Dubai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose the name Operation Sindoor for India’s strikes against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack, official sources have told news agency PTI.
The name, Operation Sindoor, is heavy with symbolism. Hindu women put sindoor — meaning vermilion — on their head as a symbol of marriage.
The Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 innocents were killed in cold blood, destroyed as many families. The victims were rounded up and shot dead in front of their wives and children. It is, therefore, fitting that the operation to avenge their deaths is named ‘Sindoor’, reports said.
An image put out by the Indian Army has Operation Sindoor written in block letters. One ‘O’ in Sindoor is a bowl of vermilion. Some of it has spilled over, symbolising the ruthlessness that snatched away the life partners of 25 women. The caption read: “Justice is served. Jai Hind.”
The Pahalgam terror attack crossed several red lines: Tourists were targeted, Some people were asked their religion and shot dead in cold blood in front of their families.
Visuals of Himanshi Narwal, a newly-married woman with her wedding chooda still on her hands, beside the body of Indian Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal did the rounds on social media, plunging the nation into grief.
Another visual showed Manjunath Rao’s wife Pallavi, smiling in a video shot on a shikara the day before, helplessly asking for help after her husband was shot.
From Shailesh Kalathiya’s wife Shital to Bitan Adhikari’s wife Sohini, Shubham Dwivedi’s wife Aishanya to Santosh Jagdale’s wife Pragati Jagdale, the tears of each woman who lost her partner in the attack made the nation cry.
Operation Sindoor captures that.
The bereaved families have welcomed India’s response. “I want to thank Prime Minister Modi for avenging my husband’s death. Our family had trust in him and he has kept our trust alive. This is the real tribute to my husband. Wherever my husband is, he will be at peace today,” Aishanya said, according to NDTV.
In Pune, Sangita Ganbote, the wife of Kaustubh Ganbote, said the government has respected those who lost their husbands by naming the counterstrike Operation Sindoor. “I cannot forget that day. I cry every day. We were waiting for Prime Minister Modi to take such action, and he has given them a befitting reply. Terrorists should be eliminated,” she said.
