New Delhi: As Kannada actor Prakash Raj’s Vikram Lander tweet evoked reactions from social media users, a local leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) approached the police to lodge a formal complaint against the film personality for “poking fun at ISRO scientists”.
On Sunday, Prakash Raj shared a picture on Twitter featuring a cartoon depicting a man in a shirt and a lungi — seemingly a Malayali — pouring tea on the Moon’s surface.
The tweet was seen by many as mocking India’s lunar exploration mission Chandrayaan-3. Vikram Lander, which is named after physicist and astronomer Vikram Sarabhai, is due to land on the Moon on 23 August.
Shivanand Gaikwad, a BJP office bearer from Karnataka’s Bagalkote district, has now given a complaint to the Banahatti police station. “The actor shared an image on Twitter which pokes fun at our ISRO scientists,” Gaikwad told ThePrint over the phone Tuesday.
Gaikwad added that it was a ‘request’ and not a ‘complaint’ to take action against Raj.
Ever since the actor tweeted the post Sunday night, the image has been reposted more than 2,500 times, and got over 16,000 likes.
BREAKING NEWS:-
First picture coming from the Moon by #VikramLander Wowww #justasking pic.twitter.com/RNy7zmSp3G
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) August 20, 2023
A police officer from Banahatti station confirmed that a ‘request’ letter has been given to the station. “We will now bring it to the attention of the seniors who will decide the next course of action,” the police officer told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, Prakash Raj came out with two tweets on Tuesday and Wednesday to hit back at trolls, who attacked him for allegedly belittling a project of national importance.
Hate sees only Hate.. i was referring to a joke of #Armstrong times .. celebrating our kerala Chaiwala .. which Chaiwala did the TROLLS see ?? .. if you dont get a joke then the joke is on you .. GROW UP #justasking https://t.co/NFHkqJy532
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) August 21, 2023
ATTENTION:-dear #Unacedemy trolls and #godimedia who know only one #Chaiwala .. proudly presenting .. the ever inspiring our own malayali chaiwala since 1960 s ..if you want to be educated please read #justasking https://t.co/KGOnSIBmjq
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) August 22, 2023
The original post had opened the floodgates of criticisms with a section criticising Raj for his ‘anti-national’ comments, while several others tried to point out that it was merely a popular joke that Malyalis are found in every corner of the planet and beyond.
A social media user had pointed out that the joke is from the first Moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin that when they first stepped foot on the lunar surface, they found a Malayali selling tea — an ode to the community’s exemplary entrepreneurial spirit.
(Edited by Tony Rai)