It was the 12th day ritual going on in Rajput and Rathod families whose brave sons Sanjay Rajput and Nitin Rathod were among 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) martyrs in Pulwama terror attack when the news of Indian Air Force's air strike on terror camps in Pakistan broke to them. "We are satisfied that our force has avenged the death of 40 martyrs. Killing 200 terrorists in air strike means Indian Air Force has averted 200 terror attacks in India," Rajesh Rajput, brother of slain Sanjay Rajput told DNA.
On the afternoon of February 14, the convoy of CRPF was attacked by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. On the 12th day after the attack, the Indian Air Force penetrated into Pakistan and destroyed terrorists camps in the wee hours of Tuesday. It is regarded as the India's response to the terror attack on CRPF.
Back in Buldhana district of Maharashtra, the family of Sanjay Rajput was busy in preparing for the 12th day ritual at home when they got the news of the air strike. "We were in the midst of the 12th day ritual of my brother when we heard the news. We felt content to hear that the Air Force has avenged the death of our security personnel," Rajesh Rajput said.
He feel that the strike was important to keep the morale of the security forces high. "Such action was necessary to give message to the security personnel that Indian force will not be at the receiving end at all the time. It has also sent a message to families of martyrs that their sacrifice has not gone in vain and our country is capable of taking revenge of their deaths," he said.
Rajput also stated that more the terrorists are killed, more the terror attacks in India are averted. "We saw in the news that some 200 terrorists are being killed which means IAF has prevented 200 terror attacks in India," he said.
For Rathod family in the same district whose family member Nitin Rathod also got martyrdom, the revenge has not been completed yet. Pravin Rathod, younger brother of Nitin told DNA that unless India eliminate all the terrorists, the revenge will not be completed. He said, "It is not a complete revenge but we can say that it is a start of the revenge. We want more such strike on terror camps to break the backbone of the terrorism in India."
At Rahod family's house in Chorpangra village, they were also performing the ritual of 12th day on Tuesday we they learnt about the air strike. "Like us, several other families of security personnel have performed such rituals but we do not want more families to suffer like us. Till the time last terrorist is killed, the danger of attack on security forces and also on civilians will persists and therefore, I feel that the country should not stop here and they should eliminate all the terrorists who are planning attack in India," he said.
