'Greatest poverty is poverty of aspiration': Anand Mahindra slams BBC anchor as old video resurfaces after Chandrayaan-3

Anand Mahindra, Chairperson of Mahindra and Mahindra, slammed a BBC anchor over an old video doing rounds on social media. In the video, the BBC anchor could be seen asking a panellist if India needed to spend so much money on a space programme. 

The video resurfaced after India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, launching the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first country to land on the uncharted surface.

In the video, the BBC anchor can be seen asking whether "India, which lacks infrastructure and has extreme poverty, should spend this much amount of money on a space programme."

To this, the industrialist on Thursday replied, "Really?? The truth is that, in large part, our poverty was a result of decades of colonial rule which systematically plundered the wealth of an entire subcontinent."

He further added, "Yet the most valuable possession we were robbed of was not the Kohinoor Diamond but our pride & belief in our own capabilities. Because the goal of colonisation—its most insidious impact—is to convince its victims of their inferiority. Which is why investing in BOTH toilets AND space exploration is not a contradiction."

Moreover, he mentioned that initiatives like space programmes help restore pride and self-confidence and create belief in progress through science. He added that it gives the aspiration to "lift ourselves out of poverty".

"The greatest poverty is the poverty of aspiration…," Mahindra concluded.

India scripts history with Chandrayaan-3

The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 onboard Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, for a 41-day voyage to reach near the lunar south pole. The soft-landing took place days after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control.

The Lander Module (LM) comprising the lander (Vikram) and the 26 kg rover (Pragyan), made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon. The lander and the six-wheeled rover (with total mass of 1,752 kg) are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days).

"Dhanyavaad, Thank you, @isro for: Teaching us how to aim for the stars, Making us believe in our own abilities, Showing us how to deal with failure & use it as a platform to rise again. And above all, making us Proud to be Indian. #Chandrayaan3," said the Mahindra Group chairman earlier.