INDIAN ARMY | OPERATION DRISHTI | KARNAH
Karnah is a valley where mountains, history and isolation have shaped everyday life. In Kupwara's far-flung frontier belt, reaching specialised healthcare can itself become a challenge.
But this story is different.
It is a story about vision, not merely as the ability to see, but as the ability to reach people who live beyond the easy reach of conventional healthcare.
It is the story of Operation Drishti.
When the Army Brings Sight to the Frontier
During his visit to Karnah, Army Chief General Dhiraj Sethi interacted with ex-servicemen and veterans in the forward area and also witnessed the ongoing Operation Drishti Mega Eye and Cataract Surgical Camp at FSC Tangdar.
The initiative brought specialised eye-care services closer to residents of a remote border region where geography, distance and harsh weather can make access to advanced medical treatment difficult.
The significance of the initiative lies not simply in the number of procedures performed.
It lies in where those procedures were performed and for whom.
Operation Drishti
Operation Drishti is an Armed Forces medical outreach initiative focused on providing specialised eye care and sight-restoring treatment to people living in remote and difficult-to-access areas.
The September 2026 camp in Tangdhar marked the 10th edition of the mega eye surgical initiative.
Over two days, September 24 and 25, military medical teams carried out 220 sight-restoring procedures, including cataract surgeries and selected retinal and glaucoma procedures.
The camp was conducted inside an underground operation theatre in Tangdhar, reflecting the unusual conditions under which healthcare has to be delivered in a forward border region.
The Director General Armed Forces Medical Services, Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja, also visited the camp, interacted with patients and medical teams and reviewed the initiative.
Why Karnah Matters
Karnah is not simply a remote village.
It is a mountainous tehsil of Kupwara district extending towards the Line of Control.
The region is surrounded by high mountains and is connected with the rest of Kashmir through the difficult Sadhna Pass, making movement particularly challenging during winter.
Tangdhar serves as the main administrative and population centre of the area, while Teetwal lies further ahead along the Kishanganga River.
For residents, access to specialised healthcare can involve considerable travel, expense and logistical difficulty.
This is where a medical camp of this scale can make a practical difference.
Instead of asking every patient to travel long distances to a major medical centre, the medical service comes closer to the patient.
A Valley of Legends
Karnah also carries layers of local history and folklore.
Regional traditions associate the name Karnah with Raja Karna, while local landmarks and oral traditions connect parts of the valley with stories associated with the Mahabharata.
Names such as Karanu or Kranno and ruins locally associated with Raja Karan form part of the region's traditional historical narrative.
The valley is also associated in local tradition with stories of the Pandavas and places such as Pandav Bridge.
Whether viewed through history, folklore or geography, Karnah has always been a place where the landscape itself tells a story.
And now there is another story to tell.
A story about restoring sight.
Drishti: More Than Eyesight
The Sanskrit word Drishti broadly refers to vision or sight.
But vision can mean much more than what the eyes perceive.
A person can have perfect eyesight and still fail to see an opportunity.
Another may have limited eyesight yet possess extraordinary clarity of thought, determination and imagination.
For communities living in difficult terrain, access to healthcare itself requires a different kind of vision.
It requires institutions to look beyond conventional boundaries and ask a simple question:
Operation Drishti answers that question through action.
The Science Behind Seeing
Human understanding of vision has evolved over centuries.
Ancient philosophers debated whether sight resulted from rays emerging from the eyes or from light entering them.
The Greek philosopher Plato supported what became known as the extramission theory, while Aristotle argued in favour of the idea that the eye receives information from the world.
Centuries later, the Muslim scholar Ibn al-Haytham, known in the West as Alhazen, made important contributions to the scientific understanding of vision and argued correctly that light enters the eye.
The journey from philosophical speculation to modern ophthalmology reflects one important truth.
Understanding vision required people to question what they thought they already knew.
Today, modern eye surgery allows doctors to restore sight in ways that earlier generations could scarcely imagine.
The Human Side of Poor Vision
Poor eyesight can change the rhythm of everyday life.
A simple task can require additional effort.
Movement can become uncertain.
Reading, travelling and recognising familiar surroundings can become increasingly difficult.
For older people, deteriorating eyesight can gradually reduce independence.
A cataract operation may therefore represent much more than a medical procedure.
It can mean reading again.
Recognising a family member clearly.
Moving around without fear.
Returning to work.
Or simply seeing the mountains, fields and faces that have always formed part of one's world.
That is the human meaning behind a medical statistic.
Karnah and the Frontier
Karnah's geography makes the initiative particularly significant.
The valley lies in a rugged Himalayan setting near the Line of Control, with high mountain passes and difficult winter conditions.
Sadhna Pass, the principal route connecting the area with the rest of the Kashmir Valley, is frequently affected by heavy snowfall.
Teetwal, situated along the Kishanganga River, represents another important part of the region's frontier landscape.
For communities living in such terrain, distance is not measured only in kilometres.
It is measured in mountain roads, weather, availability of transport and the ability to reach a specialised medical facility at the right time.
From Isolation to Access
This is where humanitarian initiatives can change the equation.
A specialised surgical camp eliminates at least some of the barriers between a patient and treatment.
The patient does not have to travel to a distant metropolitan hospital simply to receive an initial specialist consultation.
The specialist team comes to the region.
The operation takes place closer to home.
The patient returns to the community.
It is healthcare adapted to geography.
A Different Kind of Operation
Military operations are usually associated with borders, security and combat readiness.
Operation Drishti presents another dimension of the armed forces' role.
Here the objective is not to secure a position or respond to a threat.
The objective is to restore something deeply personal.
Sight.
A successful cataract procedure may take only a limited amount of time in the operating theatre, but its consequences can remain with a patient for years.
That makes the initiative a different kind of operation, one in which the most important outcome is measured in lives improved rather than territory secured.
The Story Beyond the Statistics
There is a tendency to remember humanitarian programmes through numbers.
220 procedures.
10th edition.
Two days.
But every number represents an individual.
A patient who entered with impaired vision.
A family waiting outside.
A medical team working under difficult circumstances.
And the moment when the patient begins to see clearly again.
That is where the real story lies.
The Final Lines
Karnah has mountains that have carried legends for generations.
It has rivers, passes, frontier villages and stories handed down through time.
But the most meaningful stories are sometimes created in the present.
A doctor examining an elderly patient.
A surgical team preparing an operation.
A soldier helping a resident navigate a medical camp.
A patient opening their eyes after treatment.
These moments rarely become legends in the traditional sense.
Yet they change lives.
In a valley where geography has often defined what people can reach, the Indian Army and Armed Forces Medical Services brought specialised healthcare closer to the people.
And sometimes, the most powerful form of vision is not simply seeing farther. It is seeing who needs help, and finding a way to reach them.
