The New York Times has apologized for a cartoon mocking India's bargain mission to Mars after critics slammed it for being in poor taste, the BBC reported.
Cartoonist Heng Kim Song "was in no way trying to impugn India" when he drew an Indian farmer with a cow knocking on a door of the "Elite Space Club," while two apparently Western men inside seem to ignore him as they read about India's Mars Mission, a NY Times editor wrote on Facebook.
The cartoon accompanied a Sept. 28 opinion article titled "India's Budget Mission to Mars." India became the first Asian country to reach the Red Planet when its Mars Orbiter Mission entered the planet's orbit last month.
The successful launch- on India's first try- cost a modest $74 million, about $600 million less than what NASA spent on its latest Mars mission, according to Reuters.
The newspaper issued an apology for the cartoon after receiving complaints from a significant number of readers, with many claiming the cartoon is racist.
"The intent of the cartoonist, Heng Kim Song, was to highlight how space exploration is no longer the exclusive domain of rich, Western countries," NY Times Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal wrote Sunday.
"Mr. Heng, who is based in Singapore, uses images and text - often in a provocative way - to make observations about international affairs. We apologize to readers who were offended by the choice of images in this cartoon."
The apology comes less than a week after the Boston Herald ran a cartoon mocking the recent White House intruder who made it deep inside the mansion. President Barack Obama is shown brushing his teeth while the intruder makes a comment about him trying watermelon-flavored toothpaste, which critics labeled as racist.
The newspaper apologized, but the NAACP said it was "an inadequate response," the Associated Press reported. NAACP officials are expected to meet with the newspaper to discuss ways to prevent a future incident.
