India (Commonwealth Union)_ Work hard in silence; let your success make the noise! The quote is a perfect example of India’s current status. India’s recent achievement in lunar exploration, marked by a historic moon landing, has garnered significant global attention and commendation. Further, the resounding success of the lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 was also a slapping response to many criticisms over time. However, this success was also accompanied by a viral video from BBC News that has sparked controversy. The video captures a BBC News anchor questioning India’s allocation of resources to a space program given the nation’s existing challenges with infrastructure and widespread poverty.
As India proudly accomplished the first-ever planting of its flag on the South Pole of the lunar surface, it joined the ranks of the US, Russia, and China as the fourth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. This achievement has garnered widespread praise and extensive coverage from international news networks, dominating television screens worldwide. Amid the celebration, the video featuring a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news anchor questioning India’s priorities in light of its space mission has garnered attention. The anchor’s comparison of the space mission’s cost with the country’s poverty statistics has also stirred discussion.
In the viral video, the BBC anchor asks an Indian reporter whether it’s appropriate for India, a nation grappling with infrastructure deficiencies and extreme poverty where a significant number of people lack access to basic amenities like toilets, to invest substantial funds in a space mission. The question from the anchor reads: “Some people will be thinking about this. India, a country that lacks a lot of infrastructure, a country that has extreme poverty. I think more than 700 million Indians don’t have access to a toilet. Should they really be spending this much money on a space mission?”
The resurfacing of this video on X after the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander on the moon’s surface has reignited the controversy. The clip reveals the news anchor’s focus on critiquing India’s decision to invest in space exploration while facing significant domestic challenges. The video’s circulation on social media has triggered backlash against the BBC and the journalist, with many criticizing the timing and tone of the comments that seemed to downplay India’s space achievement amid its ongoing success.
The contextual backdrop also includes India’s previous lunar landing attempt in September 2019, which ended in failure due to a software glitch, and Russia’s recent attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon with the Luna-25 mission, which resulted in a crash. Though the BBC’s earlier negative coverage was about the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019, India has now hit back at the BBC with the resounding success of Chandrayaan-3. Chandrayaan-3, a cost-effective mission valued at ₹600 crore, aims to carry out a range of experiments over a two-week period, including analyzing the mineral composition of the lunar surface using a spectrometer.
In the meantime, Mukesh Sharma, the former Digital Head of BBC News India, took to social media to clarify that the video in question was an old clip from 2019, when Chandrayaan-2 was launched, and not directly related to the Chandrayaan-3 mission. The Editorial Lead of the BBC’s African Languages & English for Africa also clarified that the old video that has resurfaced on the internet was not meant as commentary on the recent lunar mission.
Overall, India’s remarkable success with the Chandrayaan-3 mission serves as a powerful counterpoint to the previous negative comments made by the BBC regarding the country’s space missions. The resounding achievement not only highlights India’s scientific and technological capabilities but also underscores its unwavering commitment to advancing space exploration despite challenges. This triumph not only silences skepticism but also reaffirms India’s position as a significant player in the realm of space exploration, inspiring national pride and global admiration alike.
