of his own medicine”.
Do I think Arnab’s brand of “journalism” is a disgrace to the profession? Yes. People can go and tell him what they think of him, or not watch him. But it is still in poor taste to heckle him on a flight. I would rather not stoop to his level. https://t.co/6ssgXs7k2P
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) January 29, 2020
The other hand many people applauded Kamra for his act but have questioned his conduct.
Deeply conflicted on the Arnab @kunalkamra88 incident.
— Parminder Singh (@parrysingh) January 29, 2020
Mind says - Why stoop so low?
Heart says - But finally Arnab got a taste of his own medicine!
Mind says - Remember Michelle Obama said ‘When they go low, we go high!’
Heart says - But remember who won the election?
While their respective supporters are busy proving their point right, brands too joined in to cash the Kamra act as an opportunity for moment marketing.
View this post on Instagram
The incident also emerged as a golden moment for the ones who keep hunting for content to create new memes.
View this post on InstagramWhen elephant walks the walk, dogs bark the bark. #terror786 #kunalkamra #kunal #arnab
