Anurag Thakur of the BJP tells schoolchildren that Hanuman Ji was the first person to travel to space and encourages them to look beyond textbooks.

BJP leader and former union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday told students at an event in Himachal Pradesh that Lord Hanuman could be considered the “first one to travel in space”, and asked them to look beyond textbooks to connect with India’s traditions.

Speaking to pupils at a PM Shri School in Una on National Space Day, the Hamirpur MP made the comments. A video of the exchange was later posted by Thakur on X with the comment, “Pawansut Hanuman Ji… the first astronaut.”

Regarding the first man in space, Anurag Thankur

Thakur questioned the kids during the lesson, “Antriksh main yatra karne wala pehla kaun tha? Who was the first person to travel to space?

Individual student comments could not be heard.

Thakur responded, “Mujhe toh lagta hai Hanuman ji the (I think it was Lord Hanuman),” while grinning and waiting.

The five-time parliamentarian elaborated: “We still see ourselves in the now. We shall continue to be the same as the British have showed us as long as we are unaware of our thousands of years of tradition, knowledge, and culture.

“So, I would like to ask the principal and all of you to look beyond the textbooks and consider our country, our customs, and our knowledge,” he continued.

The previous minister of information and broadcasting clarified, “If you look at it from that direction, you will find a lot to see.”

View the video here.

पवनसुत हनुमान जी…पहले अंतरिक्ष यात्री। pic.twitter.com/WO5pG2hAqT

— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) August 23, 2025

Watch the video here.

The timing of Thakur’s comments coincides with new space exploration accomplishments for India.

Four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s historic 1984 journey, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian astronaut to reach space earlier this year.

In 1961, Soviet Russia‘s Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space with a crew. During the historic 108-minute mission, he made his first orbit around the Earth in a spacecraft.

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin of Soviet Russia became the first person to fly in space with a crew. The 108-minute voyage was the first time he had ever orbited the Earth in a spacecraft.