Operation Sindoor and the Shadow of War: A Personal Memoir

While war clouds loom over the country in the wake of India’s daring response to the Pakistan sponsored Pahalgam massacre in the form of Operation Sindoor that has showcased India’s military might to the world, and even as I write this report, while mock drills are being conducted all across the country, my mind races back to the vague memories of a blackout exercise that was last conducted in Chennai during the Indo Pakistan war of 1971.

I was just two years old then, so my memories are not very vivid. Some memories get sharpened because we recount them over and over again with some people who might remember it more accurately and help add the missing details to make the picture complete.

But I am talking about my experience as a two-year-old, the only child in the family at the time, about three years before my younger sibling was born, with only my late parents alongside me on that blacked-out night. My father worked in an international organisation that had a boys' home located on a sprawling 23 acre land on what was then the outskirts of Chennai.

Our house was located within the campus, with many trees providing a green cover. On that particular night, I remember my father and mother had pulled up a chair in front of our house, and being in a large open campus, we could see the sky. I do not remember if it was a cloudless night or if there was anything visible at all.

Possibly my memory of that night was revived through later conversations with my parents. But the campus was pitch dark and all the lights were switched off in our home and in the boys' hostel.

I remember my parents saying that some Indian military aircraft, possibly fighter jets, flew very low because someone in the neighbourhood had left a light on in their house, which frightened the people
As someone growing up in Chennai, that was our only experience of a war with an enemy when we were required to take part in mock drills.


Moving on to the current scenario, the government has announced training for the public in 244 identified civil defence districts across the country to respond to air raid warning sirens, steps to take during blackout, and evacuation strategies in the event of a hostile attack.

Operation Sindoor was in retaliation to the brutal terror attack that left 26 people dead in Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam last month. According to initial reports, the successful operation targeting nine locations — Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwal — inside Pakistan has eliminated more than 70 terrorists.

While many are rooting for a full scale war, I simply hope that better sense will prevail in Pakistan and that they will not do anything to escalate the situation, leading to a full-fledged war.


India has clearly described Operation Sindoor as a measured, non escalatory, proportionate, and responsible answer to Pakistan's continuing support of cross border terrorism and strikes on India.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in today’s press briefing, mentioned that the targets were selected based on credible intelligence input and focused on dismantling terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists.

We in Chennai have not seen much of war in independent India, and North India has borne the brunt of all the wars that have been fought post-Independence.


But of course, Chennai has always supported the nation and has provided funds to the nation whenever it went to war.

As a political journalist, we have heard the DMK, which is in power now in the state, often mentioning this whenever its patriotism is questioned, often unjustly.

During the 1962 war with China, the DMK, then under the leadership of C. N. Annadurai, collected Rs 35,000 in just a few hours and handed it over to the then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj as a contribution to the National Defence Fund.


Again, during the 1971 war with Pakistan, which led to the creation of Bangladesh, the DMK, led by M. Karunanidhi, was in power in Tamil Nadu. The party collected Rs 6 crore and gave it to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to support the war effort.

War is surely not in the interest of either country. As a rising economic power, India is focusing on infrastructure, technology, and manufacturing under initiatives like Make in India and Digital India.

Our defence strategy has relied on deterrence, intelligence, and precision strikes so far, rather than full scale war, which could derail our economic momentum.


India is now the fifth largest economy in the world and is projected to become the third largest by 2027, according to IMF and World Bank reports.

Pakistan’s economy is facing record inflation, foreign exchange reserves below two months of imports, and a crippling debt crisis. With ongoing IMF bailouts and rising internal unrest, Pakistan is in no position to finance or sustain a full scale war.

P C Vinoj Kumar is the Editor of The Weekend Leader