A surgical strike is a military attack which intends to harm or damage only the intended legitimate military target and damage is not meant to the nearby building, vehicles or other collateral. Neutralization of intended targets with surgical strikes also prevents a full blown war.
The recent incident which gained limelight was the surgical attacks of Pakistan –administered Kashmir (Pock) region. In the wee hours of 28 Sept 2016, a team of 70-80 commanders, picked from the par regiment; launched a serious attack on the other side of the Line of Control to destroy the suspended launched of terrorists.
This operation was undertaken by Indian sons to avenge the killing of 21 Indian Army soldiers near the town of Uri when unknown militants attacked the army base.
Though no terrorist group claimed any involvement in the operations, yet India suspected it to be a work of Pakistani Militants or the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Upon the killing of its sons, India went into a state of grief and expressed condolences with the martyr’s family and saluted them for their bravery.
India wanted revenge for the lost souls and the Government was under great pressure from the public and media to act upon this bewildering situation, hard and fast. So the top officials planned this attack along with armed paramilitary forces to take down the terrorists and their heinous activities and put across a glaring message to avoid messing up with the Indian soldiers .
The army also claimed that they had received intelligence reports that the militants were ready to sneak into Indian territory to carry out militant attacks not only at army camps but also to cause heavy damage to the civilian population in the other cities. Had they not been taken down, they would have wrecked havoc in the Indian Territory.
The entire operation was carried out with utmost secrecy. On 22nd September, Director General of Army Lt. General Ranbir Singh briefed PM Modi, then Defense minister Manohar Parrikar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The decision to start the surgical strike on Pakistan military camps was made on 23rd September. The task of segregating Special Forces Troops and prepare for the action was assigned to the Northern Army Controller Lt Gen DS Hooda.
All those who planned this operation were taken away in unmarked cars out of Delhi to a remote location and the three chiefs of the army, navy and air force also attended the meeting . All those present in the meeting including the Prime Minister were asked to discard their telephones and not to make any contact with the outside world.
The strike was particularly aimed at targeted areas close to the line of control where foul play of terrorism was suspected.
They then infiltrated the line of control at around midnight through several points with the help of other officers who came in handy in diverting the attention of Pakistani officials. The Special Forces teams were then reported to have travelled a distance of 1-3 kilometers on foot to destroy terrorist bases with hand held grenades and 84 mm rocket launchers.
As an immediate aftermath surgical strikes received a lot of hail from international borders who saw it as the beginning of an era toward the end of terrorism. India has come clean with the international laws as well because according to our national security advisor, Ajit Doval, the attacks were a part of preemptive raids which is permitted by the virtue of international laws.
The surgical strikes carried out silenced the enraged Indians who wanted a “mooh tod jawab“for the grueling act carried out in Uri against its soldiers. It also answered back the oppositions and BJP’s own members who were criticizing the government for their inaction.
On the contrary this may lead to heightened tension with our immediate neighbor; Pakistan. Thought the attack was not targeted towards Pakistan military yet Pakistan sounded shocked due to the attacks carried out on the terrorists whose activities they were unable to suspend even in their own territory.
Even China didn’t appreciate these surgical strikes as they reportedly have been funding Pakistan secretly as to destroy India.
Even the economic front of the country was impacted by the surgical strikes. The market posted its biggest decline since the brexit vote in June, after India announced about the surgical strikes on suspected militants preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Pakistani officials allegedly denied any surgical strikes by the Indian soldiers to brush off the infiltration of loc.
As long as the hit and the counter hits between India and Pakistan take place secretly, international law does not matter, but only when New Delhi acknowledges the strikes; it becomes a matter of international law. This has put Pakistan in wraps and so any attacks by its forces would be aggressive and simple. Surgical strikes are a part of India’s cold start doctrine and have proved effective and successful.
Terrorism is a global issue which continues to plague all the countries in the world and for once we all should unite against this gruesome monster so that the need of another surgical strike never arises again.
Peace is the mission and we should ponder together to restore peace rather than dread. In finality I would like to add that I am in full support of our army which has carried out with a lot of precision and swiftness and the sacrifice by our jawaan’s didn’t go in vain.
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