Not a time for celebration: Martyr Sandeep Unnikrishnan's father

Bengaluru: They may have suffered personal tragedies, losing their loved ones, who laid down their lives fighting for the country, but they remain stoic and supportive of the Indian government’s surgical strikes in response to Pakistan’s Uri attack.

Mr. Unnikrishnan K, father of late major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was killed fighting terrorists during the  26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, however, warns that this is no time for celebration. “No doubt the entire country and its people are behind the government in combating terrorism, but I am against people celebrating this as a victory over Pakistan. This is only the beginning, and we will definitely face repercussions. There will be a reaction from them and it has already started. That is my concern. How many more people will have to sacrifice their lives? So there is nothing to celebrate actually, we should not get lost in that,” he underlined, adding, “The good thing is that the entire country is together now. It happens only when such attacks or tragedies like Uri or Pathankot take place. That is the irony of India.”

Appreciating the maturity of the Indian government, especially the defence minister, he noted,  “Although those in Pakistan were talking about using special bombs , nothing like this came from our leaders or even from ordinary people for that matter.”

Maintaining that it was cruel of Pakistan to launch attacks on Pathankot and Uri when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tried to extend a hand  of friendship to it  to find a way out of the longstanding  Kashmir dispute, Mr. E.K. Shivaraja , father of slain NSG commando, Lt Col E.K. Niranjan of the Special Forces bomb detection and disposal squad, said, “It’s high time our leaders took such a decision to act against Pakistan. We are so thankful for it. This will unite our country as now everybody, irrespective of parties, caste, creed or religion will come out in support of it.”

Ms Subhashini Vasanth, wife of the late Commanding Officer of the 9 Maratha Light Infantry, Vasanth Venugopal, who laid down his life for the country in 2007, was also supportive of the counter strikes against Pakistan. “We as normal citizens of the country don’t get to know everything about what is happening, but we need to believe that there are people out there, who are taking care of us and  know what they are doing. The armed force is an arm of the government, which knows what is good for the country and its people and when and how things need to be taken care of,” she said stoically, displaying great fortitude despite her personal loss.