‘Hanuman was first astronaut?’ Anurag Thakur trolled as internet picks Chacha Chaudhary and Narada Muni

Una (Himachal Pradesh): What was intended to be a celebration of India’s space achievements turned into a social media storm after BJP MP and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur claimed that Hanuman was the first space traveller. Speaking at a National Space Day event in a PM Shri School in Una, Thakur posed a seemingly simple question to the students: “Who was the first space traveller?” When the students answered “Neil Armstrong,” Thakur smiled and countered, “Mujhe toh lagta hai Hanuman ji the” (I think it was Hanumanji).

While his remark was met with laughter, it soon ignited a wave of backlash online and drew criticism from political circles. Thakur even posted the video of his comments on X, captioning it, “Pawansut Hanuman Ji… the first astronaut.” What followed was a flood of sarcasm, memes, and heated responses questioning the mixing of mythology with science in a classroom setting.

The internet wasted no time. One user mocked the minister saying, “The first astronaut was Narada Muni... Anurag Thakur... You must have hardly read 2 books, you did not pay attention even in that!”

Another shared an image of the comic character Chacha Chaudhary and joked, “Look we found out the second astronaut,” implying that imagination had clearly taken flight.

Others linked his statement to political controversies, with one user writing, “Election Commission discovered the number zero and Hanuman was the first astronaut,” referring to the vote rigging allegations against the Election Commission. Some responses were scathing, with one user commenting, “Did you teach the same to your own children as well?” while another pointed out, “Hanuman ji used to fly in the troposphere, space means going beyond the exosphere to other celestial bodies. Please tell your scriptwriter to revise basic science.”

The trolling wasn’t limited to jokes. A viral clip from the recent satirical film Bhagwan Bharose was widely shared, with users comparing the fictional, blindly believing child Bhola to Thakur himself, calling it “Anurag Thakur’s childhood origin story.”

Criticism also came from the political front. DMK MP Kanimozhi expressed strong disapproval, stating in a post on X, “A member of parliament and former union minister asking school children who first set foot on the moon, and insisting that it was not Neil Armstrong but Hanuman, is deeply troubling. Science is not mythology. To mislead young minds in classrooms is an insult to knowledge, reason, and the spirit of scientific temper enshrined in our Constitution.”

Thakur, however, framed his comment as a tribute to India’s ancient knowledge systems. Urging students to “think beyond textbooks,” he said, “As long as we do not know our thousands of years’ old tradition, knowledge, and culture, we will remain the same as the British have shown us.” He appeared to be advocating for a broader understanding of Indian heritage but critics say equating religious mythology with space science risks blurring the line between fact and belief, especially when addressed to impressionable young minds.

Who really was the first human in space?

The first human in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon in 1969. India’s space journey began with Rakesh Sharma in 1984, while Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian astronaut to venture into space in early 2025.