By Irfan Iqbal Gheta
Monday morning saw good news for India and bad news for terrorists. Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police jointly launched operation Mahadev at Srinagar – the capital of Jammu & Kashmir.
The outcome of Operation Mahadev is reported to have culminated in the neutralisation of three terrorists believed to be behind the deadly attack in Pahalgam on April 22 in which as many as 26 innocent civilians lost their precious lives.
According to the media reports, earlier in the month – two weeks ago, to be precise – the Indian Army came across a suspicious communication emanating from the jungles of Dachigam. Upon the discovery of this suspicious message, the army closely monitored the movements of a combined group of terrorists belonging to Lashkar and Jaish.
The local nomads are reported to have corroborated this information and given further inputs on the movements of the terrorists.
Following due diligence, several Army teams deployed themselves in the area teeming with terrorists. On Monday morning, one of the teams – including 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 4 PARA – detected three terrorists. Needless to say, a fierce gun battle ensued in which the terrorists got eliminated.
At the time of going to press, the process of identifying the lifeless bodies of the slain terrorists is ongoing. After the successful completion of the identification procedure, the slain terrorists’ connection to the Pahalgam carnage will either be established or ruled out.
In this hour of pride and passion, our brave jawans deserve kudos for smoking out terrorists hiding in the thick forests and doing them to death to prevent any future mayhem and bloodbath to endanger our country’s peace and harmony by risking their own lives.
On a strictly political note, these developments assume significance at a time when the Indian Parliament is on the verge of debating the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor and its aftermath in the ongoing monsoon session.
The opposition parties are sharpening their knives to corner the Modi-led government on the issue of the yet to be apprehended terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam bloodbath on the floor of the parliament.
The news of the elimination of the three suspected terrorists believed to be behind the Pahalgam attack could come as a huge relief to the union government while rendering the attack from the opposition somewhat toothless.
While the Modi-led government has maintained all along that the terror and talks with Pakistan cannot go together and the government is fully committed to the zero tolerance against any acts of terror emanating from across the border, the opposition parties are likely to demand the head of the mastermind of the Pahalgam attack on a platter.
The monsoon session of the parliament is going to be a cliffhanger with fiery debates and counter debates in full throttle to leave a permanent impression of Operation Sindoor on the collective psyche of our nation.
