Actor Prakash Raj slammed for ’mocking’ India’s moon mission

www.mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, August 21, 2023: As Chandrayaan-3 looks to script history on Wednesday by landing on the Moon’s south pole, popular actor Prakash Raj’s tweet on India’s Moon mission did not go down well with many X (formerly Twitter) users. Raj on Sunday tweeted a picture of a cartoon depicting a man in a vest and lungi pouring tea, which he called the “first picture coming from the Moon”.

“BREAKING NEWS: First picture coming from the Moon by #VikramLander Wowww #just asking,” the south Indian actor tweeted. Objecting to his post, several users slammed the Raj for allegedly “mocking” Chandrayaan-3.

“There is a difference between hating someone and hating your country. So sad to see this state of yours!,” comedian Appurv Gupta’s reply cropped up in response to the actor’s post.

Many users shared similar sentiments and advised the actor to respect the mission “irrespective of his political ideology”. Raj is known as a critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.

Some users believed that his post was "derogatory" and in a bid to criticise Modi, Raj was, in fact, mocking the hard work of the scientists. “Shame on you for mocking #Chandrayaan3 in your blind hate for Modi. You are mocking our scientists who put years of their lives into making this a success,” a Mumbai-based BJP member replied.

“Some of its own citizens are praying for Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan 3 to fail so that they can pin down the Modi government,” another X user said.