Conflict to closet, Operation Sindoor sparks boom in patriotic merch

After two sharp oneliners by Air Marshal A K Bharti lit up social media following the May 10 India-Pakistan ceasefire, Adi Arora, a 34-year-old entrepreneur based in Parwanoo, Himachal Pradesh, quickly turned them into T-shirts. One bears director general air operations Bharti’s now-iconic line, “Our job is to hit the target, not to count the body bags.”

Another reads, “I don’t know what’s there in Kirana Hills,” Bharti’s deadpan reply to whether the Air Force had struck Pakistan’s nuclear site. A third design — now a bestseller — has the emblems of the armed forces with the tagline ‘ Operation Sindoor ’ on Arora’s company Kadak Merch ’s website.

Operation Sindoor not only marked a bold shift in India’s counter-terrorism stance, it also led to a surge in commerce with many keen to wear patriotism on their sleeve. Or carry it on their arm in the form of tote bags. TOI reported that even sales of sindoor powder surged in Bhubaneswar. There was even a controversial trademark registration of Operation Sindoor but a PIL has been filed against it.

For Prasad Narayan Kamkar, a handloom cotton saree wholesaler from Belagavi, Karnataka, this offered an unexpected ‘rebranding’ opportunity. His stock of unsold red and maroon sarees is now being sold as ‘ Sindoor sarees ’. “What else can I do? Ever since the war broke out, my market has been bad. My shopkeeper clients in Jodhpur and Udaipur, near the border areas, were not taking orders or responding to my calls,” says Kamkar, whose sindoor range of sarees featured in local news as well. “Now, there are new sindoor sarees in check patterns in production,” he adds.

Anish Agarwal, commercial pilot and founder of Kolkatabased Aero Armour which has been selling military-inspired apparel for the last five years, has gone a step further with his Sindoor T-shirts. “On the tees, we have mapped the sites where India struck,” he says. The brand has previously created collections around defence operations such as Kargil, Meghdoot and Black Tornado. Aero Armour’s flagship Kargil Collection is even sold at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass.

Upcoming designs for its Operation Sindoor collection will include aerial views of the strike zones and illustrations of defence equipment like the BrahMos missile and Rafale jet, alongside video podcasts with ex-servicemen on Instagram. “We will map Pakistan’s terror HQs like Bahawalpur and Muridke,” says Agarwal. But isn’t this using patriotic fervor for profit? “Yes, we are criticised occasionally. But the forces themselves have appreciated our work. That matters more.”

Arora from Kadak Merch insists he is not doing this to monetise war. “I believe merchandise is the best way for civilians to support the armed forces. We want to continue this and build a fund to donate to the Indian armed forces ,” he says. Kadak Merch’s Operation Sindoor range — designed in under an hour on May 12— is selling fast, he claims. “I have already sold more than 1,000 units. Orders are coming from all over India,” says Arora, whose company usually riffs on memes and pop culture trends for its merch.

Ad guru Piyush Pandey says brands selling merchandise under names like Operation Sindoor is insensitive. “At the end of the day, however successful we were, we also lost people — first in Pahalgam, and even after that. Don’t turn it into a business,” Pandey adds.

Navin Israni of Mansa Sarees in Kolkata’s New Market area had a change of heart and withdraw his special edition crepe saree featuring the phrase ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’ in 21 Indian languages, with motifs like the Ashoka Chakra, Tricolour and peacock printed. “We had made 50 pieces for sale, but there were second thoughts in the family. Some pointed out, ‘Our army men are out there sacrificing their lives, and you want to mint money out of it?’ That hit home,” says Israni, who has decided to donate the sarees instead.