It was the year of 2016. One one hand, India was scaling great heights, with multitudinous achievements to claim. The economy performed well with GDP growth forecast of over 7%, we overtook US in terms of number of internet users, the world's largest solar power plant was unveiled in Tamil Nadu and the list goes on. Among all these multifarious milestones, a grievous predicament was plaguing our motherland. Our mettlesome soldiers guarding our borders were recurrently attacked at their camps by incendiaries from across the frontier, the latest being the attack by four heavily armed militants on 18 September 2016, near the town of Uri in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was reported as "the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades".

The martyrdom of their comrades was not taken lightly by our valiant soldiers of Ghatak platoon of 6 Bihar and 10 Dogra battalions and they set forth to put an end to this dolorous and repetitive tale of atrocity.

In the dead of night at zero hours, the Army's Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters crossed the LoC into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and dropped the commandos at pre-planned positions. The commandos crawled for 3 kms through mud, rocks and even landmines to reach their destination with the constant threat of being captured by enemy vigilance.The commandos had planned to destroy seven terrorist launch pads who were waiting to surreptitiously penetrate the Indian LoC and attack our country. On successfully reaching their destination, our bravehearts attacked these launchpads with such dexterity that 38 terrorists were killed by the time, our opponents became aware of the situation.

Once again our Indian Army showed it's valour and skill as surgical strikes require not just detailed and exhaustive planning but need to be carried out with absolute precision to achieve the objective of taking down targets with either no or minimal collateral damage. The impact of the surgical strike was such that now our foes across the frontier think twice before infiltrating our borders and attacking our country. The indomitable spirit of our soldiers is the inextinguishable fire that paves the way for our soldiers to carry out brave deeds.

For our soldiers, it does not boil down to how much we talk about them or how well history remembers them. But we should, shouldn't we? They deserve to be talked about, to be remembered.

“Let's salute these unsung heroes through event One for all | All for one by Atharva foundation to be held on 31st January 2019 at 6:30 pm at NSCI Dome Worli, Mumbai.