In May 2025, India launched a military assault against Pakistan to avenge the terrorist killings of Hindu men. The assault was putatively carried out in the name of avenging the victims' widows. But Sonia Sarkar argues that it was laden with patriarchal symbolism – and that the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP failed to conceal its anti-Muslim sentiment, even at a time of national crisis
‘Sindoor’ is a traditional orange-red powder worn by married Hindu women in South Asia, particularly along their hair parting. It signifies a woman’s marital status, and reinforces traditional, patriarchal norms of obedience and subservience.
On 7 May 2025, the Indian government launched a military assault against Pakistan, and named it 'Operation Sindoor'. The assault was intended to avenge the killing of 26 men, mostly married Hindus, by Pakistan-based terrorist group The Resistance Front, in strife-torn Kashmir.
India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long stood accused of patriarchal and misogynistic attitudes. Calling its onslaught Operation Sindoor thus reinforces the belief that women's identity is bound up with their marital status. If their husbands get killed, Hindu women clearly need a ‘saviour’ and ‘protector’ to avenge their killings.
Hindu nationalists believe that if a woman's husband is killed, the widow must need a 'saviour' to avenge his killing
For India’s Hindu nationalists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the man with the 56-inch chest – has been a paragon of masculinity since taking power in 2014. For his supporters, Modi is the only prime minister with the moral fibre to launch a military assault against the Muslim-dominated ‘enemy’ Pakistan. Modi's chilling declaration of intent – ghar mein ghus ke marenge – we will enter your home to kill you – is how he intends to deal with Pakistan-based terror networks.
Modi claimed his operations wiped out nine major terror hideouts in just 22 minutes. He even announced recently that sindoor, not blood, boils in his veins. At a West Bengal rally, Modi claimed that terrorists' attempts to erase the ‘sindoor of our sisters’ justified India's destruction of Pakistani terror bases.
BJP workers have, allegedly, started distributing sindoor door-to-door, to invoke nationalistic sentiments. This has outraged many women because Hinduism decrees that women should receive sindoor only from their husbands. In West Bengal, media reports allege that BJP workers have forcibly applied sindoor on female police officers. The party denies all such allegations.
Opposition parties allege the BJP politicised India's military offensive. Why, they ask, has the government not yet arrested the six terrorists who committed the Kashmir attack? And why did the BJP declare a ceasefire soon after US President Donald Trump’s intervention?
Several citizens, including two women commentators and satirists, have faced investigation and arrest for asking questions about the military offensive. Hindu nationalists were quick to label these women 'Pakistani sympathisers' and 'terrorist sympathisers', who want to break India’s unity.
Women who dare to question the government's military offensive are branded 'terrorist sympathisers' by the BJP faithful
Vinay Narwal, 26-year-old naval officer, was a victim of the Kashmir attack. In the attack's aftermath, his wife Himanshi appealed to Indians not to react with anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmiri sentiment. Internet trolls accused her of being a terrorist sympathiser. They claimed she was dishonouring her husband's memory, and made defamatory claims about her relationships with Kashmiri men.
In India, gendered and sexualised disinformation, along with online violence, portray women as sexually or socially immoral. Internet trolls discredit women's political views, silencing and delegitimising their voices in public and political discourse. They also engage in targeted character assassination.
Despite their many efforts to appear progressive and inclusive, Hindu nationalists still spout misogynistic and anti-Muslim propaganda.
Two women officers — Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, a Muslim — were deputed to lead a special official press briefing after the military operation was launched. Qureshi’s family was later invited to attend a Modi-led rally in Gujarat at which they showered flower petals on him. Even so, the BJP could not conceal its anti-Muslim feeling.
At the peak of the military escalation that led to the death of at least 16 Indians and 40 Pakistanis, BJP politician Vijay Shah called Qureshi the ‘sister’ of terrorists. The Indian Supreme Court reprimanded Shah, and called for an inquiry. As yet, however, the BJP has taken no action against him. In contrast, police arrested a political science professor after he condemned Qureshi's appointment as 'hypocrisy', given the BJP's record of discrimination against Muslims.
During the same period, Hindu nationalist men targeted Muslim women online with sexual predatory behaviour. Some refer lasciviously to ‘beautiful girls’ in Lahore and Islamabad, while claiming that India will ‘capture’ Pakistan soon.
BJP government policies, however, still claim to be pro-women – in slogans and theatrics, at least. Despite Modi launching multiple schemes to empower girls and women, India remains the sixth most dangerous country in the world to be female. Between 2014 and 2022, crimes against women per 100,000 of the population increased from 56.3 to 66.4.
Modi has launched multiple schemes to empower girls and women. Despite this, India remains the sixth most dangerous country in the world in which to be female
India's Army and Air Force also stand accused of misogyny and masculine entitlement. A 2015 survey of 450 Indian army personnel revealed the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and discrimination against women. Male officers view their women counterparts as second-class soldiers.
In spite of Modi's big promises on women's empowerment, at a 2018 election rally he accused the Indian National Congress of embezzling money meant for widows, and made a derogatory reference to Congress politician Sonia Gandhi's widowed status. Modi also chided politician Renuka Chowdhury for her 'demonic' laugh, and made sexist taunts at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Masculinist identity politics and conservative gender values dominate right-wing populism in India. Indeed, gender remains an important part of far-right ethnonationalist discourse. The BJP's use of sindoor — a symbol of regressive patriarchy — in their rhetoric against Muslims thus appeases Hindu nationalists, who the populist BJP consider the only 'real people'.
Many of these 'real' Hindus, however, regard Muslim women's hijab as regressive, and support the call for a ban. Can they not see their hypocrisy?
