A month since Valentine Day..

It’s been a month since world has celebrated Valentine Day. This day is to celebrate Love. But the same day proved to be a day of anguish and pain in India this time around. We lost 40+ soldiers in a dastardly act of terrorism in Pulawama, Kashmir. Whole nation was in deep sorrow as they should be. The government was under severe pressure to act against the perpetrators of the crime. Initially, they displayed remarkable patience and latter came up with an unprecedented airborne attack on terrorist’s hideouts even crossed the LOCs and went into main territory of Pakistan.

However, number of fatalities remained unknown in that Surgical Strike. Claims and counter claims from both sides of the borders resulted in a lot of confusion among general masses. Jingoism seemed to be the driver of the emotions on either side. Pakistan also tried to infringe the Indian Airspace by sending at least four F-16 fighter jets. According to Indian foreign ministry, we responded swiftly and prevented them from targeting the military installments in our side by sending our fighter jets. In this process, one of our MiG-21 Bison went down and its pilot named Abhinandan Varthman was intercepted by Pakistanis military. Indian side claimed that in the air skirmishes, Wing Commander also shot down one F-16 fighter jet of Pakistan, which is even hinted, if not substantiated, by the earlier claims of Pakistani Army’s spokesperson that they have shot down two Indian Fighter Jets but they shared the evidence of just one. So it’s believed that the second one was F-16 and no country would be in comfortable position when world would know that their 4th Generation Fighter plane was shot down by a second generation Soviet Era fighter Jet in a dog fight. 

The situation was deteriorating very fast and when war seemed imminent, a sane decision by Pakistani establishment to return the captured Wing Commander to India resulted in thawing in the war like situation. 

A month after the fateful Pulwama attack, I sat down to reflect the whole series of events. Who gained and who lost! I tried to recall the name of Martyrs,unfortunately, I recalled none. Only thing that I remembered is the numbers. More than 40 soldiers had lost their lives. These days, Emotions are reduced to numbers, no name, no identity, and no face. Do you remember the name of any martyr? Will this remembering even helps anyone? How many Count will you remember? For how many years you will remember? This is happening since 1990s. We remember Abhinandan, we all are proud of him, his valour and his composure in the enemy’s territory and in the mouth of death. But were the lives of other 40+ soldiers are not equal, not worth knowing! But who cares! World will go on as it’s going on.

Next year again the Valentine Day will be celebrated with great fervor except in few homes where they have lost their loved ones for forever! If I will clamor for a befitting response and a tactical short term war to teach lesson to the enemies of Humanity, I will be termed as War Monger, if I will condemn war and would request for peace, I will be termed as Libtards or Coward.

I am in a fix. Then I think I should go to the schools, to the offices, to the Temples, to the Malls and if possible then to the Funeral Pyres (whose flames must have been died down by now) of the Martyrs to ask them what prompted them to risk their life for me, to say them Thank You, that you sacrificed your today for my tomorrow! To say them I am Sorry! To say them, I couldn’t do any thing when cowards attacked you, to say them that I can’t do anything as I am just a bloody common man!!!

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