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Vigil at home
The Statesman Bhubaneswar
|May 12, 2025
With Operation Sindoor in motion and India firmly engaged in a counter-offensive against Pakistani provocations, the Centre's directives on civil defence no longer appear procedural – they are a strategic necessity.
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This is not peacetime posturing. Pakistan's decision to escalate with cross-border air attacks has changed the character of the conflict, pulling civilian life into a sharper state of vulnerability. In this environment, the Centre's call to bolster civil defence in key cities is not just appropriate – it is overdue. For decades, civil defence has remained a shadowy chapter in India's national security playbook – discussed in files, activated during natural disasters, but rarely given teeth.
That changes now.
This story is from the May 12, 2025 edition of The Statesman Bhubaneswar.
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