Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke quite loudly and clearly to the nation last evening, revealing the whole truth behind Indian strikes at the terror camps in Pakistan and Pak occupied Kashmir and the situation that evolved thereafter. There are a number of key elements that he touched to drive home the point that India’s restraint should not be taken for granted point. It should not be put to test.
By now, it is a world-known fact that India launched its military action, under Operation Sindoor, on May 7, against terrorist planning and training sites in Pakistan. These strikes were to avenge the mass killings in Pahalgam last month. Twenty five tourists – 24 of them Indians and one Nepali, besides a local ponywalla – were martyred in the afternoon of April 22, when they were holidaying and enjoying the beauty of Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam. This was the most brutal terror act in decades on the soil of Kashmir. An unprecedented response to the attack had become a national necessity.
PERSPECTIVE
There were several factors, integrated to one another, involved in the Indian reaction to the terror attack of April 22. It was to tell Pakistan, in clearest terms, that it cannot get away with the mass killings in India. The attack was staged in Jammu and Kashmir that had started living in normalcy after decades of turmoil, terror and violence that pierced their homes, lives and environment from schools to work places.
Terrorists attempted to cut short that normalcy, conveying a chilling message that they could derail all the fundamentals of normalcy and peace. When tourists fled the Valley and tensions started rising in air, with Pakistan making more provocative statements, it seemed that the things were going wrong. India was forced to take the steps that it had resisted while punishing Pakistan for its attacks in Uri in September 2016, and Pulwama in February 2019. It held the 1960’s Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. This should have led Pakistan to understand the seriousness of India in punishing the terrorists and the place wherefrom they got their arms, training and indoctrination. Pakistan knew that it was itself the exporter of cross-border terrorism , and there was a chance for it to mend ways and approach India with the terrorists wanted by India, and also given details about the perpetrators of the Pahalgam massacre. Pakistan missed the opportunity and allowed the things to come to a passé where India was left with no other option but to strike at the terror camps in Pakistan and PoK. Without realizing the enormity of the situation, Pakistan violated ceasefire and launched strikes at the civilian and military assets of India, thus proving that it has not diminished its support to terrorists.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address, to the nation told Pakistan that its strategic military assets have been pulverized because of its inaction and defence of terrorists and the overall culture of promoting cross-border terrorism, with a prophetic warning that if the neighbouring country failed to check and curb terrorism, it will get sucked into the quagmire of terrorism for once and for all.
Pakistan still has a lesson to learn: Heed the advice of Prime Minister Modi and act against its factories of terrorism. That will help it come out of the crises- economic, political and security – that it is faced with for years now. Terrorism is a monster. It should understand and act against this monster without any delay. Otherwise, Prime Minister Modi has warned that any future incident of terror attack will not restrict India from taking severest action, and then this country will not distinguish between terrorists and the government of Pakistan. It is a message that India can turn into reality, as it has done with the launch of Operation Sindoor.
