Anita Anand | Will Op Sindoor Contain Terror? Time To Shun Hate, Prejudice, Fears…

On April 22, a horrific terrorist attack at the popular tourist resort of Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir, killed 26 civilians, who had travelled there from across the country. In response to the attack, India launched missile strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last week in a military campaign titled “Operation Sindoor”.

The word “sindoor” is the Hindi word for vermilion, a red powder marking the marital status of Hindu women. It is usually worn in the parting of a woman’s hair. If she is widowed, the sindoor is wiped off and never worn again -- a sign of her widowhood.

What is the significance of the name “Operation Sindoor”? It is an apparent reference to the women widowed by the attack, all of them Hindu. It was sparked by the imagery in the media of one woman, on a honeymoon with her husband, who was shot dead by the attackers. In the photograph, she is cradling her husband’s head, surrounded by a pool of blood. In the parting of her hair is the sindoor. The two reds together, it would seem, inspired the operation’s name.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to avenge the attack and is reported to have coined the name “Operation Sindoor”, as vengeance for the women who were widowed by the attack.

The India-Pakistan enmity goes back to 1947, when the two countries, once one large undivided country, were partitioned and divided by religion. People who once considered each other family and community had to become enemies overnight. A part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which acceded to India in October 1947, has been occupied by Pakistan for decades.

Several rounds of bilateral talks over the years have not yielded any resolution. India treats Kashmir as an integral part of its territory and rules out any negotiations, particularly through any third party. The two countries’ leaders and governments have failed to bring peace between them.

Two senior women officers of the armed forces briefed the media on the recent events, including the execution of Operation Sindoor. Most Indians took enormous pride in the signal that this sent out. Was the glass ceiling finally getting shattered? The principal officer briefing the press, who is from the Army, comes from a multi-generational family of armed forces personnel. Her parents expressed pride over the successful execution of Operation Sindoor, saying that the Indian Army had avenged the “sindoors” of our sisters and mothers and that Pakistan should be erased.

The third woman, whose husband was shot, said: “I do not want any hatred for anybody. People going against Muslims or Kashmiris… we do not want this. We want peace and only peace. Of course, we want justice. Of course, the people who have done wrong to him should be punished.” She quickly had to retract as she was furiously trolled for this remark and other things like wearing make-up during her TV appearances.

A senior politician of the Opposition applauded the choice of the name “Operation Sindoor”, saying: “It is a very emotive, emotional term to remind people of what had happened and why this action was necessary, of those innocent civilians, including this young woman and a few other women who were widowed in the process of the same attacks had experienced.”

It is precisely this emotive sentiment that stirred up a false sense of outrage among Indians, who already feel that women need to be protected from the imperfect world that men have created.

The threat of war or an attack has a frightening and exhilarating effect on citizens. Air raid sirens blared across key northern cities. The border states, including Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan, imposed emergency measures such as curfews and blackouts, with leave cancelled for essential personnel. Schools were closed, exams postponed, airports shut down and flights cancelled. The Indian Premier League was suspended for a week. The electronic media, mainstream and social, went crazy, reporting minute-by-minute, sometimes false, developments. And the threat of a possible nuclear exchange, the fallout of which few understand.

Once a ceasefire was declared between the two countries, most Indians were self-congratulatory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi came through as a firm leader with the technical and tactical might to respond to the attacks. Patriotism and nationalism are at an all-time high.

Pakistan had been taught a lesson. Terrorism and terrorists have been contained, but have they?

Till the next time?

The choice of the name “Operation Sindoor” is unfortunate in some ways. In Hinduism, red vermilion symbolises fertility, love and prosperity. It is also believed to protect the family. According to legend, the Hindu Goddess Parvati, wife of Lord Shiva, wore vermilion as a symbol of piety and affection towards her husband. None of this can be associated with war, vengeance, hatred or enmity.

I have travelled to Pakistan several times and was received with great love and care. Local Pakistanis wanted to take pictures in a park with me, and one child asked for my autograph.

In the famous Anarkali bazaar, shopkeepers offered lassi, chaat and sweets. Taxi drivers would not take money from me when they found out I was from India. Are these people we are supposed to hate?

War, or the prospect of war, is a terrible thing. Zen Buddhist Vietnamese monk and spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh has said: “Governments need enemies to rally people. They will invent one to mobilise us if they do not have a real enemy. We may think of peace as the absence of war, that if the great powers reduced their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we will see our minds --our prejudices, fears and ignorance.”

When can we face these demons in ourselves?

The writer is a development and communications consultant