By Disha Dey
Like any another beautiful day at Pahalgam, while families were enjoying their vacation, something happened which they had never imagined. At 2:30 pm, in a few seconds, the laughter, the joy was swallowed by a sudden gunfire. Five militants armed with AK-47s and M4s emerged from the forest. In a chilling massacre, 26 civilians and visitors - mainly Hindus, were targeted.
The attackers cold-bloodedly separated men from women, forced religious identification making all of them recite the Kalma and executed those who could not recite. There were holidaymakers, newlyweds, senior citizens, a navy lieutenant celebrating his first married week. Even a local pony-operator and a Christian traveller were killed. Amidst the chaos, locals sprang to action. One of the pony-handlers Nazakat Ahmad Ali Shah bravely saved 11 tourists and his cousin Adil Hussain Shah sacrificed his own life in order to save the civilians.
(Source: https://www.orfonline.org)
In
a response to this heinous crime, the Indian Armed Forces, under the guidance of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on May 7th, launched 'Operation Sindoor' where
there were series of precision missile, drone and air strikes on nine militant
camps located across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The targets
were directly associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)
and Hizbul Mujahideen. The operation was described by the PM and senior
officials as focused and non-escalatory and grounded in India's inherent right
to self-defence. Nine strategic targets were chosen - four inside
Pakistan; Bahawalpur (100 km), Muridke (30 km), Gulpur (35 km) and Sawai Camp
(30 km) and five in POK named Kotli (15 km), Barnala (10 km), Sarjal (8 km),
Mehmoona (15 km) and Bilal Camp for which the distance was not specified.
In a statement issued by the defence ministry it was said that the targets were chosen with precision to avoid escalation and emphasized that no civilians or military installations were hit. It further mentioned that India exercised restraint by only targetting infrastructure directly connected to terrorism against the country. Lastly, it reminds us that Operation Sindoor was not only a militant response, it was more than that - it was a moral declaration that India's silence doesn't mean weakness.
Disha Dey is a student of B.A. Journalism and Mass Communication, Semester 4, School of Media and Communication, Adamas University
Post a Comment