A letter purportedly written by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, asking Dhami to assess the threats against former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma and recommending Z category security, has gone viral.
The letter also calls Sharma an "icon" for promoting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology, and says this will lead to the goal of creating a "Hindu Rashtra."
Sharma has been mired in controversy after she passed objectionable comments against Prophet Muhammad during a news debate.
However, we found that the letter was a fake. Another letter in the same format bearing the exact serial number had gone viral last year. We also conducted a keyword search and did not find any news about Sharma being provided with Z category security in any publication.
CLAIM
Sharing the letter, a Twitter user said, "This is the official letter of the home minister of world’s largest democracy. I feel ashamed and concerned both together after seeing this bigotry thing by him. He is requesting to provide Z security to the ones who burnt the entire nation by her comments".
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We first conducted a keyword search for a letter written by Shah and didn't find any credible media outlets.
Then a reverse image search on the viral image led us to a similar letter that was shared as a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by Shah in 2021.
This letter was appreciating the state for its handling of the COVID-19 situation.
The 2021 letter had the exact same serial number - 'HMP - 28647021,' as the one viral recently.
Both the letters have the same HMP number on top.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
The 2021 letter was fake and a fact-check in India Today stated that the ministry had said that it had not issued a letter with the serial number mentioned in the viral letter.
Moreover, the letter has grammatical errors, which is usually not seen in official communication.
We also found some real letters issued by Shah, seen here and here.
It is, however, important to state that Sharma was granted police security by Delhi Police after she received death and rape threats over her comments on Prophet Muhammad.
Additionally, Press Information Bureau's Fact-Check unit also called the viral letter fake and said that no such letter had been issued by the home minister.
According to reports, an FIR has been registered by the Uttarakhand government against unidentified people.
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