‘Hate sees only hate’: Prakash Raj on being trolled for Chandrayaan-3 joke
Prakash Raj said his joke dates back to American astronaut Neil Armstrong's era and merely celebrates the Kerala chaiwala who is found all around the world
Actor Prakash Raj has lashed out at people, who had heavily trolled him for his social media post on a joke around India's moon mission Chandrayaan-3, saying that ‘hate sees only hate’.
On Sunday (August 20), 58-year-old Raj had shared a cartoon showing a man pouring tea in an exaggerated motion and captioned it in Kannada, writing, "Latest news: First view just arrived from the Chandrayaan #VikramLander #justasking".
His post, however, evoked strong reactions and a number of social media users slammed him for being 'sarcastic' and for taking a derogatory swipe at the Chandrayaan-3 mission. They basically felt he was targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he is known to be a critic of the PM.
The actor, however, took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that his earlier tweet had referred to an old joke, which belonds to the era of American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon in 1969.
In his tweet, pointing out that 'hate sees only hate', he explained that the joke belonged to the time of Armstrong, 'celebrating our Kerala Chaiwala'. But, he added, ..."which Chaiwala did the TROLLS see?? … if you don't get a joke then the joke is on you.. Grow up #justasking(sic)."
This joke as explained by another social media user, who supported Raj, said that the post is meant to be a dig at how Keralites are found in every corner of the world. And how the first thing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin saw when they stepped foot on the moon was a Malayali selling tea there.
When the multi-lingual actor had posted the joke, social media users had gone after him hammer and tongs called his post ‘insensitive and derogatory'. Users, who probably had no context of the joke, had urged him to show respect for the scientists responsible for India's historic moon mission.
"Chandrayaan-3 is something the whole of India must be proud of, irrespective of political ideology. Know the boundary between political vs national trolling," wrote one user. While another said that there is a difference between hating someone and hating your country. "So sad to see this state of yours!" added the user.
Another said, "Are you so blind in your hate for Modiji that you are MOCKING the hard work of our ISRO scientists & made-in-India mission #Chandrayaan3 with Vikram lander named after Vikram Sarabhai, father of our space program ?"
But there were others who had defended the actor standing up for him emphasising that the reference was to the people of Kerala.
"This is a classic joke made by us Keralites about ourselves and we wholeheartedly accept and laugh about it for decades, one user had said, adding that if people insist on sticking to hate even after it has been explained to you, that says a lot about that person, doesn't it?
Later, Raj also posted another tweet further explaining the connection between Armstrong and the Malayali chaiwalla.