An image of a purported historic document with the text “RSS did not participate in any anti-British movement from 1925 to 1947” bearing the emblem of the British Home Department and signed by Lord Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy and the first Governor-General of India, is viral on social media. Those sharing the image claim that it serves as proof that the Hindutva group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), did not contribute to India’s freedom movement.
The historic letter emerges weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech on August 15, where he praised the RSS for completing 100 years of “service to the nation”. The RSS is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) parent organisation.
On August 25, Congress leader Manish Tiwari (@livemanish_), who is also the social media coordinator of the Indian Youth Congress and Jharkhand state-in-charge, posted the image on X with the hashtag #RSS100YearsExposed. “No other proof required. Here’s the proof of RSS’s lack of any contribution to India’s Freedom Struggle,” he wrote. At the time of writing this, the post had over 280,000 views. (Archive)
Another X user, Pragnya Gupta (@GuptaPragnya), also posted the same image with a similar caption. This post received more than 394,000 views and was reposted 2,500 times. (Archive)
Several other users posted the same image with similar captions. Below are a few instances.
Click to view slideshow.Fact Check
To verify the authenticity of the letter, we ran a relevant keyword search to look for any documented evidence of the note, but found no relevant results. On examining the viral image closely for more clues, we noticed some inconsistencies.
- The affiliation below the emblem reads ‘British Home Department’; however, the official name is ‘Home Office’, which, according to the UK government’s official page, “plays a fundamental role in the security and economic prosperity of the UK.” There are 28 agencies and public bodies working under the Home Office. It was established in 1782.
2. We noticed that the emblem seen in the viral image of the document was different from the one on the Royal Family’s official website. As one can see in the comparison below, the text does not match that on the original logo. Additionally, the crown of the emblem is completely different (marked by the red circle).
3. We noticed that the two emblems on the viral image — one on top and the other on the bottom-right corner — are different. The one at the bottom had garbled text.
4. We then tried to run a reverse image search of Mountbatten’s signature to locate any archival documents with his signature. This led us to a website called autographcollection.co.uk, which had a typed letter signed by Lord Mountbatten from 1978.
On comparing this letter with the viral image, it became apparent that the contents of this particular letter were manipulated to create the viral image. Some markings in the original letter appear as blurred-out text in the viral image. Comparisons below:
The signatures of Mountbatten, as seen in the viral image and in the letter, are identical too; even the dot made by the ink under his signature is in the same position.
5. Lastly, Mountbatten did not serve in the Home Office. In March 1947, he was named the viceroy of India and asked to oversee the withdrawal of the British from the country. He remained the interim governor-general till June 1948. Apart from his stint in India, he remained largely part of the defence forces and served in the Royal Navy before being named chief of defence staff in 1959.
From the above findings, it was clear that the viral image was morphed, not authentic, and likely created using photo editing tools. Mountbatten’s signature has been taken from another, unrelated letter signed by him in 1978.
The post Letter claiming ‘RSS did not participate in anti-British movement’ is morphed appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.