As Chandrayaan successfully landed near the Moon's southern pole, establishing India's pioneering achievement in this regard, Twitter users resurfaced the old cartoon and tagged the New York Times, suggesting that it was time for a new perspective.
Amidst the celebrations of Chandrayaan-3's successful lunar landing, a cartoon created six years ago by the New York Times about India's space program resurfaced on social media platforms.
The cartoon was originally released by the US-based newspaper in response to the accomplishment of the Mangalyaan mission in 2014. This mission, aimed at placing a robotic probe into Mars' orbit, was achieved at a remarkably low cost of just ₹450 crore, marking it as one of the most economical interplanetary missions to date. Before this, Mars missions had primarily been carried out by the US, Russia, and Europe.
The New York Times' cartoon depicted a figure dressed as an Indian villager accompanied by a cow, knocking on the door of the "Elite Space Club," where two individuals in Western attire were seated.
This cartoon sparked significant backlash, as many individuals criticized the esteemed newspaper for being discriminatory and derisive towards India following its impressive feat in space exploration.
Subsequently, the outrage prompted an apology. According to a report by the BBC, Andrew Rosenthal, the editorial page editor of the New York Times, addressed the matter in a Facebook post. He explained that numerous readers had expressed their discontent with the cartoon.
Rosenthal clarified that the cartoonist, Heng Kim Song, intended to highlight how space exploration was no longer confined to affluent Western nations. Heng Kim Song, based in Singapore, frequently employs imagery and text in a thought-provoking manner to comment on global affairs. Rosenthal expressed regret to those who found the cartoon's visuals offensive and stated, "We apologise to readers who were offended by the choice of images in this cartoon."
Rosenthal emphasized that Heng's intention was never to criticize India, its government, or its citizens.
As Chandrayaan successfully landed near the Moon's southern pole, establishing India's pioneering achievement in this regard, Twitter users resurfaced the old cartoon and tagged the New York Times, suggesting that it was time for a new perspective.
One of those sharing the old cartoon was Y Sathish Reddy, a leader from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi. He wrote, "You You chuckled, questioning our capabilities. Today, we silence you with our triumph! Now, go ahead & sketch a fresh cartoon," as he shared the cartoon.
Certain Twitter users even shared an adapted version of the New York Times' cartoon, inspired by a response from the Times of India three years earlier.
The Times of India's cartoon, published in 2017 after India successfully launched a record-breaking 104 satellites into space using a single rocket, reversed the New York Times' cartoon imagery. In the TOI cartoon, the Indian man and his cow were depicted inside the space club, while the two men previously shown within the club in the NYT cartoon were now portrayed knocking on the door of the "Elite Space Club," eager to gain entry.
Yesterday, many users altered the TOI cartoon to illustrate that developed nations are now seeking India's guidance on how to achieve a successful spacecraft landing near the Moon's southern pole.
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 "'We kicked the door down': Desi netizens lambast old NYT cartoon after Chandrayaan-3 landing")
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