On Thursday morning, Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, director general of military operations, issued an important statement that was forever going to change the narrative of India’s Pak-position. Speaking to members of the press, he said, “Based on very credible and specific information which we received yesterday that some terrorist teams had positioned themselves at launch pads along the Line of Control…the Indian army conducted surgical strikes last night at these launch pads.”
Not only did Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh talk about the strike, he even went on to reiterate that post the attack, he spoke to the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations in order to explain India’s concerns and share information about the operation the Indian army had conducted the night before. Of course, it does make one wonder as to how the Pakistani media can still go ahead and print blatant lies, dubbing these “Surgical Strikes”…’An Indian Delusion’! Then again, all we really need to do is go back in time to the year 1971, when the Pakistani media was busy cooking up fictitious victories for Pakistan even as Pakistan surrendered to India through an official signed document, called the ‘Instrument of Surrender of Pakistani forces in Dacca’, which can be accessed on the MEA [Ministry of External Affairs] website under Bilateral/Multilateral Documents.
One thing has become abundantly clear…given India’s strategic response across the LOC (despite Pakistani Press’ ostrich syndrome) has already managed to commander a great surge of satisfaction amongst the Indian citizenry. One simply can gauge the euphoria from the praise that came Modi’s way. Don’t believe me, consider these five cases:
- The Delhi Assembly on Friday passed a resolution, congratulating not only the Indian army but also the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
- Surgical strikes first PM-like action from Narendra Modi — Rahul Gandhi.
- PM Modi dares to go where Atal Vajpayee didn’t – Times of India
- A different leader – The Indian Express
- Pak #SurgicalStrike Confirms Modi is The Liberal Hard-Line Leader
When even one’s arch-enemies start singing one’s praises, one knows that the common public would indeed be euphoric and ecstatic. That, in fact, is the mood in India too. Narendra Modi has proved…substantially…that he is not a Prime Minister, who is going to simply talk big and not back up his words. Through this action, he has not only won over his critics, he has managed to strengthen his following, that will not only help bring Narendra Modi back to power in 2019…but will also help BJP in the upcoming UP elections.
Hence, whether we want to see it or not…the writing on the wall is clear and I can almost see the newspapers of 2019 and the big headline sprawled across the front page: ‘Modi’s back’!!!
Before we close, I would like to close with a personal note to all readers:
Before anyone believes that I am just a bloodthirsty war-loving writer, let me reassure you…I am not. What I feel is the same anguish that is felt by all those who have been witnessing Pakistan’s proxy war through terrorism for years and becoming increasingly frustrated with India’s soft approach. It is the non-retaliation that irritated me. Non-violence as a strategy may have worked against the British, who had a code of honour even as they ruled us…it cannot be used as a strategy against terrorism and Pakistan, who neither have a code nor any honour.
