NYT says sorry for Mars cartoon

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The New York Times has apologised for a cartoon on India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, following criticism that it insulted India. The cartoon — which showed a rustic farmer leading a cow by a rope knocking on the door of an ‘Elite Space Club’ through whose window two western gentlemen wearing suits can be seen lounging on couches — was panned for being racist and for stereotyping Indians. The cartoon was carried with an article titled ‘India’s Budget Mission to Mars’, a reference to the frugality of the Mission, which was achieved at a tenth of the cost of NASA’s Maven, which entered the Martian orbit just ahead of Mangalyaan. “A large number of readers have complained about a recent editorial cartoon in The International New York Times, about India’s foray into space exploration. The intent of the cartoonist, Heng Kim Song, was to highlight how space exploration is no longer the exclusive domain of rich, Western countries,” Andrew Rosenthal, Editorial Page Editor, wrote on The New York Times’s “Mr. Heng, who is based in Singapore, uses images and text — often in a provocative way — to make observations about international affairs. We apologize to readers who were offended by the choice of images in this cartoon. Mr. Heng was in no way trying to impugn India, its government or its citizens. We appreciate that readers have shared their feedback, which we welcome,” Rosenthal wrote. Heng is a veteran cartoonist whose work has appeared in a large number of publications over the past three decades. His cartoons focus on a wide range of international news events, and on leaders from Barack Obama to Xi Jinping.