India (Commonwealth Union)_ In a bold and symbolically charged move, India launched a retaliatory military operation early Wednesday morning, targeting nine terror-linked sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation, dubbed “Operation Sindoor”, was personally named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to government sources, as a direct response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives. The attacks were carried out with precision against infrastructure used by terror outfits including Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Among the targets were the Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, Sarjal at Tehra Kalan, and Markaz Abbas in Kotli, as well as the Syedna Bilal and Shwawai Nalla camps in Muzaffarabad.
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Additionally, facilities associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, such as Markaz Taiba at Murdike and Markaz Ahle Hadith at Barnala, were also hit in what has been described as the most intense cross-border military exchange in decades. Furthermore, the symbolic naming of the operation has drawn wide public attention. Sindoor, or vermillion, holds deep cultural significance in India, especially for Hindu married women, where it symbolizes marital status, devotion, and sacrifice. It is also worn by warriors as a mark of valor. The name Operation Sindoor thus carries a dual meaning: it honors the emotional trauma of widows created by the Pahalgam attack, and invokes the spirit of righteous retaliation.
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Reports indicate that Prime Minister Modi, having pledged a robust response to the terror strike, kept a close eye on the strikes throughout the night. Sources confirmed that he personally approved the name “Operation Sindoor” as a tribute to the women whose lives were shattered by the attack. One of the most poignant images that emerged from the Pahalgam tragedy was that of Himanshi Narwal, a schoolteacher, cradling her dying husband, Navy lieutenant Vinay Narwal. The couple had been married just six days earlier and were in Pahalgam due to a delay in their honeymoon plans. Himanshi’s grief, captured in photographs and widely shared online, has become the haunting face of the massacre. There were other similarly heart-wrenching stories. Pallavi Rao, wife of Manjunath Rao, was seen enjoying a boat ride in a video filmed just a day before the attack; hours later, footage surfaced of her desperately calling for help after her husband was gunned down.
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From Shital Kalathiya to Sohini Adhikari and Aishanya Dwivedi to Pragati Jagdale, each widow’s grief became part of the collective national mourning. Following the launch of the operation, the Indian Army said in an official statement, “A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where attacks against India were being planned”. Asavari Jagdale, daughter of one of the victims, said: “I cried a lot on hearing the name of the operation. It is a real tribute and justice to those who were killed by terrorists.” Operation Sindoor marks a strategic military escalation and stands as a deeply symbolic response to a tragedy that left a nation in mourning.
