Sindoor as boiling blood; sindoor as gunpowder.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, credited unofficially by his minions with choosing the name “Operation Sindoor” in solidarity with the women widowed by Pahalgam, seemed on Thursday to render the symbolism all about himself and his brand of political machismo.
“Not blood but hot vermilion is flowing through Modi’s veins,” the Prime Minister told a rally near Bikaner in Rajasthan, his first public meeting since the cessation of military hostilities with Pakistan on May 10.
The crowd played its part with chants of “Modi, Modi….”
The venue seemed to have been chosen carefully. It was close to the Pakistan border, and the Prime Minister’s aircraft had landed at the Nal airbase that had come under Pakistani attack during the post-Pahalgam conflict.
Modi’s speech — peppered with references to himself in the third person — seemed dedicated to squeezing out the last ounce of mileage from Operation Sindoor as he set about burnishing his image as a “strong” leader.
“Pakistan ek baat bhul gaya ki ab Maa Bharti ka sevak Modi yahan seena taan kar khada hai. Modi ka dimag thanda hai, thanda rehta hai, lekin Modi ka lahu garam hota hai. Aur ab toh Modi ki nason mein lahu nahi, garam sindoor beh raha hai,” he said.
(Pakistan has forgotten one thing, that now Mother India’s servant Modi is standing here with his chest puffed out. Modi’s mind is cool, it stays cool, but Modi’s blood is hot. And now, not blood but hot vermilion is coursing through Modi’s veins.)
The Prime Minister claimed his pledge of handing out a “punishment beyond imagination” to those behind the April 22 Pahalgam atrocity had been fulfilled. He did not mention that the terrorists who killed the 25 tourists and a lone ponywallah were yet to be caught.
He said the bullets were fired in Pahalgam “but they pierced the chests of the 140 crore people of the country”.
“After that, every citizen of the country came together and took the pledge to destroy the terrorists and hand them a punishment beyond imagination,” he said.
Modi said: “Friends, in response to the April 22 attack, we destroyed the 9 biggest terrorist hideouts in 22 minutes. The world and the enemies of the country saw what happens when vermilion turns into gunpowder (sindoor barood ban jata hai).”
The last bit set off another round of frenzied cries of “Modi, Modi….”
Modi seems to have sniffed in Operation Sindoor the right opportunity to resurrect his “56-inch chest” brand after the setbacks of last year’s general election.
He also seems keen on dispelling any misgivings among the rightwing ecosystem, large sections of which were infuriated by India’s cessation of its military offensive against Pakistan under what they reckoned was “US pressure”.
Faced with a backlash, Modi had hurried to address the nation and claim that the halt to hostilities had come in the face of a virtual surrender by an Islamabad unable to take any more punishment from India.
Thursday’s rally seemed to have the objective of testing the success of Modi’s narrative-building efforts around Operation Sindoor.
Donning a bright red turban, Modi bowed to the crowd, folded his hands and went full throttle, often rhyming his lines.
“Pehle ghar mein ghus kar kiya tha waar, ab seedha seene par kiya prahaar (First, we attacked them inside their homes, now we have directly struck them on the chest),” he said.
“India will not be scared by the geedad bhabkiyon (jackal’s threats) of an atom bomb.”
Nor would “Pakistan’s game of state and non-state actors work any more”.
Modi plugged the “Tiranga Yatras” being conducted by his party to milk the military operation.
“From the land of Rajasthan, I would humbly tell my countrymen that the Tiranga Yatras taking place in every corner of the country are giving out the clear message that those who set out to wipe out the vermilion have been turned to dust,” he said.
“If Pakistan continues to export terrorists, it will be deprived of every penny. Pakistan will not get water that is India’s right.”
Modi said Pakistan had failed to harm the Nal airport but India’s precision strikes put Pakistan’s Rahim Yar Khan airbase in the “ICU”.
He said the all-party diplomatic outreach to foreign countries was meant to “expose Pakistan’s real face before the world”.
At the official event, Modi inaugurated or laid the foundations for development projects as the crowd waved the Tricolour.