Anurag Thakur, the BJP leader and former Union Minister, stirred reactions on social media after he said that Lord Hanuman could be considered the “first one to travel in space.” During an event in Himachal Pradesh’s school on August 23, the five-time parliamentarian made this controversial statement.
In the viral video clip, the 50-year-old can be seen addressing students on the occasion of National Space Day at a PM Shri School where he questioned, “Antriksh main yatra karne wala pehla kaun tha? (Who was the first space traveller?).” To this he gave his own reply, “Mujhe toh lagta hai Hanuman ji the (I think it was Lord Hanuman).”
X’s community notes pointed to the error and provided a fact check: “Yuri Gagarin was the first space traveler.”
This statement sparked a flurry of reactions online, as a user stated, “Instead of correcting the children, you told them Hanuman was the first space traveller with that frivolous smile. It was Yuri Gagarin. Stop playing with the innocent minds of children.”
Another user remarked, “All the kids were giving wrong answers. The first man to travel to space is Yuri Gagarin and not Neil Armstrong (First man to travel to moon). But you didnt correct them. Faith & science are different subjects. Let kids learn science in school and faith at home.”
A third comment read, “Science is not mythology. To mislead young minds in classrooms is an insult to knowledge, reason, and the spirit of scientific temper enshrined in our Constitution. India’s future lies in nurturing curiosity, not confusing fact with fable.”
A fourth user replied, “Worst government for Indian Education. It will take decades to undo damages.”
A fifth user stated, “For the record: Yuri Gagarin (1961) was the first man in space, Valentina Tereshkova (1963) the first woman, Rakesh Sharma (1984) India’s first, and Kalpana Chawla the first Indian-born woman astronaut.”
Netizens were quick to come up with hilarious memes, GIFs and jokes.
Who was Yuri Gagarin?
Yuri Gagarin, the first space traveller from the Soviet Union, aboard Vostok 1 completed one orbit of Earth on April 12, 1961. “His vehicle, Vostok 1 circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour with the flight lasting 108 minutes,” NASA said. The cosmonaut who completed the first successful crewed spaceflight was ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute.
