'Are you a coward or are you a journalist?' Kunal Kamra launches monologue at Arnab Goswami on airplane
Goswami chose to studiously look at his laptop while Kamra recorded him.
Comedian Kunal Kamra attempted to ask Republic TV's Arnab Goswami "questions about his journalism" on an Indigo flight. While Goswami studiously ignored him, looking instead at his open laptop, Kamra parodied Goswami's own legendary primetime style, saying: "Viewers today want to know if Arnab is a coward or a nationalist".
Kamra said he questioned Goswami "for Rohit", referring to Rohith Vemula.
Kamra’s hectoring is a lot like what Goswami’s reporters at Republic TV indulge in and pass off as reporting. Whether it’s “surrounding Shashi Tharoor” or chasing Jignesh Mevani. In the most recent of their attempts, Republic TV reporters created quite a ruckus at a JNUSU press conference much to the consternation of reporters from other media organisations present on the spot.
Kamra put up the video after tweeting that Goswami had called him "mentally unstable" when he attempted to ask him about his journalism on the plane.
Kamra can be heard in the video, saying: "I am part of the tukde-tukde narrative. You should deflate me. enemies of the state down...Arnab, you should have a reply. Are you a coward or are you a journalist or a nationalist? Who are you, Arnab?"
At one point, Kamra sounded emotional, saying he was questioning Goswami for Rohith Vemula's mother, Radhika, "whose caste you were discussing on your fucking show". He added: "I know this is not allowed, it's fine...I'll go to jail for this." He directed Goswami to read Rohith's suicide note to have "some emotion or some heart".
To Goswami's credit, he didn't look up from his laptop once.
Soon after, Kamra put up a statement, saying he did "exactly what Republic TV journalists do to people in their private/public spaces". Saying he doesn't regret what he does, Kamra concluded that he wanted to apologise to "every passenger except one".
Responses to Kamra's video were...a mixed bag. Take a look.