How India struck Pakistan's jugular vein: Ahead of Pulwama anniversary, army reminds of consequences of crossing the red line

A day before the anniversary of one of the most brutal and cowardly terrorist attacks in India that killed 26 innocent civilians, carried out by Pakistan-backed terrorists in the beautiful valley of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army has issued a stern warning: "Some lines should never be crossed." The Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) posted a picture of Operation Sunda on social media platform 'X', with the caption, "Some lines should never be crossed." The message on the official handle of ADG PI read, "When humanity is pushed to the limit, the response is decisive. Justice is served. India stands united."

The Resistance Force (TRF), a branch of Lashkar-e-Taiba, had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam massacre that took place on April 22. The victims of the attack included Sushil Nathial from Indore, Syed Adil Hussain Shah from Pahalgam, Hemanth Subhash Joshi from Mumbai, Viney Narwal from Haryana, Atul Shrikant Muni from Maharashtra, Neeraj Adhikari from Uttarakhand, Batan Adhikari from Kolkata, Sudeep Neupane from Nepal, Shubham Dwevedi from Uttar Pradesh, Prashant Kumar Sutapathy from Odisha, Manish Ranjan from Bihar, N Ramachandra from Kerala, Sanjay Laxman Lali from Mumbai, Dinesh Agarwal from Chhattisgarh, Sameer Gohar from Kolkata, Dilip Dasali from Maharashtra, J Sachandra Mouli from Visakhapatnam, Madhusudan Somi Setty from Bangalore, Santosh Jagdha from Maharashtra, Manjunath Rao from Karnataka, Kastuba Ganote from Maharashtra, Bharat Bhushan from Bangalore, Samit Parmar and Yatish Parmar from Gujarat, Tegiahling from Arunachal Pradesh, and Shilesh Bhai H Kalthia from Gujarat.

Notably, just days before the terrorist attack, Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir had made an inflammatory statement while addressing a convention of overseas Pakistanis in Islamabad. Speaking about Kashmir, Munir had said, "Our stance is very clear, it was our jugular vein, it will remain our jugular vein, and we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers alone in their brave struggle." Later, while addressing the passing-out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, Abbottabad, Munir had espoused the two-nation theory, which is based on the fundamental belief that Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations, not one. He had said, "You have to tell your children the story of Pakistan so that they do not forget that our ancestors thought that we are different from Hindus in every aspect of life." He had further said, "Our religions are different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thinking is different, our aspirations are different. This was the basis of the two-nation theory that was laid there. We are two nations, we are not one nation."

In response to the killing of 26 tourists, the Indian armed forces had launched a coordinated military operation codenamed 'Operation Sunda'. The operation was carried out jointly by the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation involved extremely swift and precise action, with 24 targeted strikes at nine locations in a span of just 25 minutes, using missiles and aircraft to hit each location almost simultaneously to neutralize enemy response and minimize civilian damage.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had said that India had exercised its 'right to retaliate' to avenge the attack on its soil, and referring to the Pahalgam attack, said that the armed forces had made history by working with "precision, caution, and compassion" to destroy terrorist camps used for training in Pakistan and PoK. In the highly classified operation, India had struck nine terrorist camps of Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, located in both Pakistan and PoK. These included Jaish's Subhan Allah center in Bahawalpur, Lashkar's Taiba center in Muridke, Jaish camps in Sarjal and Tahera Kalan, Hizbul Mujahideen's Muimuna Jauharia in Sialkot, Lashkar's Ahle Hadith center in Barnala, Jaish's Abbas center in Kotli, Hizbul Mujahideen's Askar-e-Rahiel Shahid, Lashkar's Shewai Nala camp in Muzaffarabad, and Jaish's Syedna Bilal camp.

Operation Sunda demonstrated India's military and strategic might. The multi-dimensional operation effectively neutralized terrorist threats, checked Pakistani aggression, and strictly enforced India's policy of 'zero tolerance' towards terrorism.