New York: Days after it published an offensive cartoon mocking India’s successful Mars mission, The New York Times on Monday apologised saying it was not trying to “impugn” India but was highlighting that space programmes are no longer the exclusive domain of rich, Western countries.
“A large number of readers have complained about a recent editorial cartoon in The International New York Times, about India’s foray into space exploration.
The intent of the cartoonist was to highlight how space exploration is no longer the exclusive domain of rich, Western countries,” Andrew Rosenthal, NYT’s Editorial Page Editor said in a Facebook post.
“We apologise to readers who were offended by the choice of images in this cartoon. We appreciate that readers have shared their feedback, which we welcome,” Rosenthal said.
The September 28 cartoon shows an Indian man, along with a bull, wearing a short “dhoti” and a shirt with the words ‘India’, knocking on the door to a room that has a sign ‘Elite Space Club’. Inside the room are two Western men reading a newspaper with the headline ‘India’s Mars Mission.
Incidentally the cartoon came on the day India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in New York addressing thousands of Indian-Americans from the podium of the Madison Square Garden. (PTI)