Pahalgam terror attack victim's wife hails Op Sindoor on first anniversary

Kanpur (UP), May 7 (PTI) As India marks the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, in response to last year's April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Aishanya, the widow of victim Shubham Dwivedi, on Thursday, praised the Indian Army and the government for "a strong and historic response" to terrorism. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year.
     She said the strike felt like justice for grieving families.
     Aishanya also reiterated the demand that all Pahalgam attack victims be granted martyr status, saying they proudly identified themselves as Hindus, faced bullets, and their sacrifice deserves national respect.
     She said the anniversary reopened painful memories not only for the 26 affected families, but also for countless others across the country who have suffered due to terrorism.
     "This journey has been extremely difficult. I feel the pain and memories of every family affected by terrorism must have resurfaced again today," Aishanya said.
     "Such revenge had never been taken before. Terror attacks happened earlier, too, but this was the first time the government and the Army responded so strongly after an attack of this scale. For families like ours, it feels like justice," she said.
     Shubham Dwivedi (31), a resident of Kanpur, was among the 26 people killed when terrorists opened fire on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Baisaran area of Pahalgam on April 22 last year.
     Aishanya said the Army's decision to dedicate Operation Sindoor to women who lost their husbands in the attack carried deep emotional significance for the affected families.
     "When I say 'shaheed', I do not mean it in the defence sense. I mean national honour for those innocent civilians who were targeted and killed after being identified by their religion," she said.
     "No one chooses the religion they are born into. Yet they were targeted because of it. Even in that moment, people proudly identified themselves as Hindus and faced bullets. Their sacrifice deserves national respect," she said.
     In response to the Pahalgam terror attack, India carried out airstrikes on nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
     The action triggered a rapid escalation in tensions with Pakistan launching retaliatory strikes, though most of them were thwarted by the Indian military.
     Hostilities ended on May 10 with an understanding to halt military actions, following talks over the hotline between army officials from both sides.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)