PM claim’s of “raw wisdom” help escape radar during Balakot strike trending on Twitter

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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday claimed that he had asked the Air Force to carry out Balakot airstrike on February 26 in bad weather as his “raw wisdom” said a cloud blanket would help the Indian fighter planes escape Pakistani radars.

During an interview to News Nation aired on Saturday, Modi said about his contribution in giving the green signal despite a cloud cover.

“…Yeh bhi main pehli baar bol raha hoon… Hamare afsaro ko kya lagega mujhe maloom nahin. Ek pal hamare man mein aaya ki is weather mein kya karenge, cloud hain jaa payenge ki nahin jaa payenge. Toh by and large opinion yeh aya experts ka ki saheb date badal de to kya? Hamare man mein do vishay hain. Ek secrecy, abhi tak to secret raha hai, par agar secrecy mein kuch looseness ayi to phir to hum kar hi nahin sakte.. hume karna hi nahin chahiye. Doosra, maine kaha – I am not personally jo in saare vigyan ko jaanta ho – lekin maine kaha itne cloud hain, baarish ho rahi hai, to ek benefit hain ki hum radar se bach sakte hain. Main kaha ki mere raw wisdom hain, benefit bhi kar sakta hain. Sab uljhan mein the kya karen. Tab ultimately mein kaha, thik hai, cloud hain, jaiye. Chale pare.”

Translation:

“…I am saying this for the first time. I don’t know what the officers will think about it. There was a thought that came into our mind, that with this weather, there were clouds, whether we will be able to go for it or not. By and large the opinion of experts that the date (for airstrikes) could be changed. I had two considerations. One was secrecy. So far, this had remained secret, but if there were any leaks, then the airstrikes will have to be abandoned. Secondly… I said.. I am not a person who knows everything about science, but I said that there is so much cloud cover and rain, which could be advantageous in escaping from radar. My raw wisdom could be beneficial. Everybody was in a dilemma on how to proceed further. Ultimately, I said, okay, there are clouds, go ahead… and they did.”

https://twitter.com/Bhayankur/status/1127272153039216641

The Prime Minister’s quote was shared on the official BJP and BJP Gujarat Twitter pages, only to be deleted later.

The remarks triggered a troll-fest on all social media platforms.

The Twitterati, who include film personalities and politicians and general public took to Twitter to express disbelief, shock and even anger against the Prime Minister. They have ridiculed the comments and hilarious memes have been posted by several of them.

Poking sarcasm, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted a screenshot of BJP Gujarat’s then deleted tweet.

“Looks like the tweet got lost in the clouds. Luckily there are screenshots floating around to help.”

CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said: “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.”

Youtuber Dhruv Rathee listed out the three conclusions he draws from PM Modi’s statement.

“@narendramodiji some humble advice from a citizen. Science is real. Please consult someone qualified before you speak, so you don’t embarrass India in the eyes of the world,” said composer and singer Vishal Dadlani.

Stand-up comedians who enjoy a massive following also added their flavour. “He’s (Modi) one step away from saying he was the pilot…,” comedian Kunal Kamra tweeted.

Kamra also posted several memes showing the PM standing with the GoT-Lannister family, Avengers and the blackhole picture, captioning them: “PM Modi in several timelines giving people the right advice.”

Ordinary people also seemed to take a dig at Modi.

In response to Modi’s favourite “How’s the Josh?” comment from the Hindi movie “Uri: The Surgical Strike”, social media users memed: “How’s the PM? High sir”

(With inputs from IANS)