HAL removes picture of Lord Hanuman from tail of HLFT-42 model

BENGALURU: A day after unveiling a model of the HLFT-42 trainer aircraft at the ongoing at the Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has removed the picture of Lord Hanuman from the tail of the aircraft on Tuesday.

The HLFT-42 model on display at the Aero India show/

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also shared the pictures on his Twitter handle with lines lines from Hanuman Chalisa that read ‘Rama Dhoota Atulitha Bala Dhama-Anjani Putra Pavana Suta Nama’.

Joshi also captioned the post that the picture of Lord Hanuman on the ‘HLFT 42’ aircraft, named Marut and designed by HAL, is hogging the limelight at the air show.

Union Minister Prahlad Joshi shared a picture of HLFT-42 model with highlighting picture of Lord Hanuman

On Monday, HAL unveiled a model of the fighter trainer 42 ( HLFT-42) with a picture of Lord Hanuman on the tail with a tagline ‘The storm is coming’, which attracted much attention. The pictures went viral on social media with some people criticising the picture while some others questioned the significance of the picture. But before it could blow up into a any sort of controversy, the HAL removed the picture.

HAL’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) C B Ananthakrishnan clarified on the issue saying that the development was “unintentional”. “It was not with any intention that it was put and it is not with any intention that it has been removed; it is to see that the programme runs through successfully… This was unintentional”.

A sticker signage of Lord Hanuman was seen on the vertical fin of the HLFT-42 on Monday. The aircraft is said to be the successor of HAL Marut, the country’s first Indigenous aircraft. (With Agency inputs)