Peace Achieved? Mission Accomplished? Or a Missed Opportunity?

 Peace Achieved? Mission Accomplished? Or a Missed Opportunity?

The interpretation of the recent India-Pakistan confrontation depends on individual perspectives—shaped by biases and beliefs. Let that remain a matter of personal opinion.

Operation Sindoor—was it successful? The honest answer is a resounding yes. But did it meet its objectives? To understand that, we must recall our Army’s own words at the launch: “Operation Sindoor is a measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible initiative to counter terror outfits and infrastructure.”

There was no declaration of war. In fact, Pakistan may have hoped to provoke one—to distract its people from internal unrest and rally support. But did India fall into that trap? On social and digital media—perhaps yes, with the usual jingoism and overreaction. But on the ground, India responded firmly, not recklessly. We acted; we didn’t react.

So, how do we measure success? By the standards set forth in our own military’s statement, we did what we set out to do—targeted terror locations with unprecedented precision. The impact was not just physical, but psychological.

What about losses? The Army clarified: “Our objective was to hit the target, not count body bags.” Indeed, every loss—especially of life—is deeply painful. India mourned five brave soldiers and over 20 civilians. These are irreplaceable sacrifices.

As for the adversary’s losses—they had less at stake. India, as an emerging global power, had much to lose. One wrong step or statement could have harmed our international image. But we maintained maturity and strategic restraint. And that gave India the edge.

Then why agree to a ceasefire? Because, as stated from the outset, the goal was a proportionate, responsible response. If the other side backed off, so would we. That’s precisely what happened. Critics drawing parallels with Nehru or invoking Indira Gandhi must realize—times have changed. Decisions must reflect present realities and future goals.

Our central mission remains unchanged: to make India a strong, self-reliant superpower. Nation-building is not about short-term victories but long-term vision. Wars aren’t won like in the movies. No single leader or soldier can solve everything. It's a collective effort—brick by brick.

Yet, transparency from the government is crucial. Citizens deserve to know the true cost—human, financial, and strategic. No secrets here. Growth depends on accountability.

India must now act decisively against those within who supported terror—willingly or under duress. Such actions must be punished with severity to deter future attempts. The government must consider issuing a white paper on two aspects: 1) identification and prosecution of domestic collaborators, and 2) a general overview of the damages and costs incurred.

This brief yet intense standoff revealed both strengths and weaknesses on both sides. A SWOT analysis is essential. Pakistan, supported by China, will certainly conduct one. With IMF aid pouring in, they may continue to invest in upgraded weaponry, learning from this conflict. Reports already suggest 40 J-40 aircraft being dispatched from China to Pakistan. In contrast, India faces delays; China's defence production turnaround is five times faster.

India must accelerate. Our UCAS (unmanned combat systems) performed well; the S-400 was a strategic asset; Rafale jets responded with speed. But we need more. Past glories can’t secure future victories.

One message has been made clear: every act of terror will be treated as an act of war—and India will respond. There is no space for third-party intervention in Kashmir. PoK, however, remains a separate challenge. Let global leaders posture as they may—violations must be acknowledged, including by those who supported ceasefire breaches.

India’s military, its strategic clarity, and restraint have raised the benchmark. We’re evolving into a new power center. This momentum must be preserved. Petty politics must not interfere. At the same time, the ruling party must refrain from exploiting military actions for electoral gain. No chest-thumping, no theatrics.

Let us all be responsible. Let us build a stronger, smarter, united India.

Jai Hind!

Compenstaion for Carelessness

I certainly do not have any intention to hurt the sentiments of people; however, I would like my thinking be driven by reality and not by emotions. If, in case, this piece has hurt you, I do not have any hard feelings but only can pity you. The film makers, book-writers, our leaders have made Indian people sentimental oriented and our thinking is conditioned to be driven by sentiments and not by rational thinking.

Ever since the kid Prince fell into a bore-well and the entire nation was provided a live telecast of what was happening to rescue this young kid from the bore-well, it has become a regular feature in Indian happenings. I fully empathize with the parents whose kids fell into the well however, I am getting sick of the attention given to such episodes by the entire media.

If it was Prince 2 years back, it is the turn of Vandana this time. For the past one and half day, the entire media (read – news channels) was busy covering this episode. There were kids who died who fell in the bore-well in-between. During those times, these channels had some thing more interesting to cover.

Let us get out of this emotional tangle and view this episode in a different perspective. Indeed our army personnel had done a marvelous job in rescuing this young kid but I fail to understand whether our army personnel had some other value added job?

• Whose fault is this? Did we ever try to think on this angle?
• How the mother of this young one can be so irresponsible and careless by leaving the kid like this?
• Who was digging this bore-well? If the work is in-progress, why the well was not covered?
• If the work is complete or declared incomplete, why it was left uncovered?
• Why there were no sign-boards? You might ask how a young kid can read the sign-board. My answer is at the least the mother can read it.
• Who will bear the expenses incurred in this rescue operation? Obviously the parents cannot afford and Government will bear because of the lethargic attitude of its people (the parent, the contractors who had not covered the well, and the officials who were least bothered to do so...)

I vaguely remember a Malayalam film a decade back on this episode. A kid playing ball accidentally falls into a pit and the parents struggle to rescue the kid. At the end kid dies. I literally brushed off the logic of the movie then and never expected such things to happen in reality.

Courtesy, cable channels, we have numerous news channels than the soap-channels. These news channels providing more entertainment than the soaps are another story. With more channels, every one is enthusiastic to provide Breaking News to the public. News Flash and Breaking News are two different things and they can scroll all day along as News flash.

With severe competition in their field, they are running short of the substance. Hence every activity happening around becomes news. If it is a festival, an essay (literally essay as kids write in their exams) is read in the name of news. Festival celebrated in every housing society will be covered and telecast as news. There are no criteria decided to be termed anything as news. All activities that are interesting is termed & telecast as news.

This brings my nostalgic memories. In those days, we used to ridicule a Tamil Daily named “Dina thanti” means Daily Telegraph. It never covered the major issues but all trivial issues like this. The major attraction was who eloped with whom? How many illicit relationships are there in the society? Which actor is following whom, common fights among public in housing societies etc., however, this daily had the number 1 circulation till technology had taken a toll on it. This daily was famous in all tea-stalls, saloons etc., and people were hooked on to this just to kill time.

This daily was literally ridiculed by the so-called educated club. I do not find any difference between these news channels and the Dina Thanti. The quality of news coverage had stooped down to such a level that we almost spent 27 hours of satellite connections covering a single episode that displayed the lethargic attitude of our people, our style of parenting, etc.,

Such coverage will encourage more and more episodes of this kind to happen. Governments will be forced to bear the brunt and will keep on giving compensation amount. I am fully convinced that the parents, at the outset, were responsible for such happenings. They both may be toiling for their bread; however, this does not mean they can be so lethargic about their kid. I do agree that accidents do occur but we have to be careful. The next one responsible is the contractor who dug the well. Why such wells are not kept closed if not used.

The entire expenses should be reimbursed from the parents and the contractors. If the parents cannot give the money, let them work in a Government organization (on temporary basis) and repay the amount. Such actions will prevent recurrence. Instead if the government decided to give them compensation, this would only encourage such lethargic attitude.