Hyderabad Desk: As Chandrayaan-3 made a successful soft landing on the south pole of moon on Wednesday Aug. 23, netizens unearthed a 2014 cartoon by the New York Times allegedly mocking the success of India's Mangalyaan Mars mission at the time. As soon as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief, S Somanath confirmed that the Chandrayaan-3 lander module had successfully landed on the moon, congratulatory messages poured in from all quarters commending the Indian space research body for the feat.
After soaking in the country's rare achievement, netizens were remembered of the alleged racist cartoon published by the NYT at the time of Mangalyaan success in 2014. The cartoon showed an Indian farmer with a cow knocking at the 'Elite Space Club' where westerners are seated. IAS officer Manjul Jindal posted in Thane district of Maharashtra was among the first to recall the 2014 NYT cartoon.
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“This cartoon published by NYT is certainly racist. But let's not take offence! Yes, we are proud to be a land of snake charmers, cows & gurus. Also, we can land on the moon. We as Indians shld shrug off Western standards of 'elite' & 'developed'. We don't need their approval. Let's make and write our own story,” Jindal wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader, Y Sathish Reddy also took a jibe at the NYT cartoon in a post on X. “Recalling New York Time for their racial taunt. You chuckled, questioning our capabilities. Today, we silence you with our triumph! Now, go ahead and sketch a fresh cartoon,” Reddy wrote. Pertinently, the 2014 cartoon, which was termed as racist and mocking India's success in space research had created an uproar.
Following a backlash, NYT had to apologize for publishing the controversial cartoon.
