'Racist': Netizens slam NYT for old Mangalyaan cartoon after Chandrayaan-3's success

The memory of the incident still lingers, as seen from the reactions flooding social media after Chandrayaan-3's triumphant landing on the Moon. The users have demonstrated that they neither forget nor forgive NYT's racist depiction.

In the aftermath of ISRO's successful Moon landing, social media users in India have unearthed an old controversial cartoon published by The New York Times (NYT) back in 2014, following India's budget mission to Mars, Mangalyaan.

The cartoon depicted a mustachioed Indian man, accompanied by a cow, knocking on the door of a room where two Englishmen in tuxedos were reading a paper with the headline ‘India’s Mars Mission’. The room bore the label 'Elite Space Club'. Widely criticized for being racist and belittling India's achievements, the cartoon led to a later apology by the newspaper.

However, the memory of the incident still lingers, as seen from the reactions flooding social media after Chandrayaan-3's triumphant landing on the Moon. The users have demonstrated that they neither forget nor forgive NYT's racist depiction.

Radhika Gupta, MD and CEO of Edelweiss AMC, pointed out the stark contrast between the old cartoon and NYT's headline covering Chandrayaan-3's achievement. In a post featuring both images, she emphasized how India can both stumble and rise. The resurfacing of the cartoon serves as a reminder that sentiments stirred by such instances of racism endure beyond apologies.

Here are some tweets: