Does govt want to get sentimental benefits? Prithviraj Chavan on codename 'Operation Sindoor'

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said on Wednesday that a war cannot be won on emotions and wondered whether the name "Operation Sindoor" was picked by the government for scoring "sentimental benefits".

He also said the government should share details with people regularly to check the spread of misinformation on social media in the aftermath of the destruction of terrorist camps in PoK and Pakistan by Indian armed forces.

Commenting on the name "Operation Sindoor", the former Union minister said a war is fought using guns, aircraft, and bombs, and not through symbolism or sentiments.

"To avoid misinformation and the spread of false agendas on social media, the government should share details with people regularly," he told PTI Videos.

The government might have thought they would get some "sentimental benefits", he said when asked about the codename "Operation Sindoor".

"A war is fought with bombs, guns, and aircraft, and not on symbolism or tokenism. A war cannot be won through the names of the operation. The name of the operation is fine....Indian government might have thought that giving this name (Sindoor) to the operation, they might derive some sentimental benefits," he said.

Names of the operations don't matter, ultimately, you have to go to Pakistan and show that you have destroyed terrorist camps, he added.

Chavan welcomed two female defence officers, addressing the media on the operation conducted by the armed forces.

"We welcome women officers being assigned the responsibility to address the media briefing. However, tokenism and symbolism won't work. We need solid action, and in the early morning, we have shown that we won't tolerate terrorism at all, like the US," he said.

When reminded that some opposition parties had asked for proof of the airstrike in the past, Chavan said, "(It's) Because the world needs proof of any action you do, it needs solid proof".