- Tuesday, March 04, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
India’s state-owned aeronautics company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Tuesday (14) removed the sticker of Lord Hanuman, a widely followed god in Hindu religion, from one of its aircraft at the ongoing Aero India 2023 show in Bengaluru in the southern state of Karnataka where it is based.
HAL chairman and managing director CB Ananthakrishnan said the decision was taken after an internal discussion as they felt that the sticker was not appropriate to put up at the moment.
#AeroIndia2023 | Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has removed the picture of Lord Hanuman from the tail of the HLFT-42 aircraft model displayed at the airshow pic.twitter.com/0iZmAHBmFt
— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2023
On the inaugural day of the air show which was flagged off by prime minister Narendra Modi, HAL showcased the full-scale model of HLFT-42, its supersonic trainer aircraft. The aircraft, which attracted a lot of spectators, had a picture of Lord Hanuman on its tail. The company had said earlier that they had decided to use the picture of Hanuman, who is known to be the son of Vayu, the god of wind, and worshipped as the god of strength, to display the jet’s power.
The ongoing edition of the air show is its 14th and the five-day event will witness participation of more than 800 companies from nearly 100 countries.
In his speech, Modi said that the event reflects India’s new strength and aspirations.
“India’s successes are giving proof of its possibilities and capability and added that Tejas aircraft roaring in the sky is the proof of the success of ‘Make in India’,” he said.
Though Aero India 2023 is an event dominated by military technologies and deal, it will also see India making efforts to accommodate a domestic travel boom after the Covid-19 pandemic.
