Chanakya Charan Dass “Tikri”
Social, electronic & print media is continuously agog about Operation Sindoor. There is exuberance and satisfaction about the way the operation was conducted by the Indian Armed Forces and the Government of India. However, there are several other voices from a certain section of political spectrum and “influencers” who are raising questions for the sake of raising questions about the operation. They are the usual “suspects.”
Given the nature of terrorism emanating from Pakistan and its infatuation with wresting Kashmir by hook or by crook from India it is just appropriate that Operation Sindoor has not been called off but put onhold. There couldn’t have been a more appropriate nomenclature than “Sindoor” for the operation as the “Sindoor” of several of our daughters and sisters was wiped out by the terrorists in Pahalgam.
This terrorist act, like several others before it, was rooted in the inherent religious doctrine. It is obvious from the fact that the tourists in Pahalgam were asked to recite “Kalma” and those who couldn’t were shot dead point blank in front of their wives and other Tourists.
The PM, Narendra Modi, made it very clear, after the operation, that if Pakistan tries again to show this audacity and tries to conduct any kind of overt or covert terror operation in any part of India in future the retaliation will be severest possible and at the place and time of its own choosing.
For the first time in its history of India the political authority has made it clear that it shall not be deterred by the nuclear blackmail of Pakistan and shall take appropriate steps to ensure that Pakistan is halted once for all from taking recourse to terrorism. It has also been made clear that the GoI shall not make a distinction between the actual perpetrators of the crime and the government or its agencies that shield these perpetrators and provide logistical support to them.
Why this question then, by several politicians and “opinion makers” about Operation Sindoor?
It must be kept in mind that whenever wars become inevitable for the sake of “Dharma”, they are fought with a STATED OBJECTIVE.
In 1947/48 Pakistan imposed a war on India right at the time of the partition of the subcontinent. The operation was code named “Operation Gulmarg.” The stated objective of the war was to wrest the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from Maharaja Hari Singh and annex it to Pakistan.
Mehr Chand Mahajan (MCM), the PM of JandK under Maharaja Hari Singh mentions in his autobiography that “so far as India was concerned, she had no design on Kashmir, though, if accession had been offered, India would have accepted it.” On the other hand, Jinnah was constantly trying to coerce the Maharaja to join Pakistan.
To force their way Pakistan forces entered Kashmir on 22nd Oct. 1947 to take over Kashmir. Maharaja of J&K signed the instrument of accession on the 27th of Oct. 1947 and the Indian forces landed in Srinagar the same day and pushed the “raiders” out of the state from around 2/3rd of its territory.MCM mentions in his autobiography that Nehru was jolted into action only after he (MCM)threatened Nehru in a meeting in Delhi that considering his lackadaisical attitude towards the Pakistani raid on Kashmir he might have to go to Jinnah in Pakistan for stopping the inevitable massacre in Kashmir.
The point I am trying to make is that the Indian leaders hardly had any time for Kashmir, in October 1947, as they were bogged down by the horrors of partition &their hands were already full. It is Pakistan that forced the hand of Maharaja Hari Singh by sending raiders to J&K and ultimately the GoI had to stand with J&K in the time of aggression from Pakistan especially after the instrument of accession was signed by the Maharaja in favour of India. However, the events unleashed by them took such a turn that they were defeated and thrown out of the 2/3rd of territory of J&K by the combined efforts of Indian Army (the major partner)and the highly stretched, but tenacious J&K State Forces. Victory was India’s as Pakistan could not meet its objective. Victory was not complete though, as 1/3rd of J&K continued to be with Pakistan.
In 1965 Pakistan was buoyed by the defeat of India at the hands of China in 1962. Its acquisition of armaments from the US, after it joined the US lead military alliances viz CENTO and SEATO once again encouraged Pakistan to try its hand on Kashmir. India was on week wicket as it had not yet recouped from its defeat in 1962.
Pakistan once again tried to snatch its “jugular vein”(Kashmir is defined as such by Pakistan since 1947) from India by planning Operation Gibraltar. Armed Pakistani infiltrators were sent into Kashmir during early 1965. This attempt was foiled by the Indian security forces. The local Kashmiri populace also joined in and they too identified and handed over the infiltrators to the security forces.
Operation Gibraltar was a failure, and Indian forces plugged and took over major infiltration routes including Haji Peer Pass. Piqued by the failure Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam. Pak artillery pounded the defense positions of the Indian Army and the villages along the Chamb sector on 1st September 1965 with the STATED OBJECTIVE of conquering the towns of Akhnoor and Jammu and there by trying to block access to Kashmir for India.
Indian Armed forces very bravely took on the Pakistan Army and fronts were opened in Punjab along the international border to eliminate Pakistan Army pressure on Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan was defeated as it was not able to achieve its stated objective, and it was a victory for India as it completely thwartedthe attempts of Pakistan to conquer Kashmir.
India again defeated Pakistan in the Kargil war where, as per their plan, Pakistan was to snatch away the Kargil, Leh and Siachen areas of J&K from India and take the soldiers defending the Siachen glacier as prisoners of war. Every inch of the Indian territory occupied by Pakistan by deceit was retrieved by the Indian Armed Forces through a concerted effort and with huge sacrifices. The result of 1971 war was very straight as the objective was to free East Pakistan from the clutches of the genocidal regime of West Pakistan. The Indian Armed Forces once again proved their mettle and more than 93,000 Pak soldiers surrendered to the combined command of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini. This resulted in the creation of a new country, Bangla Desh.
Now let’s come back to Operation Sindoor!!
On 22nd of April 2025, 26 tourists were killed in Pahalgam after their religious identity was ascertained. This wasn’t the first act of its kind since the ideological terrorism started taking roots in the territory of J&K since 1986. Public memory is short, but it must be remembered that the first communal flare up of its kind took place in Anantnag District of the Kashmir Valley in 1986 in which scores of Hindu temples were burnt, properties looted, ransacked and Kashmiri Hindus made to flee from their homes and hearth. This was precursor to the happenings of 1989/90 that resulted in eviction of nearly 500,000 Kashmiri Hindus, the aboriginals of Kashmir, from the Valley. Pahalgam, incidentally, falls in District Anantnag of the Kashmir Valley.
Today, the political leaders, who were responsible for the unforgivably painful events of1986 and thereafterare preaching peace from their high pulpits. Such is the nature of deceitful politics in Kashmir!!
Contrary to the general belief in the country, the Jammu province of J&K also bore the brunt of the aftermath of the 1989/90 events in the Valley and scores of Hindus were brutally killed under most traumatic conditions. In several cases even marriage parties and bus passengers were not spared.
On 24thof April, Narendra Modi very clearly stated in a public meeting in Madhubani, Bihar that India will not stay silent and will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers. He declared that the attack will have consequences and that the time had come to raze whatever was left of terror heavens.
Thus, the stated objective of what came to be known as Operation Sindhoor later was very clearly spelled out by him. Did he speak of annexing POJK or doing anything in Baluchistan? No!
He set a clear template for the Indian Armed Forces and it was for them to give it a practical and decisive shape. During the night of 6thand 7th of May 2025 India struck the well-known infrastructure locations of terrorist in the POJK and Pakistan with precision ammunition. The blow was perfect. GoI declared that the strikes were non escalatory in nature and Pakistan should desist from siding with the terrorists. However, how could Pakistan stay back!? It had to come to the support of the so called “non-state actors”, the terrorists, which in essence are the extension of its armed forces, who use them for terror activities in India as part of its state policy.
Pakistan struck back and was forced to eat dust. Its drones, missiles and aircraft were either blown up in the skies or had to make a hasty retreat. Jammu is the proof. It was most intensely targeted by Pakistan in the 4-day war but none of its warheads landed in any of the targeted places. What fell was the debris from the destroyed projectiles overhead destroyed by the Indian defenses.
Pakistan did cause damage in the border areas of Poonch, Rajouri, Kupwara, Uri etc. by hitting the civilian population/infrastructure. However, the Indian forces too hit their military targets very severely and effectively.
The final blow to Pakistan came on the 9th/10th of May when the Nur Khan Airbase was struck at Chaklala thereby damaging their northern air control and command capabilities. Most of the air assets of the Pakistan Airforce were destroyed by India on the 10th in response to the counter offensive of Pakistan named Bunyan al-Marsoos. These assets were damaged on ground as well as in the air. They lost their air defense capabilities. The response from India was so intense, precise and effective that Pakistan Airforce stood grounded on the 10thof May. Pakistan was forced to run helter-skelter looking for ceasefire. If news reports are to be believed even the entry-exit points of the strategic nuclear arsenal storage infra had also been hit in Pakistan.
Operation Sindoor, thus, achieved all its objectives as stated by the PM in Madhubani on 24th of April 2025 and when Pakistan tried to escalate it, it was badly mauled by the Indian Armed Forces.
That is what victory for India really looks like!! A hands down victory!!
Follow our WhatsApp channel
