After Chandrayaan 3's success, NYT's ‘racist’ cartoon resurfaces. Netizens react

As the cartoon made a comeback on the internet, several Netizens on X, formerly known as Twitter, hit out at the US-based newspaper.

As India scripted history with Chandrayaan-3's successful Moon landing on Wednesday, an old New York Times caricature that mocked India's space programme resurfaced on social media, with netizens slamming the US-based newspaper, yet again.

New York Times' old 2014 racist caricature

The caricature was published in 2014 following the success of Mangalyaan - a mission to put a robotic probe into orbit around Mars at just ₹450 crore.

The cartoon - made by Singapore-based artist Heng Kim Song - showed a man, dressed as an Indian villager with a cow, knocking on a door with ‘Elite Space Club’ written on it. Two men wearing Western attire can be seen sitting with one holding a cup and another holding a newspaper that read ‘India's Mars mission'. The cartoon was published in the newspaper with an article titled ‘India’s Budget Mission to Mars’.

As the caricature had received a massive backlash even back in 2014, NYT editorial board editor Andrew Rosenthal had issued an apology in a Facebook post.

“A large number of readers have complained about a recent editorial cartoon in The International New York Times, about India's foray into space exploration. The intent of the cartoonist, Heng Kim Song, was to highlight how space exploration is no longer the exclusive domain of rich, Western countries. Heng was in no way trying to impugn India, its government, or its citizens. We appreciate that readers have shared their feedback, which we welcome,” he wrote.

Netizens hit out at NYT

As the cartoon made a comeback on the internet, several netizens on X, formerly known as Twitter, hit out at the US-based newspaper.

Among those was Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Y Sathish Reddy who asked NYT to “go ahead and sketch a fresh cartoon”.

“Recalling @nytimes for their Racial Taunt. You chuckled, questioning our capabilities. Today, we silence you with our triumph! Now, go ahead & sketch a fresh cartoon,” he wrote.

Another Netizen 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…”