In a spectacular and risky turn of events, Pakistan attacked India in a pre-dawn offensive on Saturday, launching drones and ballistic missiles, including the Fattah-1, as part of an operation ominously named Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos. This came on the heels of India’s Operation Sindoor on Friday, when there were targeted airstrikes by the Indian Air Force on terror camps within Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Pakistani media, such as Radio Pakistan, reported that the attack was aimed at 26 sites in India. While India’s Operation Sindoor was precise and targeted only terrorist infrastructure, the Pakistani response was indiscriminate, purposely targeting civilian and military targets, such as gurdwaras, convents, and temples. The difference is stark and reflects not only Pakistan’s desperation but also its desire to disguise aggression with religious symbolism.
Bunyan Ul Marsoos: Religious Undertones, Calculated Communal Messaging
The name Bunyan Ul Marsoos, derived from a verse in the Quran, translates to “solid wall of lead” or “a structure made of lead.” As per Al Jazeera, the verse reads, “Bunyan Marsoos is an Arabic phrase which directly translates into ‘a structure made of lead.” Pakistan’s use of Quranic scripture is not coincidental. It attempts to present its military reaction as a divine mission, showing itself as an invincible barrier defending a holy cause.
But this is a story that does not survive close examination. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri aptly declared, “Pakistan is once again trying desperately to give a communal color to the situation to cause dissonance. We are not surprised.” Pakistan’s targeting of religious and civilian locations is not merely an act of war—it is an attempt to induce internal upheaval in India on communal lines.
Terrorism and Religious Polarisation: The Pattern Is Clear
This is not the first time Pakistan has brought religion into its military pursuits. The Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 reminds us in stark terms. Pakistani and trained by Pakistani terrorists killed civilians after compelling them to utter the kalma to find out the non-Muslims. Asaduddin Owaisi, MP AIMIM, criticized the action by stating, “This act [Pahalgam attack] shows you [Pakistan] are the successors of ISIS.”
Owaisi went on, “Be it ISI or ISIS or the establishment of Pakistan’s deep state, they desire Hindu-Muslim communal riots. They wanted to inform us that non-Muslims can’t reach Kashmir.” These words show a bigger worry—that Pakistan is using terrorism not just as an instrument against India but also as a means of fanning communal flames.
General Asim Munir’s previous statement fuels this agenda: “Our ancestors felt that we were different from the Hindus in all walks of life. That was the premise of the Two-Nation Theory.” This ideological foundation is no longer mere rhetoric; it is being enforced on the ground violently.
Background: India’s Operation Sindoor and Pahalgam Massacre
India’s retaliation—Operation Sindoor—was initiated after the heinous April 22 Pahalgam massacre, in which 26 civilians were brutally killed in cold blood. The killers chose their victims based on religious identity, a chilling new twist to cross-border terrorism. India’s raids, which targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and POK, included for the first time since 1971, a target 100 km deep within Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Pakistan’s designation of its response operation as Bunyan Ul Marsoos, even in the face of this violation, highlights its desire to look strong, while its land remains weak. But employing religion as sword and shield, particularly in war, is not merely irresponsible—it is universally reviled.
