New Delhi: A new book revisits the chain of real-life events surrounding February 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing attack, and India’s strong hit-back in the form of Balakot airstrikes twelve days later.
“Balakot Air Strike: How India Avenged Pulwama”, published by Garuda Prakashan, is written by Navy veteran Manan Bhatt.
The book, in its detailed account of the “two epochal events”, claims to capture everything “from moments before the ill-fated CRPF bus was hit, to the cockpits from where precision bombs were triggered and what transpired in those 12 momentous, expectation-filled days”.
On February 26, 2019, Indian Air Force fighter jets crossed the Line of Control and destroyed terror launch pads in Balakot in Pakistan.
The strikes were undertaken days after 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.
“The book takes through the life and perils of CRPF Jawans posted in the Valley from the eyes of a survivor of Pulwama terror attack, CRPF Head Constable Iqbal Singh and five of the slain Jawans. It tells us the story of a New India that is ready to fight back and not ready to get bogged down in front of terrorism,” said the author.
“.. The book is single-minded in its purpose. It wants to record as accurately as possible what it was like to be a CRPF trooper under fire and also a Pilot on his death-defying mission. Hour by hour, step by step, it reconstructs the chain of events,” he added.
According to the publisher, the book, “a racy thriller” with “adrenalin-pushing action”, would make readers’ patriotism brim over, while filling them with a sense of gratitude and pride towards the armed forces.
“This book touches the grief and anger of the Pulwama victims sensitively and at the same time gives a thrilling account of the strategic planning for the revenge in the war room. The narration of the story of the braveheart Abhi is really hair-raising and has the potential to inspire many youngsters to join the armed forces,” said Ankur Pathak, co-founder, Garuda Prakashan.
The book is presently available for sale on the publishing house’s website and bookstores.
