The New York Times ( NYT ) yesterday apologised for publishing a cartoon on India’s successful Mars mission which a large number of readers accused of mocking India, Press Trust of India ( PTI ) reported.

Andrew Rosenthal, NYT ’s editorial page editor, said in a Facebook post that the intent of the cartoonist, Heng Kim Song, was to highlight how space exploration is no longer the “exclusive domain” of Western countries in a recent cartoon in The International New York Times .

 

“We apologise to readers who were offended by the choice of images in this cartoon. Heng was in no way trying to impugn India, its government or its citizens. We appreciate that readers have shared their feedback which we welcome,” he said.

The Sept 28 cartoon shows an Indian man wearing a short ‘dhoti’ and a shirt with the words ‘India’ accompanied by a bull knocking on the door to a room carrying a sign ‘Elite Space Club’.

 

In the room are two Western men reading a newspaper with the headline ‘India’s Mars Mission’.

Several people commented on social media that the paper should publish its apology instead of making a statement on Facebook.

A number of Facebook users have demanded that the cartoon be removed from the newspaper’s website.

“You should apologise for the racist cartoon in your newspaper... apologising in Facebook is not enough,” said one user.

“A large number of scientists working at Nasa are Indians,” said another.

- Bernama