Operation Sindoor 'evocative and powerful choice', says Tharoor, calls Pak 'master of denial'

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor recently told an international news channel that India wants nothing from Pakistan and that their neighbour is a revisionist power. Speaking to Saudi Arabian news channel Al Arabiya, Tharoor also recalled how Pakistan denies everything until it is presented with proof. He further spoke about the significance of the name Operation Sindoor.

Operation Sindoor was initiated by India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack on April 22, in which several men died. This included Indian Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who had gotten married only a few days before he was brutally killed. 

Tharoor told Al Arabiya what sindoor meant - a vermilion mark put in the parting of their hair by married women. 

He pointed to the heartbreaking photo of Himanshi Narwal, the wife of Vinay Narwal, sitting next to the dead body of her husband. The image has become seared in the minds of Indians and instantly takes them back to the tragic Pahalgam killings, which left many more women widowed.

Indian Member of Parliament for Lok Sabha @ShashiTharoor says #India’s “Operation Sindoor” is a powerful name that evokes the grief of a newly widowed bride—turning a symbol of marriage into a reminder of bloodshed and loss. #Pakistan #GNT pic.twitter.com/sWroFJFjMc

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Tharoor said, "The image that was seared into the nation's consciousness after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam was of a newly wedded -- now newly widowed -- bride on her honeymoon kneeling disconsolately by the body of her slain husband, in other words, the terrorist attack had wiped the sindoor of her forehead as only married women wear it."

Tharoor added that the name, Operation Sindoor, was a "very emotive, emotional term to remind people of what had happened and why this action was necessary."

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He stated that "this young woman and a few other women were widowed in the process of the same attacks." 

Tharoor then pointed out another aspect about the name, that the colour of sindoor is almost the same as the colour of blood.

"I might add, there is also undoubtedly the evocative thought that the colour of sindoor is not that different from the colour of blood, and that was what was spilt by the terrorists in our country. I thought it was a very, very evocative, emotional and powerful choice to name the operation that way," he stated.

Pakistan has denied that it had anything to do with the Pahalgam attack. However, India has said that all evidence points to Islamabad's involvement in the massacre.

Tharoor also used the moment to tell the world that Pakistan is a "master of denial". He told the channel about previous instances when it had done the same. 

"They denied anything to do with the Mumbai attacks", he said, but "later, one of the terrorists was caught alive and Pakistanis had to admit that he and everything he said came from them."

He cited how they denied having any knowledge about Osama Bin Laden, who was ultimately found and killed in Pakistan.

"They denied even knowing where Osama Bin Laden was until he was found in a military encampment not far from a Pakistani Army base. This is the Pakistani route: constantly show us the evidence," he said.

On Pahalgam evidence linking Pakistan to the killings, he said, "The fact is there is enough circumstantial evidence and there are intelligence intercepts on the basis of which India is acting. India has absolutely no other reason to do this."

Tharoor also clarified that India "wants nothing that Pakistan has".

"India is focused on growing its economy, improving its high technology, and providing a future for its young people. It is entirely happy to be left alone by Pakistan, and it will leave Pakistan alone."