New Delhi, February 4: Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday hit out at the Modi government over a ban imposed on stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra by several airlines. Alleging the Centre was "only doing lip service" to initiatives such as Digital India and Startup India, Shashi Tharoor said that government schemes should be renamed "sit down India, shut down India and shut up India." Kunal Kamra, Banned by Four Airlines After Fallout With Arnab Goswami, Flies Vistara, Thanks Airline.

Without naming Kunal Kamra, Tharoor said: "Lip service was paid to Skill India, Digital India and Startup India, but no mention of Standup India as you are so busy banning stand-up comedians. Government schemes should really be named as sit-down India, shutdown India and shut-up India." Kamra was barred by four airlines after he questioned anchor Arnab Goswami's brand on journalism onboard a flight. Shashi Tharoor on NRC: Muslim Would Be Asked Documents to Prove Their Nationality.

The former Union Minister said that President's address fails to address the national aspirations of a new India and hence should be rejected. He added that though President's address mentioned India's economic achievements and promised a $5 trillion economy, there was no mention of the drastic fall in the Global Peace Index, the Democracy Index, and the Press Freedom Index and the dip in economic growth.

Earlier, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi supported Kamra and attacked Goswami for action against the stand-up comedian. He had tweeted: "The ban imposed on #kunalkamra by 4 airlines is the act of a coward leveraging his influence with the Govt to silence a critic. Those who use their "news" cameras as 24x7 tools of propaganda, should show some spine when the camera is turned on them."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 04, 2020 03:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).