close_game
close_game

Anand Mahindra slams BBC anchor who questioned India's space mission: ‘Result of colonial rule’

Aug 24, 2023 02:11 PM IST

India's Moon mission Chandrayaan 3 landed on the lunar south pole at 6:04 pm on Wednesday after a long journey of 41 days.

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra on Thursday slammed a BBC anchor for questioning India's space mission in an old video that resurfaced on social media. The presenter in the video can be seen asking a panelist if “India needed to spend money on a space program when there were 700 million people living in poverty in the country”.

Industrialist Anand Mahindra (HT photo)
Industrialist Anand Mahindra (HT photo)

Also read: ISRO chief explains why they chose Moon's South Pole for Chandrayaan 3's landing

“You know I'm going to have to ask you because some people are thinking about this. India, a country that lacks a lot of infrastructure, a country that has a lot of poverty…I think more than 700 million Indians don't have access to a toilet. Really, Really, should they really be spending this sort of money on a space programme,” the BBC anchor can be seen asking in the video.

Replying to this on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mahindra lashed out saying, “Really?? The truth is that, in large part, our poverty was a result of decades of colonial rule which systematically plundered the wealth of an entire subcontinent. Yet the most valuable possession we were robbed of was not the Kohinoor Diamond but our pride & belief in our own capabilities.”

Also read: ‘Already chand par reh rahe hain’: Man from Pakistan on India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission

He added, “Because the goal of colonisation—its most insidious impact—is to convince its victims of their inferiority. Which is why investing in BOTH toilets AND space exploration is not a contradiction. Sir, what going to the moon does for us is that it helps restore our pride & self-confidence. It creates belief in progress through science. It gives us the aspiration to lift ourselves out of poverty. The greatest poverty is the poverty of aspiration.”

In a big boost to India's space programme, India's Moon mission Chandrayaan 3 landed on the lunar south pole at 6:04 pm on Wednesday after a long journey of 41 days. With this, India became the first ever country to land on the Moon's south pole and just the fourth country to land on the lunar surface after Russia, China, and the US.

rec-icon Recommended Topics
Get Current Updates on India News, Weather Today, Latest News at Hindustan Times.
See More
Get Current Updates on India News, Weather Today, Latest News at Hindustan Times.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Monday, February 10, 2025
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On