A BJP worker has filed a complaint against actor Prakash Raj on Monday, August 21, in Karnataka accusing him of ridiculing scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation. Referring to ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission which aims to soft-land near the moon’s south pole, Prakash Raj had recently shared a cartoon of an Indian-looking man selling tea. The actor shared the cartoon with the caption: “First picture coming from the Moon by #VikramLander.”
Many assumed that Prakash Raj, a strong critic of the BJP, was making fun of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had identified himself as a tea seller (chaiwala). Some claimed that Prakash Raj was making fun of former ISRO chairman K Sivan.
After facing severe backlash for the tweet, Prakash Raj on Monday, August 21 clarified he was referring to an old joke about a Malayalee selling tea on the Moon.
“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” (sic), Prakash Raj wrote on Twitter.
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
In his complaint to the Banahatti police in Bagalkote district of Karnataka, BJP worker, Shivananda in his complaint said that the actor made fun of the the ISRO scientists in a “sarcastic way.”
“I request you to arrest him and take serious action against him. Our ISRO scientists have done work to bring pride to our nation through Chandrayaan, by the time it landed and we were supposed to celebrate this achievement, Prakash Raj has tweeted in a disgusting way to ridicule our scientists,” Shivananda said.