Six Times Misogyny Overshadowed BJP's Symbolism Post-Operation Sindoor

Since India ferociously launched its retaliatory action against Pakistan over Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor has been a nucleus of all national discourse. It has been reported that India destroyed nine suspected terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed it as the "biggest and most successful anti-terror operation in India’s history," adding that it is far from over and that India will continue to exact a heavy price from the sponsors of terrorism.

While the success of Operation Sindoor has been a matter of contention on a global scale, it is its symbolic baptism, the fractured narrative, and BJP’s contradictory stand that makes us question if the intentions were at all genuine or just another spectacle in Modi's world of performative actions.

1. The sindoor symbolism

The term sindoor (vermilion) needs no explanation for the Indian audience. Often dramatised in Bollywood films and Hindi television serials, it serves as a traditional symbol of Hindu marital identity – one that carries notions of honour which often eclipses a woman's individual identity. When viewed within a patriarchal framework, the name draws a parallel between the honour of the nation and that of its women – implicitly reducing a woman's identity to that of a married woman, lacking independent value. It has been stated that the operation was named as a tribute to the women who lost their husbands in the terror attack and to avenge it, two women from different faith – Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force platformed jointly to address the nation about India’s military strikes on terror camps in Pakistan. Yet, this gesture appears paradoxical as it is the same BJP that, not long ago, opposed granting permanent commission to women officers calling them “physiologically unfit.”

Very evidently BJP’s post-Operation Sindoor activities stands starkly different to the feminist narrative it is so vehemently pushing.

2. The hounding of Himanshi Narwal

Immediately after the Pahalgam terror attack, visuals of a newly married woman sitting beside the lifeless body of her husband began circulating widely on social media. The woman was identified as Himanshi Narwan, wife of Captain Vinay Narwal. In the days that followed, Himanshi became the face of the tragedy. The official Facebook account of BJP Chhattisgarh shared a stylised, Ghibli-inspired image of the scene, captioned: “They asked for religion, not caste”, politicising her personal grief.

The provocative post initially garnered widespread likes, shares and expressions of sympathy. However, public sentiment quickly shifted when Himanshi exercised her agency and called for peace – urging people not to target Muslims or Kashmiris and to seek justice without hate. In response, she was viciously trolled. Her Facebook posts were dug up, including one where she had demanded justice for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Kathua.

Online users mocked her appearance, criticised her makeup, and shared old photos from her college days at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Soon, her character was attacked, rumours were spread, and her loyalty was questioned.

Most of the accounts that trolled and vilified Himanshi regularly post right-leaning content, often in support of the BJP.

It again stands in contrast to the initial image of sympathy put forth by the BJP through its social media and presents a very deeply politicised intention to exploit gendered symbols and emotions.

3. When misogyny meets communalism

While the prime minister declared that “not blood, but hot sindoor flows through my veins”, and home minister Amit Shah claimed that “we showed the world the significance of ek chutki sindoor”, framing the military response as an act of avenging the women affected by the Pahalgam terror attack, several statements made by BJP leaders in the aftermath drew widespread criticism.

BJP minister Kunwar Vijay Shah while addressing a gathering at a village near Indore, repeated it at least thrice that their (terrorists') community’s sister – “unki samaj ki ki behen” – was sent by Modiji to destroy them.

Shah, who has won eight consecutive elections from the Scheduled Tribe-reserved Harsud seat of Madhya Pradesh, is the current state minister for tribal affairs, public asset management, and Bhopal gas tragedy relief and rehabilitation.

In another incident, Haryana MP Ram Chander Jangra sparked controversy by blaming the women present in Pahalgam for lacking courage and bravery. While speaking at an event in Bhiwani commemorating the 300th birth anniversary of Ahilyabai Holkar, he remarked that the women “lacked the spirit of a warrior woman – lacked passion, emotion, and heart – and thus, with folded hands, became victims of bullets.”

In Karnataka, BJP leader and chief whip of the opposition in the legislative council N. Ravikumar accused IAS officer Fouzia Tarannum of working on the orders of the Congress party and had said “she seems to have come from Pakistan”. He was later booked for charges including inciting hatred against Muslims.

These three immensely misogynist, and in two cases communal, remarks yet again that PM Modi needs to preach the choir first.

4. Is silence the answer to the Brij Bhushan question?

More recently, a Delhi court dismissed the POCSO case against BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and six-time MP from Kaiserganj. Although he was denied a ticket in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Singh continues to exert significant influence – both in his constituency and within the WFI – through his son, Karan Bhushan Singh, who now serves as his proxy.

The allegations against Singh came to national attention during the wrestlers’ protest that began in January 2023. Several of India’s top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, accused him of sexually harassing multiple female wrestlers, including minors; intimidating those who spoke out; and abusing his position as WFI president to suppress complaints.

Far from accountability, the BJP’s top leadership remained conspicuously silent on all three occasions. It speaks volumes about the party’s attitude toward women. And so the messaging of the party becomes very clear that the party keeps its electoral prospects far higher than the moral responsibility of justice in its list of priorities. This narrative when viewed against this backdrop of discriminatory practices against women then rhetoric surrounding Operation Sindoor rings hollow.

5. Instrumentalisation of a women’s commission

The Haryana State Commission for Women – an institution meant to safeguard women's rights – now appears to be serving the interests of the state by advancing its narrative. The recent move by its chairperson, Renu Bhatia, to file an FIR against Ali Khan Mahmudabad over a post questioning the symbolism of Operation Sindoor underscores how state institutions are increasingly being weaponised. The response, when juxtaposed with the commission’s silence on the remark by Haryana MP Jangra, appears disproportionate and shallow.

Mahmudabad, a political scientist and an academic, was engaging in a legitimate critique of the symbolic nature of Operation Sindoor and BJP’s treatment of Muslims. Her claim that “I will not let any daughter of my country bow down,” as she declares, “Whoever emits the stench of betrayal in the name of the country’s daughters… I will keep speaking out against them,” falls flat when we look at Haryana’s condition of women.

The NCRB shows that in 2022 (the latest available data), Haryana had a reported rate of 118.7 per 100,000 crimes against women, making it the second-highest across Indian states. As per another report, the state’s sex ratio at birth plunged to an eight-year low of 910 in 2024, from 923 in 2019. This is the result of a deeply patriarchal society that denies a girl child the right to live while an institution meant to protect these rights continues to look the other way.

6. The grassroots messaging

When seen through a critical lens from the top leadership to the bottom, BJP's post Operation Sindoor messaging, featuring two women officers as its public face – appears as feminist-coded optics. These choices seem less about empowerment and more about constructing a politically advantageous narrative aimed at strengthening their electoral appeal.

A look at conspiracy theories such as love jihad, which strips Hindu women of autonomy – portraying them as naïve and easily manipulated, who can be seduced by a man in jeans and glasses, only to be converted to Islam and reduced to childbearing instruments – says a lot about the party’s understanding of a woman’s agency.

In a country where patriarchy and misogyny is the order of day, the unchecked speeches of the office holders and the puppeteering of state institutions meant to protect women will only further these malpractices, making life hell for the women.

The sindoor may be on the forehead of these leaders’ narrative, but the stain of misogyny and cynical exploitation is indelible on their hands. This isn't about honouring women; it's about using them – and that is the ugly truth behind the politicisation of Operation Sindoor.

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