'Outrageously racist, bad taste' Indians slam German magazine's racist cartoon comparing India, China population
4 min read . Updated: 25 Apr 2023, 05:26 PM IST
Premium- According to the United Nations data, India has surpassed China with population of 142.86 crore people whereas China's population stands at 142.57 crore, according to the UN world population dashboard.
India recently slammed a German magazine's cartoon which showed India surpassing China's population in a bad taste. German Magazine 'Der Spiegel' published a cartoon which showed an overcrowded train with people hanging outside while some siting on the top of the train holding an Indian flag which moving ahead of a Chinese bullet train. The pictured showed how India's infrastructure is crumbling with growing population as compared with China's.
The viral cartoon grabbed attention in India and many ministers have slammed the German media for depicting the racist cartoon.
Senior advisor to Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Kanchan Gupta shared the cartoon and called it outrageously racist. In a tweet, he wrote, “Germany this is outrageously racist. Der Spiegel caricaturing India in this manner has no resemblance to reality. Purpose is to show #India down and suck up to #China. This is as bad if not worse than the racist cartoon in NY Times lampooning India’s successful Mars mission."
The cartoon came after India overtook China and became the most populous country in the world. According to the United Nations data, India has surpassed China with population of 142.86 crore people whereas China's population stands at 142.57 crore, according to the UN world population dashboard.
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Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar called it ‘not a smart move to bet against India’. In a tweet, he wrote, “Dear Cartoonist at Der Spiegel Notwithstanding ur attempt at mocking India, its not smart to bet against India under PM Narendra Modi ji In a few years India's economy will be bigger than Germany's"
The Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP Vijayasai Reddy V said that the cartoon by the German Magazine on India was in bad taste. He wrote, “Cartoon by German Magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ is in bad taste. The Western World prefers to depict India as poor and struggling. They won’t show India’s Vande Bharat or upcoming bullet trains. Cannot wait for the next few years when India will overtake Germany as the 4th biggest GDP."
BJP's National Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda also slammed the magazine and wrote, “In German, the name of the influential magazine Der Spiegel means The Mirror. But going by this derogatory, racist cartoon, it should change its name to Rassistischer Troll. & considering Germany’s difficult history involving racism & the holocaust, Germans everywhere should force.…"
Apart from Ministers, many users on Twitter too has slammed the German media. One user wrote, “Germany has lost several industries post Ukraine war , their govt spending half trillion this winter on gas, this is how they will take frustration out, btw India economy will surpass them soon" Another user wrote, “Indians should covert this racist ridicule into a chip on the shoulder, and then have the last laugh when 🇮🇳 becomes the third largest economy soon"
Some other wrote, “Europeans & the west is frustrated with India Development." Some other wrote, “Not surprising!! Shows the signs of panic, created by new India, recent developments." Another wrote, “Indian train ahead of German train depicting Indian economy soon to overtake Germany."
Earlier, Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin too contended that it was important to look at quality as well as size while assessing a country's demographic dividend. "When assessing a country's demographic dividend, we need to look at not just its size but also its quality. Size matters, but what matters more is talent resources. Nearly 900 million of the 1.4 billion Chinese are of working age and on average have received 10.9 years of education," he said.
Earlier this week, a a top UN expert had said that the big focus for India would now be quick and effective investments in education, job creation and gender equality that will yield demographic dividend and enable its large population to boost economic growth.
Wenbin also spoke about the workforce in China and noted that the average length of education has now increased to 14 educations. He cited the country's national strategy to address population ageing - which includes a third-child policy and supporting measures to address demographic changes.
"As Premier Li Qiang pointed out, China's demographic dividend has not disappeared, and our talent dividend is in the making," the Chinese spokesperson added
(With inputs from agencies)