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In the Indian tradition, Shakti is not just a goddess. It’s an energy, a principle, and a strategy. The recent Operation Sindoor, where India launched a swift, precise strike against Pakistan’s air defence infrastructure, was not just military brilliance. It was Shakti in motion – Durga’s composed dominance, Kali’s bold precision, and Saraswati’s quiet control of the narrative.

Durga’s Strategic Calm: The Decoy And Dome Of Fire Dance

In the Devi Mahatmyam, Durga watches Mahishasura’s chaos unfold, assembling her energies slowly, calmly, and only unleashing her wrath at the precise moment. In Operation Sindoor, the Indian Air Force mirrored this composed strategic build-up.

In the latest strike, the Indian Air Force sent out decoy aircraft, mimicking Su-30s and MiG-29s, to lure Pakistani air defence systems into exposure. The enemy fired. We watched. We learned. And then, with precision, we struck, just as Durga watched Mahishasura’s many forms before choosing her moment. This was not impulsive rage; it was composed fire. Strategic calm. Precision.

Under Durga’s shakti, India created a 360-degree high level battlefield domain awareness by linking its satellites, AWACS and ground-based radar systems. India was not just reactive, it was pre-emptive. Powered by Akashteer, our new AI-integrated defence net created an invisible shield in the sky, seamlessly linking high-altitude S-400s, MRSAMs, Akash missiles, and anti-aircraft guns. Just like Durga’s astras that intercepted Asuras in the heavens, this dome of fire ensured no enemy weapon touched the sacred ground of Bharat. Every Pakistani attack fell limp before it.

This was not just firepower, it was foresight. Before Shakti decimated the enemy, she fortified and she defended. She didn’t wait for war to begin; she was ready long before it arrived.

Mahishasura thought he had outwitted the gods. He didn’t account for Durga’s patience.

Kali’s Ruthless Clarity: The BrahMos Blows

Kali does not wait. She does not implore. She severs what threatens dharma with surgical precision. Once India had mapped the battlefield thanks to strategic decoy operations and real-time intelligence, the airstrike began.

Missiles were launched, including nearly 15 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, each with pinpoint accuracy, in a coordinated attack. The first nine terror camps were brought to ground. Later eleven out of twelve targeted Pakistani air force bases were crippled within minutes.

Just as Kali confronted Raktabija, whose every drop of blood spawned another demon, India faced an enemy that had long relied on misdirection, asymmetry, and proxy warfare. But Kali doesn’t allow multiplication, she swallows the threat at its root. Each BrahMos was like her strike, swift, final, and irreversible.

One of the most significant blows for Pakistan came when their key radars and air surveillance facilities, including the one in Lahore, Pakistan’s eye and ear to western air defence network were neutralised. This wasn’t an attack born of rage. It was shunyata in motion, calm awareness turned into decisive action.

Soon Jacobabad, Sargodha and Nur Khan (close to GHQ Rawalpindi) blows brought them to their knees. Controlled destruction. No civilian target. No chaos. Just clarity. This was not India losing control, this was India reclaiming it. This was not fire for revenge, it was fire for rekindling order.

As Kali danced over the chest of unconscious Shiva to stop her fury, India too stopped where the lesson was taught. No further. No more.

Saraswati’s Narrative Control: Quiet, Clean Messaging

In any war, there’s also a battle of perception. Saraswati, goddess of wisdom and clarity, who not only governs speech, strategy, and truth but also the strategic silence when words can be counterproductive. India exercised narrative discipline – no extra commentary, no premature celebration, no false claims, only calm confirmation of outcomes at the right time.

When misinformation surfaced in the midst of the operation, like claims that Indian fighter aircrafts had been shot down, India kept its calm so enemy doesn’t know our moves, took its time and countered it with straight facts when objectives were met, refusing to let anyone peep into our war rooms or falsehood distort the public pulse. It was warfare through clarity, not cacophony.

Like Saraswati defeating ignorance not by argument, but by illumination, India let facts dismantle fiction.

Three Energies. One Operation. Enduring Shakti
The foresight and restraint of Durga.
The precision and finality of Kali.
The tactical articulation of Saraswati.

Each phase of the operation aligned with Shakti’s timeless expressions, once used to slay demons like Mahishasura and Raktabija, now channelled to disable the guardians of terrorism. India didn’t just strike hard. India struck right, and in doing so, invoked the ancient wisdom, alive not in temples, but in strategy rooms, cockpits, and command centres.

Operation Sindoor was not just military retaliation, it was the return of the sacred red, wiped off the forehead of Bharat’s daughters. And who else could avenge it but She who wears blood as her crown – Durga, Kali, and Saraswati, rising through our forces, fierce, composed, and unyielding. It was the divine feminine Herself who struck back. For Pakistan, it wasn’t just a strike – it was the red line they dare not cross.

This article was originally published by BW Hindi. BW BusinessWorld