ISI's 'Ghazwa-e-Hind' strategy: Multiple modules, one slogan to fuel India terror
Synopsis
Indian agencies have busted ISI-linked terror cells across five states — all united by one slogan: Ghazwa-e-Hind. Pakistan's ISI, officials say, is no longer backing one named group but seeding dozens of anonymous, unlinked cells under a single ideological brand, echoing the Indian Mujahideen playbook but at a far larger, harder-to-trace scale.
Key Takeaways
ISI-linked Ghazwa-e-Hind modules have been busted in Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Bihar in recent months.
All modules share Ghazwa-e-Hind literature and ideology despite having no direct operational links to each other.
Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir reportedly invoked the Ghazwa-e-Hind slogan in the context of Operation Sindoor , amplifying its use as propaganda.
The ISI strategy mirrors the Indian Mujahideen model — local financing, local material, zero handler communication — but scaled across multiple unlinked cells.
Modules have been instructed to carry no formal name, identifying only as Ghazwa-e-Hind cells, making prosecution and attribution harder.
Intelligence agencies warn the ISI aims to turn the slogan into a mass movement by making it viral among radicalised youth.
Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies have busted several ISI-linked terror modules across multiple states in recent months, with a single unifying thread: the 'Ghazwa-e-Hind' slogan — a call for the destruction of India — found embedded in the ideology of every dismantled cell. The pattern, officials say, is not coincidental but a deliberate strategic push orchestrated by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to seed a decentralised, homegrown terror movement on Indian soil.
The Pattern Across States
ISI-backed modules have been dismantled in recent months in Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Bihar. In each case, investigators recovered Ghazwa-e-Hind literature and propaganda material. According to an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official, while the modules do not appear to be directly inter-linked operationally, the shared slogan and the ISI connection are consistent across all of them.
Point of View
Brand-driven terror ecosystem. The Indian Mujahideen comparison is instructive — it took years for agencies to establish the Pakistan link, by which time the damage was done. What is new here is the deliberate branding uniformity across unlinked cells, which creates plausible deniability for Pakistan while maximising psychological impact inside India. The real vulnerability is not operational — it is ideological. If the slogan goes viral among disaffected youth before counter-narratives take hold, dismantling individual modules will be insufficient.
NationPress
4 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ghazwa-e-Hind and why is it being used in India?
Ghazwa-e-Hind is an Islamist concept referring to a prophesied conquest of India, long used as a rallying slogan by Pakistani terror groups. The ISI is now deploying it as a mass recruitment and radicalisation tool inside India, aiming to make it viral among disaffected youth and build a decentralised homegrown terror movement.
Which states have seen ISI-linked Ghazwa-e-Hind modules busted?
Modules have been dismantled in Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Bihar in recent months. Each module contained Ghazwa-e-Hind literature and had an ISI link, though the cells were not directly connected to each other operationally.
How does this ISI strategy differ from past approaches like the Indian Mujahideen?
The Indian Mujahideen was a single Pakistan-controlled outfit that operated covertly with local resources and no direct handler communication. The new ISI model replicates that operational secrecy but multiplies it — aiming to create dozens of unlinked, anonymous cells across India, all branded under the Ghazwa-e-Hind name rather than a single identifiable group.
What role did Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir play in amplifying this narrative?
According to Indian officials, General Asim Munir invoked the Ghazwa-e-Hind slogan in the context of Operation Sindoor, with a Jaish-e-Mohammad operative quoting him as saying the army had undertaken Ghazwa-e-Hind in response. Officials say this statement has been used as propaganda to radicalise recruits inside India.
What are Indian agencies doing about the Ghazwa-e-Hind threat?
The Intelligence Bureau and central agencies have been issuing internal alerts and have already busted multiple modules across five states. However, officials warn that the decentralised, brand-based model makes detection harder, and the threat will intensify if the ideology gains wider traction among youth.
