After Operation Sindoor, Rajnath Invokes Hanuman, Says ‘Targeted Those Who Killed Our Innocents’

New Delhi: In the first public remarks following ‘Operation Sindoor’ – India’s military strikes against ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir – Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday (May 7) invoked Lord Hanuman and said that the Indian armed forces had scripted a new chapter in history. Singh said that the Indian armed forces had shown “great sensitivity by ensuring that no civilian or civilian population was affected” and that the strikes “targeted only those who killed our innocents”.

“Our Indian soldiers have created a new chapter in history by displaying extraordinary courage and valour. Friends, the Indian Army carried out the operation with precision, alertness, and sensitivity,” said Singh at the 66th Raising Day event of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in New Delhi, hours after Operation Sindoor was conducted.

“The objectives we had set were achieved with accuracy and within the planned time frame. Our forces showed great sensitivity by ensuring that no civilian or civilian population was affected,” he said.

Invoking Lord Hanuman, the defence minister added that the strikes had followed his ideals.

“Friends, we have followed the ideals of Lord Hanuman. Just as he said during the destruction of Ashok Vatika – ‘I only struck those who attacked me’ – we too have targeted only those who killed our innocents,” he said.

These are the first public remarks made by any Union minister since the late-night strikes.

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the Union ministry of defence announced that nine targets had been struck in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed. 

In a joint press briefing by foreign secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, the missile strikes were described as “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible”. 

The targets included the Markaz Subhanallah camp, which was the JeM headquarters and a centre of indoctrination and training, along with other LeT bases in Pakistan and PoK which were said to be the root of other recent terror attacks.

The defence minister said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the armed forces by launching Operation Sindoor had “given a stern response to those camps that provide training to terrorists.”

“India has exercised its 'Right to respond' to the attack on its soil. Our action has been taken very thoughtfully and in a measured manner. With the aim of breaking the morale of the terrorists, this action has been limited only to their camps and other infrastructure. I once again salute the bravery of our armed forces,” said Singh.

Earlier in the day, a slew of meetings were held by the top heads of the government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing a meeting of the Union cabinet following the strikes. During the meeting, he is learnt to have said that the government will have a zero tolerance towards terror, PTI reported. Later he also met President Droupadi Murmu and held a separate meeting with Rajanth Singh and NSA Ajit Doval.

Union home minister Amit Shah held a meeting with the chief ministers, DGPs and chief secretaries of border states including J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, West Bengal and LG of Ladakh and LG of Jammu and Kashmir.

In the meeting Shah said that "without ignoring the Pahalgam terrorist attack, an appropriate response was given through Operation Sindoor, sending a strong message to the world."

He said that Operation Sindoor, launched after specific inputs, is a "testament to the Modi government's zero tolerance policy against terrorism to the entire world." Shah also said that strict vigil should be kept on anti-national propaganda by unwanted elements on social and other media platforms and prompt action should be taken in coordination with state governments and central agencies.

The home ministry had also directed multiple states to conduct mock drills for civil defence preparedness in case of any potential hostilities.