In India, ‘patriotic’ fashion is snapped up after conflict with Pakistan

Business

Employees at a store work on designing T-shirts featuring ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’ inside the store premises in Ludhiana on May 17, 2025. Credits: Shammi Mehra / AFP

Just hours after India's first missiles were fired at Pakistan, entrepreneurs immediately saw a business opportunity. They launched the manufacture of T-shirts and other merchandise in the colours of “Operation Sindoor”.

From May 6-10, the two nuclear powers were on the brink of another war. They triggered the most serious military confrontation since 1999, until a ceasefire was announced by Donald Trump.

The operation, ordered by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in retaliation for an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, was named ‘Sindoor’. This is the name of the red powder that Hindu wives use to adorn the parting of their hair.

It quickly became the subject of a vast propaganda campaign on social media and in national media. This was to galvanise Hindu patriotic sentiment.

Indian traders also quickly saw an opportunity for lucrative profits.

‘It went viral’

“Our designers made four or 5 designs” in reference to the military operation, Adi Arora, founder of Indian textile company KadakMerch, told AFP.

“Once our products were online, it went viral and demand is very strong,” he said.

His factory, located in a small industrial town in northern India, produced more than 2,000 T-shirts and other textile products stamped with ‘Sindoor’.

His “best-seller” is a T-shirt emblazoned with the words spoken by an air force general. He refused to answer a question about Indian losses, saying: “Our job is to hit the target, not to count the body bags”.

On X, an advisor to the Indian government, Kanchan Gupta, promoted a T-shirt with the logo “Operation Sindoor”. Another internet user, Anurag Sinha, sported the same message accompanied by the slogan “India rises against terrorism”.

“The fact that, in such a serious moment, the government thought of creating a visual for the military operation was a good idea,” said Indian writer and journalist Kunal Purohit.

“I think it was important for the government to sell its point of view well to the population,” said Purohit, author of a book on “Hindutva Pop”, the music that promotes Hindu nationalist ideas.

The visual identity of the operation, which refers to Hindu culture, is a way for the government to galvanise nationalist pride. He said it is “even greater when India is in conflict with its oldest enemy, Pakistan”.

In the midst of the fighting, the Indian authorities banned the sale of flags and merchandise in the colours of Pakistan. They ordered online shopping sites to “remove any such content”.

Expressing their support

A small online business, Hank Hawk, based in Punjab, north-west India, also rushed to jump on the bandwagon.

“We have received a lot of enquiries. People are very interested,” said its boss, Deepak Kumar, who claims to have received orders from all over the country.

“People needed to express their support for the Indian army,” confirmed Arora.

Wearing a T-shirt is the “best and cheapest way” to display your convictions, he said. He claimed to have even received orders from Indian army officers.

Since coming to power in 2014, Narendra Modi “has successfully relied on popular culture” to promote his ideas, said journalist Purohit.

“The government and the ruling party have deliberately popularised this moment” and “everyone wants to be a part of it,” he insisted.

This has not escaped the notice of the vendors in Janpath market, in the heart of New Delhi. Always on the lookout for the latest trends, they too are awaiting their delivery of ‘Sindoor’-branded clothing.

“People love +India+ and IPL (Indian Cricket League) T-shirts, why wouldn’t they like these?”, remarked a stall owner, who requested anonymity. For him, “the army is also a symbol of India”. “We are going to sell them very soon,” he assured. (AFP)

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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