Vadodara (Gujarat) [India]: As India launched precision strikes under Operation Sindoor against terror camps deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), pride swept through a Vadodara household where Colonel Sofiya Qureshi’s family watched her brief the nation on one of the most significant military operations in decades.
Her father, Taj Mohammed Qureshi, a veteran from a proud lineage of servicemen, was overwhelmed with emotion.
“We are very proud. Our daughter has done a great thing for our country. Pakistan should be destroyed. My grandfather, my father, and I were all in the army. Now she is, too,” he said.
Colonel Qureshi’s mother, Halima Qureshi, called the strike a powerful answer to terrorism and expressed immense pride in the Indian Army’s actions.
“We have avenged the sindoors of our sisters and mothers… Sofiya wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, who were also in the army. She used to say as a child that when she grew up, she would join the army,” she told ANI.
Her brother, Mohammed Sanjay Qureshi, said the family was both shocked and honoured when they learned Sofiya would be one of the key figures speaking for the military operation.
“She is my idol. We were waiting for a long time for revenge. But we never expected this level of response—or that a member of our family would be part of it. We were pleasantly surprised that our family got such a big opportunity,” he shared.
Earlier on Wednesday, Colonel Qureshi joined Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh in New Delhi to brief the media following the retaliatory strikes, carried out after the brutal April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians.
Wing Commander Singh highlighted that nine terror sites had been precisely targeted and destroyed, ensuring no civilian casualties or infrastructure damage.
“Operation Sindoor was launched to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families,” Singh stated. “The sites were carefully selected to avoid civilian harm.”
Colonel Qureshi presented video footage of the destroyed terror camps, including the Muridke camp—infamous for training 26/11 attackers David Headley and Ajmal Kasab—as well as facilities in Sialkot, Barnala, Kotli, and Mehmoona Joya.
Foreign Secretary Misri underlined the barbaric nature of the Pahalgam attack and reiterated India’s right to defend itself.
“Victims were killed at close range in front of family members, who were deliberately traumatised. This attack was clearly aimed at undermining the return of normalcy in Kashmir,” Misri said.
With this operation, India carried out its deepest military strikes inside Pakistan’s undisputed territory since 1971, marking a decisive moment in the country’s fight against cross-border terrorism.