Ye Naya Bharat Hai

By Himadri Sarkar

Yes indeed this is new India, an India that does not meekly surrender to heinous crimes, murders and loot being perpetrated  on innocent civilians in the name of Jihad and take things lying down. Matter relates to state cross border terrorism that has been taking place on our soil since 1980 when lakhs of Hindus who were bona fide citizens of Kashmir since centuries were told by militants to leave Kashmir in 48 hrs or else face consequences. Thousands were killed and lakhs displaced. Neither was anything tangible done nor were the perpetrators of these henious crimes booked. Emboldened by this success they next targeted Mumbai, the financial capital of India. A series of bomb blasts shook the whole country when on 12th of March these blasts took 257 lives of innocent civilians and left many injured. Again nothing came out except condemning the attack and condolences for bereaved families. In fact, those who were behind the blasts were allowed to flee to places like Dubai and Pakistan. They are still at large even after established charges. Some more blasts took place in Mumbai, one on March 13, 2003 at Mumbai Central Railway station killing 11 and injuring  80. This was followed by blasts at Gateway of India, Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003 killing 52 and again followed by another on local trains killing 181 and injuring 890.  The icing on the cake was on 26/11/ 2008 when the whole city was kept on ransom by terrorists who attacked even Taj Mahal Hotel, pride of India and many other important locations of importance throughout the city killing 175 and injuring  more than 300. This mayhem continued for 4 days when our NSG personnel shot all seven of the terrorists one by one, except Ajmal Kasab who was captured by our brave Mumbai police. Kasab was finally hanged after 5 long years of protracted judicial process. Fact of the matter is not a single of the masterminds were apprehended and those who were directing these operations were sitting pretty in Pakistan and still very much active.

This all happened till 2011 when the last blast in Mumbai took place in 13/07/2011  which left 26 dead and some 131 injured.

There was a gap of about 8 years when again a suicide bomber killed 40 of our jawans at Pulwama. But by this time Naya Bharat had arrived and there was no more taking things lying down when we launched air strikes on some terror camps across the border at Balakot killing several terrorists and destroying their camps. New India sent a clear message that if ‘you attack we would strike back heavily.’ This is New India. New India was making moves to free Kashmir a terror-free zone by abrogation of Article 370 and peace was restored, stone pelting stopped and business started booming for locals. A rough estimate suggests that an approximate 4 lakhs tourists visited Kashmir in year 2024-‘25, which was a sort of record in recent times. Lal chowk( Main market place) at Srinagar saw Tricolors flying with pride which could not have been Imagined since 1990. This is Naya Bharat. Everything was going well when this Pahalgam incident took place which is still fresh in the minds of every Indian citizen. And how New India retaliated and struck back is now known to the whole world. Previously even after so many attacks Sindhu water flowed, cricket matches played, cultural exchanges continued, business went on but now all these have been  stopped leaving Pakistan in a lurch and a precarious position. Naya Bharat has instilled a new Desh Prem amongst citizens, which is evident with numerous rallies all over the county being organized which indeed is needed now. An all party delegation visiting different parts of the world further vindicates our resolve that in the moment of crisis we all are united irrespective of party affiliations.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

(The views expressed are personal opinion of the author.)