The importance of secular optics during ‘Operation Sindoor’
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In the early hours of Wednesday, the Indian armed forces struck nine terrorist camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This was in response to the April 22 attack in Pahalgam that left 26 dead.
War is about weapons. But it is also about narrative. Even as India delivered a military response to Pakistan for its support to cross-border terror, its post-operation messaging was also strong.
For one, India’s name for the military attack, Operation Sindoor, highlighted the fact that the Pahalgam terrorists had shot dead men in front of their families. The Hindi word “sindoor” refers to the vermillion pigment many Indian women use on their heads as a sign of marriage. Even more vivid were the secular optics of the government briefing on Wednesday morning.
Communal terror
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was emphatic that the aim of the terrorists in Pahalgam was to spread strife within Indian society. “The manner of the attack was also...
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