Rebuilding Memories Of Operation Sindoor, For Better Or Verse

It is a curious thing how masonry learns to heal faster than memory. If you were to take a stroll through the freshly whitewashed corridors of Bahawalpur or cast a glance toward Muridke, you would hardly suspect that a little over a year ago, during the fiery brief theatre of Operation Sindoor, these very coordinates were subjected to a sudden, violent architectural critique by the Indian Air Force.

Let us jog the collective memory back to those nine select targets—four deep in mainland Pakistan and five scattered across Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir—chosen not at random but with the precision of a surgeon about to evict a chronic tumour.

There was Sawai Nala and Syedna Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Gulpur and Abbas in Kotli, Barnala in Bhimber, Sarjal and Mehmoona Joya slicing through Sialkot, and the crown jewels of the terror enterprise: Markaz Taiba in Muridke and Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur.

They were selected because they were the academic institutions of the macabre: colleges where young men were imparted the fine arts of infiltration, improvised explosives, and fidayeen geometry, courtesy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

When the smoke cleared from those 25 minutes of supersonic persuasion, the tally sheet registered over a hundred permanent vacancies, including high-ranking connoisseurs of chaos like Mohammad Yusuf Azhar and sundry relatives of the JeM franchise who discovered that divine protection does not include air defence against incoming missiles. Thank goodness dead terrorists and their relatives cannot be rebuilt.

Pakistan’s Rebuilt Terror Infrastructure

Yet, time is a brisk redecorator. In the months that have elapsed, both the Bahawalpur complex and its sister enterprise in Muridke have not merely been patched up; given the generous infusions of institutional fondness they enjoy, they have likely emerged even better than before.

With modern amenities, perhaps central air-conditioning for the curriculum of discontent, upgraded fibre optics for overseas correspondence, and reinforced ceilings designed to withstand everything short of geopolitical disillusionment? So, what grand, epoch-making lessons do you think Pakistan has learnt? Precisely none.

Alas, the more things change, the more they stay stubbornly the same. Which brings us, naturally, to our own parlour games. We are quite fond, from time to time, of issuing grand, pious pledges about reclaiming territories in Pakistan and China that legitimately belong to India.

We wonder: what has been the measurable progress on that front aside from mildly diverting television debates? Is there an unspoken merit in singing full-length patriotic anthems at peak volume while entirely lacking the fervour to follow through with promises that alter anything on the ground? Or do we simply remain admirers of our own rhetorical echo, forever marvelling at how neatly the other side rebuilds its ruins while we sing yet another verse?

Published on: Tuesday, August 25, 2026, 09:51 PM IST