The Coded War

In the theatre of modern warfare, names carry weight.

-  Aranya Mukerji

India's military operations against Pakistan have long followed a coded lexicon—concise, mythic, abstract and loaded.

The Indian Army's most recent operation was shared with the public on X with an image of a word, Sindoor, in block letters. One '0' was drawn as a bowl of vermilion, tipped over just enough to suggest spillage. The caption read, "Justice is served. Jai Hind." The name of the operation, positioned by India as a retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed, was said to have been chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Its symbolism was unmistakable and strategic—bright red sindoor as the marker of marriage, of womanhood, of loss, and bloodshed.

Historically, Indian military operations have been named to reflect conventional deterrence strategies, often borrowing from mythology, geography, or abstraction. At times, names were kept deliberately generic to avoid compromising operational secrecy. The naming of Operation Sindoor, however, appears to introduce a more emotive register. Naming in India's military history has rarely been neutral. Each title signals intent, perspective, and control over how a conflict is remembered.