It’s a great time for Hindi cinema. Content is truly and finally the undisputed king, and filmmakers are working round the clock to ensure they come up with something truly authentic for audiences. On their part, film lovers are more than eager to welcome good scripts and engaging performances with both open arms and wallets. And starting out 2019 with what looks like enough bang for the back, the film that’s currently got every movie buff extremely excited is Uri: The Surgical Strike.

Starring Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Mohit Raina, Kirti Kulhari and Yami Gautam, the film is based on the much-talked-about 2016 surgical strikes against militant launch pads conducted by the Indian Army across the Line of Control in Pakistani-administered Kashmir between September 28 and 29 that year. Using fictional characters based on real people, Uri: The Surgical Strike promises to give an insight into the events that transpired after the attacks on the Indian Army at Uri by four militants on September 18, 2016. So before you watch the film, here’s everything you need to know about the surgical strikes.

What Happened During the Uri Attack?

Reported as the ‘deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades’, the attack by armed militants on an army base near the town of Uri in Jammu & Kashmir’s Baramulla district on September 18, 2016, shocked the entire nation. About 10 kilometres east of the Line of Control with Pakistan, the Uri hadn’t even woken up when, at around 5:30 am, four militants attacked the Indian Army brigade headquarters. 17 grenades were lobbed in 3 minutes, killing 19 army personnel during the attack. Additionally, 80-100 soldiers were reportedly injured even though all the four militants were killed in a gun battle that’s said to have lasted for six hours.

Many of the soldiers killed were from the 10th Battalion, Dogra Regiment and 6th Battalion, Bihar Regiment. Coming close on the heels of two other terrorist attacks against Indian security forces – the Gurdaspur attack in July 2015 and the Pathankot Air Force Station attack in January 2016 – the Uri attack seems to have coerced the Indian authorities into retaliating.

On September 19, 2016, a team led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, then-Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, then-Chief of Army Staff Dalbir Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval sat down to review the situation. The National Investigation Agency was quick to file a first information report (FIR), taking over the investigation from the J&K police. The Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed was thought to have carried out the planning and execution of the attack. On September 21, India summoned the Pakistan High Commission with a letter that contained details of Jaish-e-Mohammed’s involvement with the attack.

What Was The Aftermath of The Uri Attack?

Amidst already strained Indo-Pak relations, the Uri attack came as a big blow. In terms of immediate actions that affected bilateral terms between the two nations, India cancelled its participation in the 19th SAARC summit in Islamabad. While Pakistan termed it ‘unfortunate’, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan stood in support of India and also withdrew from the summit, forcing Pakistan to reschedule it at a later date. As a result of the nationwide uproar in India after the attack, the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association banned all Pakistani actors and technicians from working in India. While several films featuring popular Pakistani celebrities were cancelled, many found themselves amidst huge controversy, especially Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil which featured Fawad Khan as part of the primary cast.

Soon after, TV channel Zindagi discontinued showcasing all Pakistani shows on the channel. As an act of solidarity with the Indian Army, the Badminton Association of India boycotted the Pakistani International Series the same year and the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) ruled out any possible revival of bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan. The BCCI even urged the International Cricket Council to not put India and Pakistan in the same group in any international tournaments.

Speaking to the press, multiple ministers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the attacks and vouched to give the terrorists a taste of their own medicine. Many other countries from across the world expressed their solidarity with India in fighting terrorism. Pakistan, on the other hand, rejected all possible allegations made by India regarding the country’s involvement in the attack. It even went as far as asserting India’s ‘tendency’ to blame Pakistan for many such incidents. The attack was also extensively covered by the international press & social media was abuzz with conversation and comments.

When Did India Carry Out The Surgical Strike?

On September 29, 2016 — 11 days after the dreadful Uri attack — the Indian Army announced that it had successfully conducted surgical strikes against suspected militants in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Speaking to the media, then-Director General of Military Operations Lt. Gen Ranbir Singh shared that the Indian Army had received information about various terrorist teams that were planning attacks similar to the one at Uri in other parts of Jammu & Kashmir, and the surgical strikes were the Indian Army’s preemptive self-defence against terrorism. Soon after, on September 30, then-I&B Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore shared some details about the strikes, mentioning that the entire operation had been conducted on the ground without any aerial support.

Pakistan’s government, on the other hand, denied the occurrence of any surgical strikes and dismissed it as nothing but cross-border firing.

What Happened During The Uri Surgical Strike By India?

While no official statement regarding the finer details of the surgical strikes was shared, various sources revealed what can be described as the closest possible timeline of the strikes. Though officials only confirmed that the strikes had targeted just the areas close to the Line of Control (LoC), as per the sources, the operation began with Indian forces firing artillery across the frontier – the idea was to provide a cover for three to four teams of 70-80 soldiers from the 4th and 9th Battalions of the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) to cross the LoC at separate points. Just after midnight, in the early hours of September 29, forces from 4 Para crossed the LoC in the Nowgam sector of Kupwara District while the 9 Para crossed the LoC in the Poonch district.

Further sources from the Indian Army revealed that, in less than two hours, the Special Forces teams had travelled close to 1-3 kilometres on foot. In that short span of time, they had destroyed multiple terrorist bases with nothing but hand-held grenades and 84 mm rocket launchers before returning to the Indian side of the LoC. The only casualty reported was one soldier who was wounded after he tripped on a land mine. 

As per Pakistan’s version of the events, it was regular cross-border firing that resulted in the deaths of two soldiers namely Naik Imtiaz and Havildar Jumma Khan. Any occurrence of surgical strikes in any form was categorically denied by the Government of Pakistani. Additionally, the Pakistani sources also reported that they had killed up to 14 Indian soldiers in retaliatory firing, even capturing one of them, Chandu Babulal Chavan. However, later it was reported that the captured Indian soldier had wandered across the border in a different sector and was duly returned to India without any conflict.

What Happened After India Conducted The Surgical Strike In Response To The Uri Attack?

While Pakistan continued to maintain its stance, dismissing any possibility of a surgical strike, Indian officials confirmed the post the striking down of terrorist base camps, almost 12 training camps that belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad were swiftly moved from their previous locations (close to the LoC) to other ones. Then-Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval viewed the unedited footage of the strikes on October 1, 2016 and post that, informed the Prime Minister of the satisfactory results.

While there was some conversation from the opposition parties regarding releasing the footage for public viewing, the government chose not to do the same. Post the surgical strikes, there was a substantial increase in the exchange of small arms and mortar fire across the Line of Control which also resulted in some more casualties.

Globally, most nations supported India’s tough stand and the sharp execution of the surgical strikes barring China and the USA, which urged India and Pakistan to engage in conversation so as to avoid any further escalation of the situation.