India made history yesterday when Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the South Pole of the lunar surface. ISRO’s historic lunar mission is all over the news worldwide. India became the first country to plant its flag on the South Pole of the moon. After the US, Russia, and China, India became the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon.
The event was covered globally by almost every news network in the worldwide. However, when BBC News covered the spectacular accomplishment of the country, a video of a BBC News anchor stated that India should focus on its poverty rather than spending on a space programme.
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The video where the BBC anchor spoke about India’s poverty and toilets was not well received by many Indians
In the video, the anchor could be heard saying,
“I have to ask you because some people have been thinking about this. Should India, a country that lacks a lot of infrastructure, has extreme poverty and has more than 700 million people without access to a toilet, really be spending this sort of money on a space programme?”
Listen to what BBC had to say about #Chandrayaan3
– Should India which lacks in Infrastructure and has extreme poverty, Should they be spending this much amount of money on a space program pic.twitter.com/dz28aaaS1T
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) August 23, 2023
Among the Indians who were upset and angry by the anchor’s remarks was the Chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra. The businessman is known for his patriotism and the question made him furious.
Anand Mahindra delivered a befitting reply to the BBC anchor on Twitter
Anand Mahindra said that India’s poverty was due to decades of British colonial rule that exhausted the wealth of the entire subcontinent. He said that the Britishers didn’t just rob the Kohinoor Diamond, they took much more than that. He also added that this lunar mission will help restore the lost pride and belief in every Indian’s capabilities.
This is what the Chairman of the Mahindra Group and a proud Indian said,
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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. 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…
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… https://t.co/KQP40cklQZ
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) August 24, 2023
Just after this, the former Digital Head of BBC News India Mukesh Sharma took to Twitter and revealed that there has been confusion and he clarified it. He said that the video that has been doing the rounds is an old clip. He shared a link to BBC’s latest coverage of the Chandrayaan 3 mission.
The Editorial Lead of BBC’s African Languages & English for Africa tweeted,
This one is an old clip and not on India’s #Chandrayaan3 mission. Here is the link of BBC’s #Chandrayan coverage today-https://t.co/6MBmCbHkzC https://t.co/f7Kx2e8hM3
— Mukesh Sharma (@BBCMukeshS) August 23, 2023
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