Bollywood actor Vidya Balan is all happy for Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who is expected to return to India from Pakistan where he was captured after his plane crashed on the other side of LoC on Wednesday morning.
"I am very happy that Captain Abhinandan is going to come back. He is coming back home safe. I can only imagine what his family must have gone through," Vidya said at an event in Mumbai.
Expressing hope for peaceful relations between India and Pakistan, the actress invoked Mahatma Gandhi and said , "I just hope and pray that somehow peace prevails, because an eye for an eye will turn the world blind."
Raveena Tandon, who was also present at the event, spoke at length about the ongoing tension between the two South Asian neighbours. She said war-like situation is not healthy, especially for the future of the countries that are out on the battlefield.
"One gets hurt and it feels sad when you hear about war and that is not the scenario you want to give to your children in the future," Raveena said.
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The actress, however, stressed on the need to wipe out terrorism.
"There has to be war against terrorism. Terrorism has to stop because it is not a war between countries. It is very sad because there are good people everywhere in the world, you can't generalise people and say that this person is good and this person is bad. Terrorism is something very scary for our future generations and for the entire world. Terrorism has to be eliminated somehow," Raveen added.
The IAF conducted air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan in response to Pulwama terror attack, which left around 40 CRPF personnel killed on February 14. Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaishe-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack.
The air strikes, being touted as 'Surgical Strike 2.0', took place on February 26 around 3:30 am using 12 Mirage 2,000 fighter jets. The aircraft dropped 1,000 kg laser-guided bombs on a major terror camp across the LoC, completely destroying it.
The incident heightened the tension between India and Pakistan. Abhinandan, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He ejected safely and was taken into custody by Pakistani Army.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that Abhinandan will be released on Friday as a peace gesture.
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