Amid the escalated Israel-Palestine conflict, videos of “Hamas militants paragliding into Israel” have flooded social media.
While some media outlets have flagged it as false, Aaj Tak reporter Mausami Singh dived right into the adventure sport in Haryana’s Manesar to bring out an “exclusive report” on the purported attack.
How else can you explain what’s happening in a warzone without going paragliding yourself?
It was truly a race to see who could produce the most frivolous reportage yet.
As Singh took off in her paraglider, the text on Aaj Tak read: “Khel ka ek upkaran kaise ban gaya atank ka hathiyar”. (How did equipment for sport become a weapon for terrorism?)
Selfie stick in hand, Mausami delivered her piece to camera mid-air while a man behind her – hopefully a professional – steered the paraglider.
“Yahan par aap samajhne ki koshish kijiye, jo pilot hote hain unhe bhi zada training ki zarurat nahi hain,” she said. (Try to understand, the pilot here also doesn’t need a lot of training.)
She then attempted to explain how the paraglider worked: “Ye iss hath se harness kar rahe hain aur humlog beech mein baith kar pendulum ki tarah.” (He is holding the harness with his hand. And we are sitting in the centre like a pendulum.)
Sounds simple!
Singh’s audio soon worsened so Aaj Tak helpfully moved on to other videos of paragliding to show how it can be used to “easily cross over walls”. The segment also featured army officials who asserted that the “versatile equipment can take off within four to five minutes” and can pass over a boundary “at a distance of 1-2 km within 10-15 minutes”. One of these officers termed it a “poor man’s weapon” and a “terrorist’s weapon”.
Aaj Tak also interviewed a “paragliding enthusiast” who expressed her “shock” over her “joy ride” equipment being used for a terrorist attack.
“Unthinkable,” she said.
Truly it is.
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