Operation Sindoor - 'Women were widowed, India's response must show...': PM Modi decided codename for strike in Pakistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally decided on the codename 'Operation Sindoor' for India's strikes in Pakistan on Wednesday late night. PM Modi decided to name the strikes in Pakistan as 'Operation Sindoor', keeping in mind the widows of the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

While deciding on the codename, the Prime Minister was clear about the human cost of the terror attack, India Today TV reported, citing top government sources. In the Hindu tradition, Sindoor is the vermilion worn by married women. The codename was a deliberate invocation of not only grief but also memory and resolve. 

In some traditions, Sindoor is also associated with Goddess Parvati, considered to be the epitome of marital devotion. Warriors in India, especially Rajputs and Marathas, have also put tika or tilak, often of sindoor, on their forehead as they went to face the enemy. 

In high-level meetings over the past week, Modi emphasised that Indian men were deliberately targeted, leaving behind widowed women and broken families. He also told the officials that the response to the Pahalgam attack has to show that India would not let this go.

All three units of the Indian Armed Forces -- Army, Navy and the Air Force -- launched a multi-domain and sea-borne attack on 9 terror sites across Pakistan's Punjab province and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). It was a focused operation, targeting terror launchpads and related infrastructure in Pakistan. 

Over 80-90 terrorists were killed in the attack on Pakistan. The biggest hits were reported from Bahawalpur and Muridke, where around 25-30 terrorists were killed at each site, as per sources. 

The locations that were targeted were -- Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur; Markaz Taiba, Muridke; Sarjal / Tehra Kalan; Mehmoona Joya Facility, Sialkot; Markaz Ahle Hadith Barnala, Bhimber; Markaz Abbas, Kotli; Maskar Raheel Shahid, located in Kotli District; Shawai Nallah Cam in Muzaffarabad; and Markaz Syedna Bilal. 

The offensive came in response to the dastardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that claimed the lives of 26 civilians, mostly tourists. 

"A little while ago, the Indian armed forces launched 'Operation Sindoor' hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed," the defence ministry said in a statement.