Why is Pakistani Air Marshal Aurangzeb going viral on internet?
A particular exchange from Pakistan Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed's May 9 press conference - held in the wake of Operation Sindoor - has become a goldmine for meme-makers online. The viral clip features a pointed question from a female journalist that seemingly threw the senior official off his game, much to the amusement of netizens.
The journalist asked, 'If you could tell me in very non-technical terms about the air defense system, what capabilities does Pakistan have when it comes to neutralising surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missile systems?'
What followed was an awkward pause, with Ahmed visibly unsure of how to proceed. His hesitant and somewhat muddled attempt at a response gave social media users all the fodder they needed to launch a meme storm. Many likened his flustered demeanor to the feeling of getting hit with 'an out-of-syllabus question.'
Trying to salvage the moment, the Air Vice Marshal said, 'Air-to-surface, okay, this means academic discourse—a pretty intense kind—when you are asking such technical details, and we bore the rest of the people with them. But I must say, as a broad guideline, the Pakistan Air Force air defense system is pretty capable of handling high-speed, long-range vectors, even hypersonic weapons. So this should be pretty comforting to everybody inside Pakistan.'
Despite the effort, the clip - especially the initial exchange- took on a life of its own. A user going by the handle Crystal Clear posted the video on X, commenting, 'How did I miss this epic portion? The 2nd part went viral, but this 1st part is awesome. This guy is the greatest bluff.'
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Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen's College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More
