‘Hanuman Ji was the first to go to space’: BJP’s Anurag Thakur tells school kids

Shimla: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Anurag Thakur hailed Lord Hanuman as the ‘first one to travel in space’, triggering discussions surrounding the BJP government’s education policies.

Anurag Thakur was addressing a group of students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Pekhubela in Una in Himachal Pradesh when he made the statement, dismissing the fact that space travel is the result of modern advancement in space science.

The BJP leader urged the students to focus beyond textbooks to connect with India’s traditions.

‘I would like to request the principal and all of you to think beyond textbooks and take a look at our nation, our traditions, our knowledge. If you look at it from that perspective, you will find a lot to explore,’ the former Information & Broadcasting Minister reportedly said.

Thakur himself later shared on X the video of his interaction with students captioning it ‘Pawansut Hanuman Ji… the first astronaut.’

However, when he asked the students to name the first man to travel to the space, students came up with several names including Neil Armstrong.

The video has triggered discussions online with some calling upon the leader to focus on modern science, while many others hailed his views.