Operation Sindoor: Critics See Red, But It’s A Fitting Codename For India’s Anti-Terror Strikes
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An X user compiled reactions questioning codename ‘Sindoor’ and wrote, “There has been an astronomical feminist outrage since yesterday simply due to the name.”
The Pahalgam victims’ family members have hailed codename ‘Sindoor’, calling it ‘apt’.
How is it possible for some people to make an issue about everything, a perplexed X (formerly Twitter) user asked when a section of social media users began questioning codename ‘Sindoor’ — the operation against Pakistani terror camps in response to Pahalgam terror attack. But what’s in this name?
Another X user, @kumarmanish9, explains, “Apparently, according to their newfound wisdom, the word “Sindoor”, a deep cultural symbol of marriage and life in India, is now “misogynistic.”
What’s The Problem With ‘Sindoor’?
A user, @landbreadpeace, called the operation “warmongering action”, and wrote that ‘sindoor’ is a “symbol of patriarchal control over the identity of women”.
An X user compiled all such reactions and wrote, “There has been an astronomical feminist outrage since yesterday simply due to the ‘Sindoor’ name.”
In his justification of attack on Pakistan, an X user went ahead to explain why “war is celebrated”.
Besides the socio-political beliefs, a Congress leader attempted to give the name a religious colour. Udit Raj said that it would have been “better” if some other name had been chosen for the operation, as Sindoor belongs to “a specific religion”.
“After speaking to intellectual people, I concluded that Sindoor is associated with a particular religion (Hinduism). It would have been better if some other name had been chosen (instead of Operation Sindoor),” he said.
Why ‘Sindoor’ Is The Apt Codename For Strikes In Pakistan?
Firstly, the airstrikes to destroy the terror camps in Pakistan was in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which led to the killing of 26 civilians in Kashmir. Most of the killed were tourists who had come with their family or were couples either on their honeymoon or a leisure trip.
For example, Karnataka’s Manjunath Rao was on a trip with his wife and children, Haryana’s Vijay Narwal was on a honeymoon with wife Himanshi and Uttar Pradesh’s Shubham Dwivedi had gone to Baisaran Valley with Ashanya Dwivedi, whom he had married in February this year.
Secondly, the family members of the deceased, who were on a vacation with them, told the media that the terrorists asked the religion of tourists and targeted mostly married men from the Hindu community.
Forty-seven-year-old Manjunath Rao’s wife recounted chilling moments of the massacre and said that the attacker left her alive to send a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Go tell this to Modi,” the woman quoted the attacker as saying.
ALSO READ | Netizens Thank PM For Avenging Pahalgam Attack: ‘They Said Tell Modi…We Did…’
The Pahalgam victims’ family too have hailed the codename, calling it “apt”.
Giving a befitting reply to critics, an X user wrote: “In the Pahalgam terror attack, it was primarily the husbands, the male members, who were brutally killed, some in front of their newly wed wives. The operation’s name isn’t about oppressing women. It’s about standing up against the savagery that left women widowed, children orphaned, and families shattered.”
He further wrote, “But of course, some people are so desperate to spin outrage that they’d rather debate semantics than confront terrorism. Focus on who fired the bullets, not on who named the rescue.”
Importance Of ‘Sindoor’ In India
The critics of codename ‘Sindoor’ have used terms like ‘misogyny’, ‘patriarchal control’ and ‘against feminism’.
A line of vermilion powder on the forehead symbolizes a Hindu woman’s marital status. However, with increasing literacy rates in India and more women entering corporate environments in urban areas, the practice of wearing ‘sindoor’ has become less common among modern educated women.
Is ‘sindoor’ becoming a fading tradition among modern Indian women?
It’s challenging to confirm this due to a lack of concrete reports. However, it’s not accurate to say that every married Hindu woman has abandoned the traditional use of vermilion, but its prevalence is decreasing due to a modern outlook. Many women in urban spaces choose to wear ‘sindoor’ as a fashion statement that complements their style.
Occasionally, a woman who doesn’t wear vermilion with Western outfits might choose to apply it when wearing a sari for certain family ceremonies.
While the custom symbolizing specification of a woman’s marital status is noticed to be a fading norm in urban and corporate India, it still holds immense significance for the remaining part of the country.
The tradition of ‘sindoor’ holds significant importance in the Hindu community, passed down through generations as a symbol embraced by married women. However, the growing influence of Western culture in India is negatively impacting this ancient practice of applying vermilion.
ALSO READ: What Is Sindoor? Its Significance For Hindus And References In Popular Culture
A blogger, Shib Sen Chaudhury, wrote for The Times of India in 2020, “A religion and a country should always treasure its traditions and heritage despite the cropping up plagiarized facts. Similarly, the Indian Hindu women should stick to the set of religious beliefs looking forward to the cited examples of its usage by former President Pratibha Patil and late Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, passed away in August last year. They took the face of traditional Indian women to foreign lands as dignitaries representing the country.”
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