Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 24: Widespread coverage in the international media of India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 mission was not out of place but even the Pakistani media has lauded India’s success in the space despite the current strained political relations between the two countries.
Congratulations poured in from across the globe, and people in Pakistan were not untouched by the excitement. Pakistan’s media gave front-page coverage to India’s historic moon landing while a former minister even called it a “great moment” for India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
‘India becomes first nation to land near Moon’s south pole’ was the headline in most of the Pakistani newspapers and websites. This was India’s second attempt to land a spacecraft on the Moon and comes less than a week after Russia’s Luna-25 mission failed.
Pakistan’s Geo News carried a story by its Web Desk about the landing, saying India’s Chandrayaan-3 has finally landed on the moon after a 40-day journey starting from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and a history of space crashing. The News International, the Dawn newspaper, the Business Recorder, Dunya News and others carried stories by various international news agencies.
One of the best compliments to India’s success in the moon mission came from the former minister in the Imran Khan government Fawad Chaudhry. Chaudhry, who was Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the previous Tehreek-e-Insaf party government, called it a great moment for the ISRO.
“What a great moment for #ISRO as #Chandrayaan3 lands on the Moon, I can see lots of young scientists celebrating this moment with Mr Somanath Chairman ISRO; only the Younger generation with dreams can change the world… good luck,” Chaudhry wrote on X. Before the landing, he had said, “All eyes on #Chandryaan3 Moon landing 5:40 PM, great day for Indian Science Community and Space scientists, Congratulations to people of India on this great achievement.”
After accomplishing a historic moon landing through its Chandrayaan-3 mission, India became the fourth country to do so and the first to land near the lunar South Pole.
Hours before the Chadrayaan-3 landing, Fawad Chaudhary had urged the Pakistani government to broadcast the event live on national television. This request triggered a debate on Pakistan’s social media platforms, prompting a YouTuber to gather public opinion on whether India’s big moon moment should be televised.
There were several angry reactions from the people against the Pakistani government for its failure to keep pace with the developments India had registered though both the countries became independent the same day. Not only about the country’s economy, Pakistan’s education system was also strongly criticised by many people. One of the respondents pointed out that during his days in the school, he studies the same science syllabus that his father had studied some 50 years back and perhaps his next generation too would be following the same syllabus.
But the most humorous reaction came from a young person which quickly went viral on the social media. In the viral video, a Pakistani citizen quipped that while India was spending money to land the rover on the moon, Pakistani were already living on the moon. “You see, there is no water, gas or electricity in moon. We in Pakistan also don’t have any of these essentials. Then why bother about sending a spacecraft!”
With this hilarious comparison, he said given the similar conditions, Pakistanis really didn’t need to venture to the moon, as it was just like their circumstances at home.
The video garnered significant attention from social media users. “You have to concede it to them. Pakistanis have the best sense of humour, even in the most difficult of times. No wonder they produced the best stand-up performers,” commented a user. “Lol! This guy can make a career in stand-up comedy,” wrote another user.