It took 87 hours and 56 minutes to go from 'Oh God' to 'Thank God' – four days, when every moment was full of tension. On May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor. On May 10, when the two countries announced a ceasefire, there was a sigh of relief. Shortly after midnight, the Indian Armed Forces targeted terrorist bases in Pakistan and PoK. Nine bases were destroyed. Pakistan has confirmed that Indian missile strikes hit six of its cities, killing and injuring several people. In this action that lasted 26 minutes, many close friends of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar were killed. According to reports, Azhar himself confessed that 14 people of his family and four special associates were killed in these strikes.
India was completely dominant at the time – it would be more fair to say that she was at the helm of the war and probably remained so till the end. However, there were many tense moments due to the news of Pakistan's retaliation. There were reports of blasts in different parts of Jammu, during which Pakistan carried out drone and missile attacks in Indian territory. Indian officials confirmed that there were attacks on military installations in Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur but said those attacks were defused. At the same time, Pakistan claimed to have killed the drone from India.
There were clear signs of escalating tensions between the claims and counter-claims, and television screens across India were filled with images of sirens, blackouts and explosions, leaving people sleepless. The initial curiosity that 'Pakistan must be taught a lesson' gradually waned and the possibility of a real war began to emerge' not only on the borders but also in important areas of key Indian states like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab. At the same time, India also retaliated and sent drones to many places in Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
So when tensions started rising, perhaps the citizens of both countries started counting the hours as to when and how it would all end, if so. And it really ended on May 10, when the ceasefire was announced, the moment you can say 'thank God', if people in Chandigarh "turned on the lights of their houses after four days", as a local resident put it, families in Amritsar went out for walks in the markets.
Still, to understand the whole episode in the right context, one has to talk to the beginning. From that day on May 8, the country was told that Operation 'Sindoor' has been started and how it informed not only India but the whole world. Two women officers, one of them a Muslim, Colonel Sophia Qureshi of the Indian Army, and Wing Commander Wyomika Singh, a helicopter pilot, were also present. He was accompanied by India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. And it was also important to note that this operation was given the name 'Sindoor' i.e. vermilion applied by married women.
Beyond the details of the operation, what stood out the most was its message. The fact that two women officers – one of whom was a Muslim – was a clear indication that Hindus and Muslims in India stand together and fight together. This was especially significant as the victims in the Pahalgam terror attack were Hindus, in fact the attackers had targeted them after verifying their religion.
The second important message was the name of this operation 'Sindoor'. If reports are to be believed, it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion that the operation be named 'Sindoor'. Symbolic and meaningful, especially when husbands were murdered in the attack in front of their wives. The picture of flowing vermilion issued by the armed forces was a direct and clear message. India is taking revenge for the suffering of those women. It was also a tribute to the widows of the Pahalgam attack.
In Hindu tradition, sindoor or kumkum is a symbol of marriage. The briefing by the two women officers was, in a way, a response to Modi's 'go and say' remark. The remarks pertained to a woman survivor of the Pahalgam attack. When Manjnath's wife Pallavi asked the militants to kill him too, one of them said, "I will not kill you, go and tell Modi." By bringing on board two women officers, the Modi government sent out a clear message that India's response was being led by women. This was in retaliation for the statement that Modi had to go and say. By then, the excitement in the country was at its peak, the common Indian was proud that Prime Minister Modi had kept his promise of 'ghar mein ghus kar marenge'.
This sentence first hit the headlines in 2019 – implying that India would enter the enemy's house and kill him. It became the main focus of the election campaign launched in response to the attacks in Pulwama and the subsequent bombings in Balakot. Now after Pahalgam, this sentence started echoing again and the whole country was holding the breath when the Indian forces would retaliate. But what the country did not think was that Pakistan would retaliate to such an extent. It was not even imagined that a war-like situation would arise at our doorstep and when it happened, the reality came out, Pakistan was not ready to bow down. Whatever its losses, it was sending drones and missiles deep inside India.
The Indian Army confirmed the downing of Pakistani drones at several places including Jammu, Amritsar and Pathankot. As tensions escalated and signs of deterioration became clear, panic among citizens began to grow. The worry was how far this could go, whether Pakistan was on a path of self-destruction and, most importantly, whether it could press the nuclear button.
So when the ceasefire was announced, there was a wave of relief across the country. The moment you can say 'Thank God'. However, confusion prevailed after the ceasefire was announced. Did we really win the war or were we willing to stop military action like Pakistan?
Making the situation more complicated was US President Donald Trump's tweet in which he appealed to both countries to back down. Had Prime Minister Narendra Modi not addressed the nation, these doubts would have deepened and perhaps hurt his image of a 'do or die' leader, but when he spoke, he spoke with full clarity and conviction and put an end to all the doubts that were calling the ceasefire a hasty move.