India Spring: Why Arfa Khanum Sherwani and her ilk Criticize the Movie Dhurandar.

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Project India Spring: A Strategic Analysis

Table of Contents

An examination of activist-journalist networks reveals a coordinated pattern spanning film criticism, protest movements, and regional destabilization narratives. This analysis, documents systematic efforts to replicate Bangladesh/Nepal-style regime change operations in India through strategic narrative management and temperature-controlled internal tensions.

The Strategic Framework

At Aligarh Muslim University (January 2020), Islamic Activist cum Journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani articulated the operational doctrine explicitly: “We are not compromising with our ideology but are changing our strategy.”

She thus clarified that the ideology remains constant. The presentation adapts for broader appeal.

Ideology (Private): Maintain ideological sanctuary space for Pakistan’s project; prevent Hindu-Muslim consolidation against external threats; preserve connection to “New Madina” concept.

Strategy (Public): Frame all operations in secular, democratic, constitutional language; avoid overt religious markers; build broad coalitions; normalize regime change as “Gen Z revolution.”

Temperature Management:

This is classic operation of “Fitna” doctrine. Look up if you like. Fitna is the justification for Muslim uprising or Jihad against the state. Idea is to raise an “India Spring” similar to Arab Spring. The principle is to keep the pot mildly boiling at all times.

Too Cool: Hindu-Muslim unity against external jihadi threat → Project fails Too Hot: Open violence, security crackdown → Democratic frame collapses Optimal: Persistent low-level internal tensions → Perfect conditions for “Spring”

Narrative Warfare

India Spring will get its fuel from narrative. It is a warfare aimed at doing the following:

Amplify Internal Fitna:

Sacred Games (Muslim gangsters, corrupt state, Hindu-Muslim tensions) → Praised as “gritty milestone”
Content showing Indian institutional failures → Celebrated as “bold storytelling”
Radhika Apte’s graphic execution by Muslim gang members → No “Islamophobic” criticism

Suppress External Clarity:

Dhurandhar (ISI-terror nexus, Pakistan-based threats) → Attacked as “toxic Islamophobia”
Operation Sindoor (strikes on terror camps) → Echo Pakistani denials, demand extraordinary proof
Any content clarifying Pakistan Army’s official motto (“Jihad fi-Sabilillah”) → Must be obscured

Result: Indians remain focused on internal enemies. External jihadi threat stays blurred.

The Regional Template:

Bangladesh 2024:

Change in regime in Bangladesh 2024 presents a proof of Concept of India Spring. Media Portals are busy doing it. The Wire and Caravan are prime activists. This is how Wire’s Sherwani and Varadarajan’s covered Bangladesh crises:

Whitewashed atrocities against Hindus
Romanticized “Gen Z uprising” against Hasina
Explicitly warned Indian government: “If it happens in Bangladesh, it will reach Pakistan, and if it is in Pakistan, it will reach Sri Lanka, and it could affect leaders and governments in India.”

Varadarajan’s threat: “Modi’s government has found more intelligent ways to suppress these movements without resorting to violence, unlike in Bangladesh. However, the intent and mentality remain dictatorial.”

Translation: India’s government is next. Bangladesh shows the way.

Nepal 2025:

Sherwani and Vardharajan watched Nepal with salivating eyes. It happened too soon after Bangladesh. They took it as a good omen for their favourite project “India Spring”. This is the Model, they observed:

The Model:

Social media restrictions trigger protests
Discord/Signal/VPN coordination
Gen Z mobilization framing
Government buildings burned
76 deaths accepted as necessary
PM forced to resign
Interim “acceptable” leadership installed

Coverage Pattern of Media: They celebrated as “first successful Gen Z revolution,” inspiring similar movements across Asia. May have clapped in private, we do not know.

This was the expected Domino Theory:

Bangladesh → Pakistan → Sri Lanka → India

Yes. India Spring was expected immediately. This isn’t analysis. This is operational sequencing. But look. 2025 is almost over but nothing happened. The frustration has set in. The cup remained too far away from the lips, like the past.

Failed Past Operations:

CAA-NRC Protests (2019-2020):

It was most ambitious project for “India Spring” but it did now work. This is when I first noticed Sherwani’s confession. This was the strategic approach:

AMU Speech doctrine applied: Keep Muslim concerns (ideology) but frame as constitutional crisis (strategy)
Shaheen Bagh as symbol of “secular resistance”
Extensive coverage delegitimizing government
Attempt to create sustained pressure for regime change

Outcome was a disaster. Protest failed to achieve critical mass. Government stood firm. No “India Spring”. Next was the so called “Farmer Protest” through hired people from Punjab.

Farmer Protests (2020-2021)

This was the strategic approach for farmer protest:

Frame as diverse coalition (Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims) against “corporate favoritism”
Target Adani-Ambani as symbols of crony capitalism
Emphasize “authoritarian crackdown” and “bulldozer tactics”
Create sustained encampments (Singhu border model)
International celebrity amplification (Rihanna, Greta Thunberg)

Coverage Pattern:

Sherwani interviewed leaders, labeled government response as majoritarian overreach
Wire/Caravan emphasized religious-caste unity as resistance model
Celebrated “resilient heroes” narrative

Outcome was disappointing. It too failed to achieve regime change. Laws eventually repealed but government retained power.

The Current Operation:

Dhurandhar is a threat. Why This Film Required Coordinated Attack? These are the the Strategic Problem:

Shows Pakistan Army/ISI-terror infrastructure (their official doctrine exposed)
Creates Hindu-Muslim unity against external enemy
Validates Indian security operations
Disrupts “India as oppressor” narrative
Makes “democratic uprising” harder to justify

The Response was criticism to discourage viewership of the movie. Hence:

Anupama Chopra: “Frenzied espionage thriller driven by testosterone and shrill nationalism”
Sherwani: “Toxic cocktail of misogyny and Muslim hatred”
Wire/Caravan: “Dangerous propaganda,” “poisonous politics,” “BJP-RSS cultural agenda”

The peer group influence, rising ticket sale of the movie and coordinated harassment forced critics to delete reviews. A newly created Film Critics’ Guild frames deletions as “threat to editorial independence.” The new narrative is being built that those who attacked the film become victims. The film’s success becomes evidence of “mob rule” and “authoritarian climate.”

The Inconsistency of the Critiques revealed the Strategy. They failed to make any comparison to:

Rambo (identical nationalist, testosterone-driven themes)
Sacred Games (Muslim gangsters, RAW operations, graphic violence)
Hollywood spy thrillers (Bond, Bourne, Mission: Impossible)

Because consistency is not their goal. It is not hypocrisy either. Strategic outcomes are the goal. India Spring is the goal.

The Operational Architecture:

Phase 1: Narrative Preparation (Ongoing)

Maintain internal Hindu-Muslim tensions through selective coverage
Delegitimize Modi government as “dictatorial” like Hasina/Oli
Normalize “Gen Z uprising” as legitimate democratic expression
Suppress any clarity about Pakistan’s jihadi state ideology
Build “India is next” expectation through Bangladesh/Nepal coverage

Phase 2: Trigger Moment (Awaiting)

Controversial policy announcement
Social media regulation
Major government action that can be framed as “authoritarian overreach”
Economic crisis or major scandal

Phase 3: Mobilization (Prepared)

Encrypted platform coordination (Discord, Signal, VPNs)
Gen Z framing for Western media consumption
“Democratic uprising” narrative
Amplification through international networks
Celebrity endorsements (established Bangladesh precedent)

Phase 4: Escalation (Accepted)

Accept violence as necessary (Nepal: 76 deaths “for democracy”)
Target government buildings (Parliament, ministries)
Create sustained pressure through encampments
Frame security response as “authoritarian crackdown”

Phase 5: Regime Change (Objective)

Force PM resignation
Install “acceptable” interim leadership
Reframe India’s security posture toward Pakistan
Dismantle “majoritarian” policies (CAA, Kashmir Article 370 changes, etc.)

The Unspeakable Truth

Pakistan Army Official Motto: “Iman, Taqwa, Jihad fi-Sabilillah” (Faith, Piety, Struggle in the Path of Allah) speaks all about the Pakistan and its relationship with non-Muslims. Pakistan’s DG-ISPR explicitly states: “Islam is part of not only the belief of each one of us but part of our training. It is part of our faith, it is what drives us.” They call themselves a “jihadi force” and their Chief a “jihadi general.”

This is official state doctrine. Not hidden. Not denied. Official.

When Dhurandhar portrays this reality, it must be attacked as “Islamophobic propaganda”. Reason is not because it’s false, but because truth threatens the entire project. Clarity about Pakistan’s explicitly jihadist military ideology would:

Unite Indian Hindus and Muslims against common external threat
Validate Indian security operations
Delegitimize “democratic uprising” framing
Expose the ideological sanctuary concept
Make “India Spring” impossible

Therefore, this truth must remain unspeakable.

The Pattern Recognition

There is Consistency Across All Operations. Jihadi Media will Support:

Any content showing Indian institutional failure
Any protest against Modi government
Bangladesh/Nepal “Gen Z revolutions”
Palestinian resistance (parallel framing)
Any narrative maintaining internal Hindu-Muslim tensions

But they will Oppose:

Any content clarifying external jihadi threats
Any Indian military operations against Pakistan
Any film validating Indian nationalism in Pakistan context
Any policy perceived as Hindu-majoritarian
Any narrative creating Hindu-Muslim unity against external enemies

This isn’t journalism with ideological bias. This isn’t even propaganda in conventional sense. This is operational preparation for regime change, using:

Film criticism as narrative warfare
“Democratic uprising” as operational cover
“Gen Z revolution” as romantic Western-friendly framing
Bangladesh/Nepal as proof-of-concept and encouragement
Pakistan’s jihadist ideology as the protected sanctuary concept
Internal “fitna” as the maintained operational environment

The Dhurandhar controversy isn’t about a movie. It’s about preventing Indian clarity regarding an external enemy, so that when the “India Spring” trigger moment arrives, Indians will be fighting each other rather than recognizing the project for what it is. The pot must be kept mildly boiling. Never too hot. Never too cool. Just right for when the moment comes. However a Paradox happened.

Strategic Failure Through Tactical Success

The Unintended Consolidation

Yesterday, BJP wins Thiruvananthapuram Mayor/Municipal election. Its first victory in 75 years. Christians voted BJP. In Kerala. A state where BJP historically had negligible presence. There is a similar Pattern Across India:

Hindu-Christian consolidation against perceived threat
Sikh farmers who protested now voting BJP in Punjab
Tribal communities in Northeast aligning with BJP
Even moderate Muslims quietly shifting or staying home
Non-Muslim consolidation accelerating with each “secular” protest

This is the Strategic Miscalculation. It did not produce India Spring. The activists’ framework assumed:

Internal fitna would fragment Hindu majority
Minority alliances would counter BJP
Each protest would weaken Modi’s coalition
Narrative warfare would delegitimize nationalism

But something exactly opposite happened. The repeated propaganda ensured that:

Non-Muslims saw the pattern
CAA protests revealed the “ideology vs strategy” split
Farmer protests’ Khalistani elements became visible
Dhurandhar controversy exposed selective outrage
Bangladesh atrocities against Hindus clarified stakes
Operation Sindoor skepticism appeared as enemy alignment

The Outrage resulted in more Votes for BJP. Every operation designed to weaken BJP:

CAA protests → Hindu consolidation in 2024 elections despite anti-incumabancy
Farmer protests → BJP wins Haryana again
Dhurandhar attacks → Film becomes massive hit, critics delegitimized
Bangladesh coverage whitewashing Hindu persecution → Christian-Hindu alliance in Kerala

The non-Muslim voter thinks: “They oppose CAA (protecting persecuted minorities from Pakistan/Bangladesh/Afghanistan). They question strikes on terror camps. They attack films showing Pakistan’s jihadi networks. They whitewash atrocities against our co-religionists in Bangladesh. They’re not neutral—they’re operationally aligned with our enemies.”

The Kerala Watershed

Thiruvananthapuram represents the culmination: Christians voting BJP in large numbers for the first time in independent India’s history. Remember that the word Love Jihad was coined there due to a predatory practice by Muslims against Christian girls. The “secular” framing stopped working when:

Bangladesh showed what happens to non-Muslim minorities
The “ideology vs strategy” doctrine became public knowledge
Selective outrage patterns became undeniable
Pakistan’s official jihadi motto remained unmentionable in “secular” discourse

Now there is non-Muslim super-consolidation spanning religions, castes, regions, languages. By maintaining the pot at “mildly boiling” temperature, they’ve created:

Hindu-Christian alliances (Kerala)
Hindu-Sikh reconciliation (Punjab)
Hindu-tribal unity (Northeast)
Hindu-Upper-lower-caste consolidation (UP, Bihar)
Even Hindu-moderate Muslim tactical cooperation

The 2024 election results show it. BJP expanded in regions where these protests were most intense. Every failed “India Spring” attempt:

Reveals their methodology more clearly
Consolidates the opposition more broadly
Makes the next attempt harder
Pushes more non-Muslims toward BJP
Validates the “nationalist” narrative they oppose

That’s not BJP’s achievement. That’s Project India Spring’s unintended gift to its intended target. Sherwani’s AMU declaration remains the Rosetta Stone: “We are not compromising with our ideology but are changing our strategy.” That strategy is no secret.

The more they push, the more India consolidates, not as Hindu Rashtra, but as non-Muslim democratic alliance recognizing a common threat.

This is the debate on NDTV in which Sherwani argues her case:References:

OpIndia coverage: https://www.opindia.com/2020/01/arfa-khanum-sherwani-the-wire-amu-speech-muslims/
YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyYswGiIR0A
Full speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGZgVvoGeLk
AltNews fact-check response: https://www.altnews.in/journalist-arfa-khanums-speech-on-caa-clipped-and-shared-with-communal-overtones/
CPJ coverage of death threats following speech: https://cpj.org/2020/02/indian-journalist-arfa-khanum-sherwani-receives-de/

Coverage:

News18 Opinion: https://www.news18.com/opinion/opinion-dhurandhar-vs-the-gatekeepers-when-film-critics-became-the-story-ws-kl-9768109.html
India Today coverage: https://www.indiatoday.in/programme/india-first/video/dhurandhar-takes-silver-screen-by-storm-critics-term-it-anti-muslim-misogynist-2834678-2025-12-11
Times of India review: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/dhurandhar/movie-review/125786542.cms
Deccan Herald review: https://www.deccanherald.com/entertainment/dhurandhar-movie-review-a-long-winding-game-of-chess-3821133
The Week review: https://www.theweek.in/review/movies/2025/12/05/dhurandhar-review-aditya-dhar-made-a-brilliant-movie-and-then-dumbed-it-down.html
YouTube discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrPI66s3TjA
Sherwani’s critique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8O10e_6cYk

Reviews and Criticism: – Anupama Chopra’s deleted review: “Frenzied espionage thriller driven by testosterone and shrill nationalism” – Arfa Khanum Sherwani: “Toxic cocktail of misogyny and Muslim hatred” – The Wire framing: “Poisonous politics,” “majoritarian propaganda”