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As India etched its name in history with its Chandrayaan-3 mission, congratulations poured in from all over the world. UK news presenter Patrick Christys was one among the many who congratulated India on its successful lunar mission. However, what he said next during his news bulletin has angered users on social media.
Patrick began his bulletin congratulating India for its historic feat, but it quickly changed into what Internet users termed as a “jealous racist rant”. He demanded back the 2.3 billion pounds that was “given to India as aid money”.
“I would like to congratulate India for landing on the dark side of the moon. I would also like to invite India to return the 2.3 billion pounds of aid money that we sent them between 2016 and 2021. We are also set to give the 57 million pounds next year. But I think the British taxpayer should keep a hold of that. We should not be giving money to countries with a space program as a rule,” he said.
He went on to call India “poverty-stricken” and advised the UK government against further financial assistance to the country. “If you can afford to fire a rocket at the dark side of the moon, you shouldn’t be coming to us with your handout. India reportedly has 229 million people living in poverty. According to the UN, it is the highest number anywhere in the world. It is also the 5th largest economy in the world with an annual GDP of around 3.75 trillion dollars. Why are we paying to help poverty-stricken Indians when their own government won’t bother,” he added.
I appear to have enraged Indian Twitter 😂 pic.twitter.com/SnhUU3zOjC — Patrick Christys (@PatrickChristys) August 23, 2023
Needless to mention, X users were furious after watching this video. “Oh the jealous racist rant! You stole more than $45 trillion from India, left the country broken and dirt poor, yet India overcame and has overtaken your economy today. What did Britain do with the $45 trillion + that they stole from India alone? NHS is in doldrums, almost every video I come across is about British citizens living in poverty and being evicted from their homes, looking for council housing, can’t afford groceries, not to mention grooming gangs destroying and brutalizing your women and children. India never asked you for aid, you simply pump money into questionable NGOs in India for conversion purposes, take that money and build a few homes for your homeless population first,” a user wrote.
“Enjoy being relevant for a few days bro. You should thank India for that and btw Jai Hind,” another user wrote.
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Soon after, ’45 Trillion’ began trending on X following the backlash that Christys faced.
Journalist Sophie Corcoran said in a post on X that the UK should not send aid to India since it has an advanced space programme. She also said it’s time “we get our money back”.
Meanwhile, with Chandrayaan-3’s touchdown on the Moon in its second attempt in four years, India has become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.