Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Anurag Thakur has sparked outrage yet again after a clip of his comments on “Hanuman ji” being the first man to go into space went viral.
During an interaction with students on National Space Day at a PM Shri School in Una, Himachal Pradesh, Thakur asked, “Who was the first space traveller?” When the students answered “Neil Armstrong”, Thakur smiled and replied, “Mujhe toh lagta hai Hanuman ji the (I think it was Hanuman ji).”
Neither of the responses is historically accurate. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to venture into space in 1961, and American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969.
The five-time legislator continued with an appeal to the students and the faculty, stating,
“As long as we don’t know our thousands of years-old tradition, knowledge, culture, we will be the same as the British have taught us. Think beyond textbooks. Look at our nation, our traditions, our knowledge.”
Thakur subsequently shared the video on X, with the caption, “Pavanputra Hanuman ji…the first astronaut.” The post has since elicited bitter reactions online.
Criticism online
Some users pointed out that Thakur had sent his own son outside the country for quality education, but was “giving wrong knowledge” to Indian students. Others opposed the bid to introduce mythology into science classes, claiming it dilutes the scientific temper.
A user commented, “Substituting history with mythology in classrooms is a betrayal of our Constitution’s guarantee to cultivate a scientific temper. When leaders manipulate history, truth perishes.”
Anurag Thakur, five-time MP from Himachal Pradesh, has also been Union Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting in the second Modi ministry.
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