A viral letter claiming Home Minister Amit Shah praised suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma calling her an icon to promote Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology and recommending that Uttrakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami give Sharma Z category security, is fake.
The fake letter also claims Sharma is crucial to achieving the goal of a Hindu Rashtra (nation).
A Z category security entails security cover by the Delhi police or the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) or CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel and one escort car.
Several Arab countries including Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia had registered protests with the Indian government over remarks made by BJP members Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal against the Prophet Mohammad. Following the heavy backlash, the BJP distanced itself from the comments and expelled Jindal and suspended Sharma from the party.
The viral letter addressed to CM Dhami dated June 13, 2022 reads, "...I admire your efforts to maintain Law & Order in the state and your keen interest to provide Z security to Shri Ajay Gupta is also commendable. In current scenario, I recommend you to critically evaluate emerging threats to the family house of Smt Nupur Sharma in Dehradun and provide Z security on urgent basis. I am confident that you will manage well and efficiently execute this task . Both Shri Ajay Gupta and Smt Nupur Sharma are icons to promote Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideology that will ultimately lead us to accomplish Hindu Rashtra goal . I hope , you will understand the sensitive nature of this task and give your prime importance My best wishes to you and your team."
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The fake letter was also tweeted by Congress leader Nagma Morarji, which she later deleted.
BOOM also received the viral letter on our WhatsApp Helpline number (77009 06111) inquiring about it.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral letter is fake and no such letter has been penned by Home Minister Amit Shah to Uttrakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami recommending he provide suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma with Z security while calling her an icon to promote RSS ideology.
We ran a relevant keyword search and did not find any such letter written by Shah to CM Dhami to provide Sharma with Z category security being reported by credible media outlets.
Last year another fake letter had gone viral falsely claiming that Union Home Minister Amit Shah appreciated Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for successfully handling the COVID-19 situation in his state.
On comparing the June 4, 2021, fake letter with the fake letter that is going viral now, we found that the 'HMP no - 28647021' mentioned on both the letters is the same. This indicates that the old fake letter has been edited and shared as another letter.
Additionally, the Government of India's official fact-checking arm PIB (Press Information Bureau) also called the viral letter fake stating that no such letter had been issued by the Home Minister.
Also, this is not the first time a fake letter has mentioned creation of a 'Hindu Rashtra'.
BOOM has previously fact-checked such similar fake letters. In August 2020, BOOM had fact-checked a fake letter claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath for supporting Hindu Rashtra.