India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 mission reminds netizens of New York Times’ ‘racist’ 2014 cartoon

Back in 2014, a cartoon showing a farmer and a cow knocking at the door of a room marked Elite Space Club where two men sit reading a newspaper on India’s Mars Mission was published by the New York Times. The cartoon, which was made by Singapore-based artist Heng Kim Song, was carried with an article titled ‘India’s Budget Mission to Mars’.

The article talked about the total cost of India’s ‘Mangalyaan’ mission that put a robotic probe around the orbit of Mars in September 2014. It was India’s first interplanetary mission and ISRO became the fourth space agency after Roscosmos, NASA and the European Space Agency to achieve the feat. The total cost of the mission was put at $74 million, which made it one of the cheapest interplanetary space missions ever.

However, the cartoon didn’t go down well with Indians who deemed it offensive and racist that forced NYT to apologise. The successful landing of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission has revived memories of that cartoon.

“New York Times cartoon in 2014. Who’s laughing now,” a user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

New York Times cartoon in 2014. Who’s laughing now pic.twitter.com/mRairxuJDC

— Ananth Krishnan (@ananthkrishnan) August 23, 2023

“Time to look back at this racist cartoon by the New York Times,” said another.

Time to look back at this racist cartoon by the New York Times. #Chandrayaan3 pic.twitter.com/co2r4CmE2d

— Srishti (@TechellaTea) August 23, 2023

“Thank you New York Times. Thank you for the racial jibe & the ridicule. Thank you for doubting our abilities. Thank you for laughing at us. Today we did not knock on the door. Today, we kicked the door down. Now, go and draw a new cartoon. Go…” another person wrote.

Thank you New York Times. Thank you for the racial jibe & the ridicule. Thank you for doubting our abilities. Thank you for laughing at us.

Today we did not knock on the door. Today, we kicked the door down.

Now, go and draw a new cartoon. Go…#Chandrayaan3 pic.twitter.com/hxbwwNeRSD

— Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) (@majorgauravarya) August 23, 2023

According to ISRO, the mission’s three objectives are to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate a Rover roving on the Moon and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.