Forty-two years after India forged its sharpest counter-terrorism blade in the aftermath of one of its most turbulent moments, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, 16 October 2026 paid tribute to the National Security Guard on its Raising Day, honouring the force's martyrs and its decades of steely, silent service.

From the ashes of 1984: why the Black Cats exist

The NSG was formally raised on 16 October 1984 — a date seared into India's security history. The months that followed Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made one brutal fact undeniable: India needed a dedicated federal counter-terrorism unit, outside state police chains of command, capable of responding to hijackings, hostage crises, and high-value terrorist threats with surgical speed. The Black Cats were that answer.

Operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the NSG was built from the ground up to handle scenarios that conventional law-enforcement simply cannot. Its commandos — drawn from the Army and central armed police forces — are among the most rigorously selected and trained personnel in the country.

Shah's salute: 'fury of the storms, steely courage'

In his post, Shah wrote that the NSG has 'blown up every terror threat to India with the fury of the storms and guarded the nation with steely courage, flawless professionalism and valiant sacrifices.' The tribute ended with an explicit salute to the force's martyrs — those who did not come home from operations that were never announced and crises that were quietly resolved.

As Home Minister since 2019, Shah is the NSG's political principal, overseeing its budget, mandate, and integration into India's broader counter-terrorism grid alongside the National Investigation Agency and state Anti-Terrorism Squads.

26/11 and the mandate that never stopped expanding

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were a watershed. The NSG's response — days of close-quarters combat across the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Nariman House, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus — put the Black Cats on the world's counter-terrorism map and, just as urgently, exposed gaps in rapid deployment. Regional hubs followed. Equipment was upgraded. The force's reach extended well beyond its original mandate.

Annual Raising Day messaging from successive governments has consistently spotlighted operational sacrifices while keeping classified details firmly sealed — a discipline that reflects the NSG's own operating culture: do the work, keep the silence.

Forty-two years on, the Black Cats remain India's last line before the unthinkable — and on this Raising Day, the nation's top security official made sure the country remembered it.