'Lord Hanuman was first to reach space', BJP's Anurag Thakur tells school students

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi often hails India’s scientific community and its efforts in the fields of science, technology, and space, many leaders of his BJP happily decry science. On countless occasions, they have been found reducing themselves to a subject of ridicule with remarks that only left those with a scientific temper amazed and amused.

One such gem is that internet and satellite communication existed in the age of the Mahabharata.

Something similar happened on this year’s National Space Day, which India celebrates on August 23 to commemorate the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon in 2023. On Saturday (August 23), the prime minister, in a video message, praised the country’s scientists for their tireless work, linking it to national pride, and eulogized the country’s space sector.

Also read: PM Modi urges scientists to prepare for deep space mission on National Space Day

'Lord Hanuman, first man in space'

However, the same day, BJP MP and former Union minister Anurag Thakur made a claim that is yet to be scientifically validated. Addressing students on the occasion to champion science at a PM Shri School in his home state of Himachal Pradesh, Thakur asked in Hindi who was the first person to go to space.

The little ones replied in chorus, saying Neil Armstrong. While Thakur could have rectified by telling them that it was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, he chose an Indian god – Lord Hanuman.

“Mujhe toh lagta hai Hanuman ji the (I think it was Hanumanji),” he said.

Thakur, whose last ministerial stint was at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, then offered an explanation backing his theory.

Also read: National Space Day 2025: Significance, theme and what ISRO, PM Modi said

“Because we still see ourselves as we are now. As long as we do not know our thousands of years' old tradition, knowledge, culture, we will remain the same as the British have shown us. So, I would like to request the principal and all of you to think outside the textbooks and take a look at our nation, our traditions, our knowledge. If you look at it from that direction, you will find a lot of things to see,” the 50-year-old Hamirpur MP said.

He also posted a video of the interaction on X.

'NASA in shock': Netizens react

Like his party boss, Thakur also brought in a sense of national pride into what he said, but people were in a mood to mock the MP. “NASA is in shock,” said one netizen. An angrier one asked the leader not to ruin children’s minds with “unscientific bull c**p”. A third cautioned Thakur, saying he should be careful since he was talking to a bunch of students and not at a religious gathering.

Also read: PM Modi declares Aug 23 as 'National Space Day', Chandrayaan-3 touchdown point as 'Shiva Shakti'

What was ironic is that the parliamentarian was speaking at an institute that aims to nurture students to become informed citizens of tomorrow, and on an occasion which encourages India to strive for more achievements in space science.

Strides in space sector

India, in fact, is at the cusp of scaling new heights in space technology. While the prime minister has given a call for deeper space research to continue with the success stories India has achieved with its Mars and moon missions and at least five unicorns in the sector, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday (August 24), conducted successfully its first Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-1), a key milestone in the run-up for India’s first human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan.

The country has still not come out of the hangover of adulating Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He met Prime Minister Modi and other leaders earlier this week. He also attended the ISRO’s National Day programme in Delhi.

Also read: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returns to India after ISS mission

Also on the special day, the Indian space agency unveiled the much-anticipated model of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) in the national capital. India prepares to launch the BAS’s first module, its indigenously built space station, by 2028, to author entry into an elite club of countries that have orbital laboratories.

Amid these high points, Thakur’s theory of ‘Hanuman as the first Indian to reach space’ is a clear anomaly.