‘Jai Hind’ trends as politicians, celebrities in India say it in unison, here’s why

India launched a precision strike operation, dubbed ‘Operation Sindoor’, in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting terrorist infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoK) in a significant and restrained response to the deadly Pahalgam massacre.

Soon after that “Jai Hind” started trending on social media platforms such as X as political leaders and celebrities across the country applauded the Indian military for launching strikes on nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh kicked off the trend on X, saying, “Bharat Mata ki jai.”

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath followed shortly after with a tweet that said, “Jai Hind! Jai Hind ki sena!”

Union minister Kiren Rijiju also said "Jai Hind" in a post on X.

More notable figures who posted “Jai Hind” following the strikes were Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan.

Opposition leaders echoed the sentiment. The Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, and Imran Pratapgarhi, Shiv Sena UBT Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav are some of the politicians who have hailed the Indian Army for the strikes.

Meanwhile, Bollywood figures responded to the operation as well, with actors Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Riteish Deshmukh, Nimrat Kaur, and director Madhur Bhandarkar expressing their support for the Indian Army on social media.

Many users on X have joined in the chorus leading to a flurry of tweets containing the phrase.