Patriotism can now be worn on the sleeve — literally. An illustrative development in the wake of India’s military retaliation against Pakistan after the butchering of tourists by terrorists in Pahalgam — Operation Sindoor was the code name of this endeavour — has been the feverish sale of merchandise that cashes in on the Indian military’s firm action. For instance, an entrepreneur based in Himachal Pradesh had embossed a reply by an air marshal during a press conference on T-shirts; a saree seller in Karnataka rebranded his stock of red-and-maroon apparel as ‘Sindoor sarees’. Both products are apparently selling like the proverbial hot cake. Other producers, unsurprisingly, have been keen to cash in on this phenomenon as well. This spirit of innovation is not quite novel. Historians tracking mass sartorial taste would point out that several items that have tasted popularity globally — bomber jackets, cargo pants, pea coats, aviator sunglasses, the trench coat, to name a few — have intrinsic links to military wear and conflicts. Nonetheless, the development, it must be admitted, lays bare, once again, not only the market’s nose for the pulse of the people but also its ability to make use of prevailing consumer sentiments to profit commercially. Another line of thought would argue that this is the aam aadmi’s way of expressing solidarity with their brethren in the military.
But as is often the case, a phenomenon, no matter how popular, is often dual-edged. There is an ethical side to the monetisation of conflict that cannot be ignored. After all, a military engagement, no matter what its scale and result, entails the loss of lives of not just soldiers but also ordinary people. Perhaps this explains the sensible decision on the part of one of India’s biggest business houses to step back from applying for a trademark for Operation Sindoor. The glorification of military rhetoric through merchandise at a time when many corners of the world are being singed in the flames of wars, big and small, cannot be a judicious decision either. However, what must be borne in mind is the need to be objective in the appraisal of such phenomena. A cool, balanced comprehension of such intersections between the market and mass sentiment must not be clouded by the haze of patriotism.