From ‘Pakistani’ to ‘Bangladeshi’: How BJP reframed its politics of fear

It simultaneously invokes sovereignty, demographic anxiety, economic grievance, and, crucially, religious identity.

The dust has barely settled on Operation Sindoor, yet India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has already pivoted its political machinery eastward towards Bangladesh and the spectre of “illegal migration.” This is not a reactive shift.

For the better part of two decades, Pakistan was the indispensable villain in India’s nationalist political theatre.

The word itself became a rhetorical weapon, deployed in election rallies, television studios, and WhatsApp forwards with a reliability that bordered on ritual.

In the weeks since Operation Sindoor, India’s military strikes in May 2025, following the Pahalgam attack — a quiet but unmistakable reorientation has taken place.

The cameras, the political speeches, and the machinery of India’s formidable BJP communications apparatus have turned their gaze eastward towards the border with Bangladesh, and towards the figure of the ghuspetia: the alleged illegal migrant.

To understand why, one must first reckon honestly with what Operation Sindoor did and did not achieve politically.

Following the Pahalgam attack and the subsequent military operation, the Indian government launched an ambitious multi-continent diplomatic offensive.

All-party parliamentary delegations were dispatched to capitals across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, tasked with presenting India’s case: that the attack was orchestrated by Pakistan-based terrorist groups, and that India’s response was measured and targeted.

The effort was not without merit, and it demonstrated India’s desire to shape the international narrative on cross-border terrorism.

Most governments continued to view the India–Pakistan confrontation as a bilateral dispute.

More damagingly for New Delhi’s messaging, the international media landscape was dominated by two competing narratives: the role of Washington in brokering a ceasefire, and the emerging debate over Chinese military involvement in the conflict.