The Home Ministry did not issue a circular prohibiting the use of the term 'Hindu' - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 27, 2023
A screenshot depicting a circular issued by the Home Ministry to the chief secretaries of all states, instructing them to abstain from using the term ‘Hindu’ in official contexts, is being widely circulated. Additionally, the circular cites a 1995 Supreme Court directive prohibiting using the word ‘Hindu.’ Furthermore, it advises against employing the term ‘Shiva Linga,’ deeming it obscene and symbolizing the ‘penis.’ It discourages its use in reference to temples or shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva. Through this article let’s fact-check the authenticity of this viral circular.
Claim: Circular issued by the Home Ministry to the chief secretaries of all states, instructing them to abstain from using the term ‘Hindu’ in official contexts.
Fact: The Ministry of Home Affairs has not issued any such circular, and the government has officially confirmed that the viral circular is fake. Additionally, there is no record of the Supreme Court delivering any judgment or directive that prohibits the use of the word Hindu. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The widely circulated circular purportedly from the Home Ministry, dated 4 October 2019, bears the signature of Sanjay Mehta. Although there is a secretary with that name (here & here), our search did not uncover any official Home Ministry circular matching this description.
If the ministry had indeed issued such a circular, it is likely that the media would have covered it, but our search did not yield any such reports, indicating that the viral circular is not authentic. Upon further search, we came across a tweet from the Press Information Bureau (PIB) that explicitly stated that the widely circulated circular had not been issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
A purported #MHA letter asking the Chief Secretaries 'to avoid the use of the term ''Hindu" in respect of Indian in Official Communication and transactions' is doing the rounds of social media#PIBFactCheck: This letter has NOT been issued by MHA.
Conclusion: #FakeNews pic.twitter.com/53hiP4kcUj
Additionally, our search did not yield any Supreme Court directive or order pertaining to the matter as suggested in the viral post. Nonetheless, news reports do indicate that in 1996, the Supreme Court issued a judgment related to the interpretation of the term Hindutva.
Furthermore, upon a thorough examination of the viral document, it becomes evident that it contains numerous grammatical errors, including irregularly capitalized words, which typically do not appear in official documents. Additionally, it is highly improbable that the government would issue a circular that could potentially offend the religious sentiments of a particular community. These factors collectively indicate that the viral document is likely not authentic and may have been created through digital manipulation, possibly by altering an existing ministry circular.
To sum it up, the Home Ministry did not release a circular prohibiting the use of the term Hindu.