There is a time and place for (nearly) everything, but an airplane confrontation between two public figures is probably not a good idea.
On Tuesday, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra found himself on a flight with journalist Arnab Goswami. According to Kamra, he gave Goswami "a monologue about his journalism".
"All he did was call me mentally unstable & after sometime I had no choice but to return to my seat," Kamra adds.
Now, this encounter could have gone in many ways, but what ensued was a lengthy one-sided conversation where Kamra repeatedly asked the Republic Editor if he was a 'coward', 'journalist' or 'nationalist'. He then proceeded to post a video of his spiel on Twitter.
But perhaps, it would have been better if Kamra had hastened his return to his seat.
One might not agree with the ideas and methods of another person. But your freedom of expression ends the moment it encroaches on some else's personal liberty. In that context, standing next to someone on a flight and taking a video of them, while repeatedly asking them if they were a coward, is perhaps something that could have been avoided. Try positioning yourself in Goswami's place and it might become easier to understand why the situation is problematic.
One can argue, in a manner similar to Kamra, that Goswami does not "deserve my politeness". But then, if every person got their comeuppance...well, that would absolve almost nobody.
Kamra said that Goswami could have taken this as an opportunity to "educate" him. But again, it is wholly Goswami's prerogative to do so. And if he chose to "watch some shitty movie and not engage", well, that's entirely up to him. And that is not something he can be criticised for.
At the same time, it must be kept in mind that this was not a private plane ferrying just two passengers. Many on social media seem to have a similar opinion, with Twitter users questioning why IndiGo staff members did not step in. Take the 2018 incident where a Tamil Nadu student was arrested after she chose a flight for sloganeering ("fascist BJP down, down"). BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan had promptly filed a complain.
In 2017, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had launched a 'No-Fly list', the rules of which took into consideration passengers engaging in verbally unruly behaviour. According to a PIB release, that was a Level 1 offence, that "calls for debarment upto 3 months".
According to the No Fly List rules, this complaint has to be filed by the pilot-in-command. It would then be probed by an internal committee to be set up by the airline.
Many have wondered if Kamra now qualifies for a debarment.
Taking to Twitter post his flight, Kamra said that he "did exactly what Republic TV journalists do to people in their private/public spaces".
While that's a debate for another day, does imitating someone's behaviour make you any better than them?
"I am not sorry for it," he added.
To his credit however, Kamra said,"The moment the stewardess asked me to move, I went back to my seat in 20 seconds. I apologised to each crew member personally and to both the pilots, by staying back till the end, for any inconvenience that I might have caused during the flight."
"I do apologise to every passenger except one," he added.
Kunal Kamra and Arnab Goswami may not see eye to eye. But there's a wealth of difference between poking fun at someone during a stand-up show, and heckling them on a flight. And similarly, what Goswami says or does in a professional capacity does not make him deserving of Kamra's ire in such a manner. Arnab's opinions on the Rohith Vemula suicide case are secondary in this case. Moral reasons may have driven Kamra, but it is harder to make allowances for his monologue based merely on morality.
