New Delhi: An illustration carried by German media outlet Der Spiegel depicting the findings of the UN Population Fund’s State of World Population Report 2023 has elicited sharp reactions from Indians.
The illustration captioned, ‘Population: India overtakes China’, draws on the contrast between India and China, the two most populous countries in the world. It shows an Indian Railways train overtaking a more modernised Chinese locomotive plying on a parallel track. The train carrying a tricolour is brimming with hundreds of seemingly overzealous Indians while the Chinese engine is carrying only two individuals, who are also operating it.
The illustration has been received by many in India as a comment on the country’s infrastructure in comparison to China.
According to a report published by the UN earlier this month, India is on track to surpass China to become the world’s most populous country by July this year.
Reacting to the illustration, Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar wrote on Twitter, “Notwithstanding your attempt at mocking India, it’s not smart to bet against India under PM”.
Former Punjab chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, meanwhile, labelled the illustration “obnoxious” and questioned why the “developed world” never misses “any opportunity to hit India below its belt, and demean its people”.
“In German, the name of influential magazine Der Spiegel means The Mirror. But going by this derogatory, racist cartoon, it should change its name to Rassistischer Troll,” wrote Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda.
YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP V. Vijayasai Reddy remarked that the illustration was in “bad taste” and that the “Western World prefers to depict India as poor and struggling”. He also lamented that “they (Western media) won’t show India’s Vande Bharat or upcoming bullet trains”.
Senior adviser to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta wrote that the illustration “caricaturing India in this manner has no resemblance to reality”. He further commented that the illustration’s purpose was to “show #India down and suck up to #China”.
Der Spiegel (online) is an offshoot of the German news magazine Der Spiegel, founded in 1947 and known for its investigative journalism.
On 14 April, the online publication carried an article by its correspondent Laura Höflinger, writing from Bengaluru, titled, ‘A New Superpower? India’s Economic Rise Holds Promise for the Country and Beyond’.
In the article, Höflinger writes, “Still, India’s rise is good news for the West. Within several years, the country is likely to become the world’s third largest economy behind the U.S. and China, essentially becoming a third economic anchor in a multipolar world. India would have weight and its actions would have consequences.”
“As such, India’s rise could ultimately transform the world in a way that is more amenable to the West’s vision of the future,” she concludes.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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