"Every Indian citizen needs to stand united" was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first message on Thursday (May 8th) to the all-party meeting.
Namo's first remarks after Operation Sindoor.
The opposition parties were told about the valour of the armed forces as India struck terror camps deep inside Pakistan in one of the most expansive cross-border strikes.
The all-party meeting, which was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and ministers JP Nadda and Nirmala Sitharaman.
While Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge represented the Congress, Sandip Bandyopadhyay from the Trinamool Congress and DMK's TR Baalu attended the meeting.
Other opposition leaders included Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Sanjay Singh of the AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut, NCP (SP)'s Supriya Sule, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, and BJD's Sasmit Patra.
In what is seen a 'departure' from their skeptic stance after the 2019 Balakot airstrikes, the opposition this time were fulsome in their praise of the armed forces as they destroyed nine terrorist camps linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) on Wednesday.
However, no opposition leader has directly lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi unlike Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the 1970s when he did not shy to applaud the then PM Indira Gandhi.
The strikes, carried out by the Army and the Air Force, were in response to the attack in Pahalgam, carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists, which left 26 dead.
After the 2019 Balakot strikes in February that came months before parliamentary elections, the Congress and 20 opposition parties released a joint statement slamming the government for 'politicisation' of the sacrifices of the armed forces in Pulwama.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also faced brickbats from the BJP for demanding "evidence" on the Balakot strikes. Such missteps by the Congress are believed to have hurt the party in the Lok Sabha polls months later as the BJP portrayed the party as "anti-national" during the campaign.
The Balakot strikes, which targeted terror launchpads in PoK, were in response to the Pulwama attack that left over 40 soldiers dead.
Then, Jaish-e-Mohammed took responsibility for the attack.
In twists of the tale; JeM chief Masood Azhar, whom Pakistan helped to get released during Kandahar plane hijack, lost 10 of his family members in the Operation Sindoor.
In 2016 also after post-Uri surgical strike, the opposition almost spoke the language of Pakistan and had said there was no such strike. The Congress and other leaders had demanded evidence of the strike.
The Union Home ministry directed all states to intensify surveillance of anti-national propaganda on social media and take swift action, sources said. The direction came amid a disinformation campaign by Pakistan after 'Operation Sindoor'.
Sania Mirza's Powerful Operation Sindoor Message With Photo Of Sofiya Qureshi And Vyomika Singh
Former Indian tennis player Sania Mirza has shared powerful message on social media, reacting to two women officers briefing the media on India's execution of 'Operation Sindoor' on Wednesday. Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh flanked Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Wednesday morning during the briefing about Operation Sindoor, which was a joint operation by the Indian Army and the Air Force.
Sania Mirza applauded/celebrated the briefing made by two women officers of different religions.
"The messaging in this very powerful photo perfectly captures who we are as a nation," was written by D'Souza in the post, which was later shared by Mirza.
On Wednesday, the significance of the two women officers being chosen to disclose the details of Operation Sindoor, along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, was not lost.
On September 29, 2016, after the surgical strikes carried out in response to the Uri attack, the Government had chosen Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, then Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Army, to brief the media.
Three years later, after the Balakot airstrikes on February 26, 2019, the responsibility was given to then Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.
For Wg Cmdr Singh, the media appearance marked a high point ever since she “wanted to be a pilot and own the sky” as early as in Class 6.
“I was in Class 6 when the Eureka moment happened,” she recalled during a TV panel discussion two years ago.
“We were having a discussion in class on the meaning of names. Somebody shouted, ‘You are Vyomika, which means you own the sky’. Since that day, I have wanted to be a pilot. This was in the early 1990s,” she had said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Col Qureshi’s sister, Shyna, who co-runs a film production house in Mumbai, said, “We spoke yesterday and as a duty-bound Army officer that she is, she did not mention a word about what was to come this morning.
It was a surprise for all of us, but a proud moment.”
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