Cloud cover and radar theory: Why Twitter is on cloud 9 after the Prime Minister's statement
Narendra Modi, Cloud cover and radar theory, Complete cloud cover, Balakot Airstrike, Pulwama Attack, Twitter reaction, social media, trolls, BJP, Lok Sabha 2019
A now deleted video, shared from the official handle of the Bharatiya Janata Party, shook Twitter out of its leisurely Saturday stupor. And the memes that followed were just priceless!
For most of us hunting for entertainment on the world wide web, this was the silver lining in the 'cloud' moment!
A little bit of context here for the uninitiated — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview to a television channel, revealed his master strategy behind the Balakot air-strike, now touted as India's surgical strike 2, in retaliation for the gruesome Pulwama terrorist attack of 14 February that killed over 40 CRPF jawans. The airstrike took place 12 days after the terrorist attack, on 26 February. A dozen Mirage 2000 jets of the Indian Air Force flew across the Line of Control (LoC) — a first since 1971 — and bombed terrorist camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), before dawn.
Turns out the Prime Minister, upon own admission, apparently based the entire strategy on the fact that it was cloudy that day — which could give our planes an advantage by making them undetectable by radar!
Here is the clip of #EntireCloudCover pic.twitter.com/ePsAyQTmYi
— Ankur Bhardwaj (@Bhayankur) May 11, 2019
We shall allow a moment to ponder over that.
Okay, that's enough pondering.
Twitter is not known to be merciful.
And it wasn't when they ripped this statement apart:
"ISRO wasn't ready for the moon mission. The experts had their doubts. I told them to attempt it on the Full Moon Day because then they will have more area to land on. Vidya kasam." - Our scientist PM
— Aisi Taisi Democracy (@AisiTaisiDemo) May 12, 2019
He's one step away from saying he was the pilot... https://t.co/sQhCnTwrWu
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) May 11, 2019
FYI @narendramodi the radar to detect planes,cloud or no cloud has been there for decades. Even for the stealth ones. If not, other country’s planes would be crisscrossing the skies firing away at will ????This is what happens when you’re stuck in the past. Get with it Uncle ji. https://t.co/sKYTAmz6jz
— Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) May 12, 2019
'Cuz, surely radar technology is better than your Tata Sky connection, right?
Actual photo of Pakistani radar on the day of the Balakot strike. #WahModiJiWah #EntireCloudCover pic.twitter.com/QkcpcvctvC
— Berozgar Chowkidar Ujval Nanavati (@cynical_ujval) May 12, 2019
Soon enough, Modiji became 'Mirza Cloudy'!
Yeah cloud cover me surgical strikes ....???????????????? pic.twitter.com/AMZo97WOQ5
— Ashwin (@Ashwin_Gour) May 12, 2019
Now that's a Lagaan spin-off we'd watch!
Modi ji before Balakot air strike. pic.twitter.com/mTdUxY57HF
— Sayantan Ghosh (@sayantansunnyg) May 11, 2019
Well, tough questions were also asked.
It was a cloudy and raining when Nirav Modi, Vijay Malya and Choksi escaped from India.
— Supariman™ (@SupariMan_) May 11, 2019
"Sir how will you get out of India undetected?"Vijay Mallya:.... pic.twitter.com/O4Q8vqF9n8
— Kajol Srinivasan (@LOLrakshak) May 12, 2019
And some serious criticism was also directed at the PM.
National security is not something to be trifled with. Such an irresponsible statement from Modi is highly damaging. Somebody like this can’t remain India’s PM. https://t.co/wK992b1kuJ
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) May 11, 2019
In all this, does a certain Mr Pappu come across smarter?
@narendramodi says he preferred bad weather for the Balakot raid bcz cloud cover would protect planes from radar detection. And you guys make fun of @RahulGandhi ?@khush_boozing @Nehr_who @rkhuria @Pun_Starr @alamgirizvi @Vishj05 @k @MrsNair_1112 @tshamsi88 @Adwanism _ pic.twitter.com/IjOO8CHlbp
— S_Hamdaan (@S_H_Gour) May 11, 2019
The backlash prompted the BJP handle to swifty delete the tweet.
But that only triggered more trolling.
अचानक से वेदर खराब होने के नाते से ट्वीट डिलीट कर रहे हैं ???????? pic.twitter.com/Kgidvb81GU
— Siddiqui صدیقی (@gksid12) May 11, 2019
In Modiji's defence, he does admit that he doen't know much about the actual technicalities. Which means, this was indeed his 'raw judgement', like he said. But perhaps this confession was inappropriate for prime time television.
He did, however, quite graciously accept that the credit for the air-strike's success belongs to the men on the mission, while the discredit for its failure, if any, lies with him.
And that, right there, is our silver lining.