Not just a name

IN codenaming India’s precision strike against terrorist hideouts across the Line of Control as Operation Sindoor, the Modi government has done more than avenge the lives lost in the Pahalgam massacre — it has offered a cultural and emotional balm, a message steeped in symbolism. Sindoor, worn by married Hindu women in many parts of the country, is not just a cosmetic ritual. It is a sacred thread of identity, of love, of continuity. When 26 men — most of them Hindu and many of them married — were brutally slain by terrorists in Pahalgam, they left behind a trail of grief that no strike can undo. Their widows’ sindoor, in a cruel twist, was wiped off with violence. To name the retaliatory strike after this potent symbol is not just poetic — it is profoundly personal. It acknowledges the intimate human loss behind headline numbers. It elevates the mourning of the Pahalgam widows into national consciousness, reminding us that counter-terrorism is not just geopolitics, but a defence of homes, of relationships, of peace.

And, there’s more. When the defence briefing for this operation was led by two women officers — Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh — it added another layer of meaning. The state, often accused of being insensitive to symbolic gestures, gave the microphone to the very gender that bears sindoor in some traditional Hindu rites, letting women reclaim not just the narrative, but also the strategic agency.

In an age of surgical strikes and swift digital headlines, Operation Sindoor stands out — as much for its military might as for the layers of thought stitched into its name. It’s an ode to those left behind and a message to those who instigate: every act of terror will be answered — not just with bullets, but also dignity.