CLAIM
A WhatsApp message claiming that Narendra Modi, when he was chief minister of Gujarat, had cancelled the Good Friday holiday in the state has been doing the rounds.
The viral forward claims that “Modi cancelled ‘Good Friday’ holiday in Gujarat” and implores voters not to vote for him now as “if he wins, he will cancel it all over India”.
It goes on to say that Modi is against Christians and that Bollywood actor Aamir khan will announce how many members are against him in the next episode of his TV show, Satyamev Jayate.
“Please Forward to all, if Narendra Modi becomes prime minister next time, he will pass an ‘Anti-Conversion Bill’. He has a thorough agenda against Christian believers. He has done it in the past in Goa. We need a government who will be for Christians, not against, a leader who fears God and not evil in his ways... Please encourage all Christians everywhere ‘NOT TO VOTE’ for Narendra Modi. Spread the word. There are 1,01,20,000 Christian voters in India. If none of them vote for him, he will not achieve 272 seats, then he will lose power.” – the rest of the message reads.
The same claim was also made by several individuals on Facebook and Twitter:
THE TRUTH
The viral WhatsApp message is fake and the claim made in it has no basis.
There are no reports or public notices available, on record, suggesting that CM Modi had cancelled the Good Friday holiday while in office.
In fact, a look at the list of public holidays in 2013, when Modi was in office, confirms the same.
A look at the current year’s list confirmed that Good Friday is still listed as a public holiday. Thus, the viral post is fake.
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