Both Arundhati Roy's letter & Ajit Doval's reply on treatment of captive terrorists are Fake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 17, 2021
A lengthy social media post claiming to be the reply of NSA Ajit Doval to a letter by Arundhati Roy seeking better treatment of arrested terrorists is being shared widely. We also received a query on our WhatsApp tipline regarding the same letter.  Let’s fact-check the veracity of the claim made in the post.
Claim: Ajit Doval’s reply to Arundhati Roy’s letter seeking better treatment of arrested terrorists.
Fact: Different versions of the same letter are doing rounds on the internet at least since 2002. Few versions attributed the letter to former US President George W Bush, whereas few versions attributed it to former Canadian defense minister Gordon O’Connor. Arundhati Roy has also denied writing any such letter. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The same post has been doing rounds on the internet for many years. Few social media posts which shared the same message back in 2016 & 2013 can be viewed here and here.
Upon Google search with relevant keywords, we found a similar letter published in a blog back in 2007. However, as per the blog, the letter is written by a Canadian citizen regarding her concerns over ‘treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists captured by Canadian Forces who were subsequently transferred to the Afghanistan Government and are currently being held by Afghan officials in Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities’.
Few other versions of the same letter purportedly written by former US President George W Bush and former Canadian defense minister Gordon O’Connor are also available on the internet.
Snopes, a fact-checking agency debunked a similar letter back in 2005. According to Snopes, this letter is actually a satirical piece, which has been shared with different names over the years. Further, it states that the theme of the letter is similar to a cartoon related to the ‘treatment of detainees’ published in 2002.
We found mention of a similar letter in books named ‘The Panama Conspiracy’ and ‘Zero to Hero’.
Further, Arundhati Roy speaking to Altnews, a fact-checking agency, has rubbished the claim and has denied writing any such letter.
To sum it up, this reply letter by Ajit Doval to Arundhati Roy regarding her concern over treatment of captive terrorists is Fake.