A notice purportedly written on the letterhead of the right-wing Hindu organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is viral online with false claims that the RSS issued directives to Hindu men to lure Muslim women and force them to convert.
The notice lists 12 pointers which include a 15-day training for the Hindu youths to woo Muslim women so that they accept the 'Sanatan Dharm' as their religion. It further provides ways to entrap Muslim women and also announces a grant of Rs 5 lakh for such inter-faith couples to set up their homes.
BOOM found that the notice said to be released by the RSS is fake. We also spoke to Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh (publicity in-charge) Sunil Ambekar who confirmed to BOOM that the RSS did not issue such a notice for Hindu men.
Several social media users shared the letter to claim that the RSS is conspiring against Musim women and forcing them to convert.
Click here to view the archived version of the tweet.
An archived version of the tweet can be viewed here.
Click here to view the tweet.
The letter is also on Facebook with a similar false claim.
View such posts here and here.
Fact Check
BOOM first went through the letter to verify the authenticity of the RSS letterhead and found several glaring discrepancies. Such errors including the usage of language are not usually found in notices or letters issued by national level political or religious organizations.
Unlike the original one, the fake letterhead does not contain any date, issuer's name or signature.
At the end, it can be noticed that only “Copy – All India Hindu Society, Bajrang Dil, Hindu Army, Hindu Yuva Vahini and Samast Hindu Samaj” is written.
We found that it contains multiple spelling and grammatical errors and incomplete sentences. For example, “इस लड़की,” (this girl) is mentioned in place of “उस लड़की” (that girl). Also most part of the notice has been written in first person. The letter further misspells Bajrang Dal (“बजरंग दल”) as Bajrang Dil (“बजरंग दिल.”)
In the fourth point of the notice, it is written "If I get some more information, I will accept Islam and take the number from him". (Original erroneous text: कुछ और जानकारी मिली तो इस्लाम कबूल कर लूंगा और उसका नंबर उससे ले लूंगा.”) The correct usage of grammar in Hindi should have been : get her number ( “उसका नंबर ले लें.”)
Upon reading the document from the beginning, we found that the letterhead talks about bizarre ways to lure Muslim girls. In the eighth point, it has been said that Hindu men should help in creating a distance between a Muslim husband and his married Muslim wife to lure the latter.
In the ninth point it is mentioned: "Look for a good opportunity to express your love to the girl and tell her that there is no pressure on you." (लड़की से अपने प्यार का इजहार करने का अच्छा मौका तलाश और उसे बताएं कि आप पर कोई दबाव नहीं है.”) “तलाशें” or In Search Of should have been the correct usage here.
Below are the red flags we noticed in the viral letter.
Furthermore, BOOM noticed several inconsistencies in the viral letter when compared with the official RSS letterhead.
For example, in the original letterhead, the 'Om' symbol can be seen on the top left corner, inside a saffron circle. The motto "Sanghe Shakti: Kalayuge" is written below it.
In the viral fake letter, the motto is not present; also the 'Om' symbol does not have a saffron background but a white one.
Also, in the original letterhead Bharat (India) is written within brackets in the RSS address section, contrary to the viral letterhead.
We looked at the previously issued RSS notices on its official letterheads and found that it carries the name and signature of the Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh as the issuer. The same is not there in in the viral notice.
BOOM then reached out to Rajeev Tuli, a functionary in publicity department of the RSS, to get more details about the viral letterhead. Rajeev Tuli told BOOM, "The letterhead going viral is fake. The RSS does not use such language. The things written in it are not the views of the Sangh. It has many errors. We will soon file an FIR on this.”
BOOM also reached out to All India Prachar Pramukh, RSS, Sunil Ambekar, who shared his tweet with us calling the viral notice as fake. In his tweet, Sunil Ambekar wrote, "This leaflet circulating on social media in the name of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is completely false."
On the other hand, we searched and read RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's recent statements but were unable to find any such statement in which he sets a target of converting 10 lakh Muslim girls to Hinduism every year.
