Only a few hours after the first Indian rocket attacks on Pakistan, entrepreneurs immediately sensed: the business immediately and began with the production of T-shirts and other merchandise articles in the colors of the “Sindoor” operation.
From May 6th to 10th, the two nuclear powers stood on the edge of a new war and triggered the most severe military confrontation since 1999 until Donald Trump surprisingly announced an armistice.
The operation arranged by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a retribution for an attack in the Indian Kashmir was named after the red powder with which Hindu wives decorate their hairline: “Sindoor”. It quickly became the subject of a broad propaganda campaign on social networks and in the national media to heat the Hindu-patriotic mood. Indian dealers: Inside, it quickly saw the opportunity to make lucrative profits.
‘It became a viral hit’
“Our designers designed four or five designs based on the military surgery,” Adi Arora, founder of the Indian textile company Kadakmerch, told the AFP. “As soon as our products were online, they became a viral hit and the demand is very high,” he says.
His factory in a small industrial city in northern India has made more than 2,000 T-shirts and other textile products with the imprint “Sindoor”. His “bestseller” is a T-shirt with the words of an air force general who refused to answer a question about Indian losses: “Our task is to hit the goal, not count the funeral bags”.
A consultant of the Indian government, Kanchan Guppa, advertises a T-shirt with the “Operation Sindoor” logo, while another internet user, Anurag Sinha, is the same message with the slogan “India rises against terrorism”.
“The fact that the government thought of creating a visual element for military operation at such a serious moment was a good idea,” says Indian writer and journalist Kunal Purohit. “I think it was important for the government to sell its point of view in the population,” analyzes Purohit, author of a book about “Hindutva Pop”, the music that propagates Hindu-nationalist ideas. The visual identity of the operation, which refers to Hindu culture, is a way for the government to stir up nationalist pride, “which is even greater if India is conflict with its oldest enemy,” he says.
In the middle of the struggles, the Indian authorities banned the sale of flags and merchandise articles in Pakistan’s colors and in particular ordered that online trade sites “remove all content of this kind”.
Express their support
A small online company, Hank Hawk, based in Punjab (northwest), also hurried to swim on the wave.
“We have received a lot of inquiries. People are very interested,” says boss Deepak Kumar, who assures that he has received orders from all over the country.
“People had to express their support for the Indian army,” confirms Arora.
Wearing a T-shirt is the “best and cheapest way” to show his conviction, he analyzes and claims that even receiving orders of officers from the Indian army.
Since taking office in 2014, Narendra Modi has “successfully relied on pop culture” to promote his ideas, emphasizes Journalist Purohit. “The government and the government party deliberately made this moment popular” and “everyone wants to be there,” he emphasizes.
This is also the seller: Inside on the Janpath market in the heart of Neu-Delhi, who are always looking for the latest trends and are also waiting for their delivery of clothing with the imprint “Sindoor”.
“People love T-shirts with + India + and IPL (Indian cricket league), why shouldn’t they like them?”, Noticer noted who wanted to remain anonymous and for “the army is also a symbol of India”. “We will sell them very soon,” they assured. (AFP)
This article was used with digital tools translated.
Fashionunited uses artificial intelligence to accelerate the translation of articles and improve the end result. They help us make the international reporting of fashionunited a German -speaking readership quickly and comprehensively accessible. Articles that have been translated using AI-based tools are read and carefully edited by our editor: Correcting inside before they are published. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me by email to [email protected]