Operation Sindoor: Hindu meaning behind name for India's strike on Pakistan

New Delhi launched overnight attacks on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir

Indian Army Col Sofiya Qureshi speaks to the media about Operation Sindoor in New Delhi on Wednesday. EPA

India struck Pakistan with missiles on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after 26 people were killed by armed militants in the Indian-administered Kashmir valley. The attacks killed eight people, Pakistan said, calling them an “unprovoked and blatant act of war”.

“Our intelligence indicated that further attacks against India were impending, and it was essential to both stop and tackle these threats,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a media conference on Wednesday.

Mr Misri added that The Resistance Front group that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack was a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani organisation on the UN terrorism list.

Indian Army Col Sofiya Qureshi said the missile strikes started at 1.05am (local time) and lasted for about 25 minutes. She said no military installations were targeted.

These military strikes were designed “to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families,” she said.

Hindu reference to Pahalgam attack

The Indian operation was named “Sindoor” – the word in Hindi for the bright red vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women on their forehead and hair. It is an apparent reference to the women who were left widowed after the Pahalgam strike. Witnesses said that gunmen singled out men, killing them in front of their families.

Himanshi Narwal, whose husband was killed in the Pahalgam attack, recounts how gunmen struck in the Kashmir resort area. Reuters

A photograph of a woman sitting beside her husband’s body following the attack went viral and became a rallying symbol of the attack. The couple, Himanshi and Vinay Narwal, were married for less than a week and were in Kashmir on their honeymoon. Mr Narwal was an Indian Navy officer.

Another victim, Shubham Dwivedi, was in the valley with his wife Aishanya when he was shot in the head. The couple had been married for about eight weeks.

An Indian Army post on social media after Wednesday's strikes featured a picture showing the name Operation Sindoor with a bowl of vermilion powder replacing the first letter “O”.

“Justice is served. Jai Hind!” the post read.

The name has resonated with the grieving widows who thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the attacks on terrorist camps.

“The moment I read the name, I saw Shubham's photo and I was crying. With the name, the government has connected to us on a personal level. And on some level, we feel that this was revenge taken on our behalf,” Aishanya Dwivedi told Indian media.

World leaders' reactions

The violence was the worst to erupt between the nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades and world leaders urged restraint.

“It's a shame, we just heard about it,” said US President Donald Trump. “I just hope it ends very quickly.”

A spokesman for the UN's Antonio Guterres said: “The secretary general is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries.

“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was “deeply concerned by the escalation of military confrontation”, called “on the parties to exercise restraint to prevent further deterioration” and said it hoped tensions could be “resolved through peaceful, diplomatic means”.