By Archis Chowdhury
A viral quote, highly critical of the Narendra Modi-led administration, is being shared online while being falsely attributed to former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.
BOOM reached out to Rajan over email, who denied having made such a statement. Furthermore, we were unable to find any credible news report attributing such a quote to Rajan.
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We found the following message being widely shared on social media:
"*Raghuram Rajan, former Chairman of Reserve Bank of India, writes:* Today's India is a garland of flowers in the hands of a "monkey." I am neither a congressman nor a Communist nor a Modi bhakt. I am only an ordinary citizen who loves my country. In the last 70 years, India, irrespective of caste and creed, has progressed greatly. For this, all the Prime Ministers who ruled India have worked day and night.
The result is that today, India is a great power in the world. *Before Modiji was born, India had won the war against Pakistan. Even before Modiji started speaking, India had the best Constitution in the world.* When Modiji played the game of bajra and kolam, India built the Bhakra Nangal Canal. India opened the Nuclear Research Centre while flipping through the book "Modiji" in school...
When Modiji was learning to light a lamp, India started the Tarapur Nuclear Power Plant. Even before Modiji got dressed, they had started weaving cloth in India. AIIMS, IIT, and many other universities were started in India. Modiji was selling tea when trains like Rajdhani Express were running fast. How many benefits has India seen? All the benefits have already been accomplished. *Still others believe or try to believe that everything happened because of Modi in the last four years!!!* *In fact, "Modiji" has taken India back by 40 years in four years.* In the line of those who stood hand in hand to create a casteless, communally harmonious India, Modi came as a casteist in his head.
*For the sake of our children, so that our children do not fight with each other, may our children in future also enjoy the freedom our forefathers enjoyed.*"
The has been shared widely on social media since June, and most recently by a few pro-Congress pages on Facebook.
Click here and here to view archives of the above post.
We also found the exact same quote being attributed to Rajan on Twitter as well.
Click here to view an archive of the tweet.
Fact Check
BOOM did some keyword searches on Google, but was unable to find any such statement from Rajan, reported by any reliable source, that made such personal attacks on Modi.
Rajan has a LinkedIn account, where he often expresses his views. Going through the account we were unable to find any statement that matched the quote being shared on social media.
Furthermore, certain information provided in the viral messages were found to be inaccurate.
For example, the message claims that Rajan is the former Chairman of the RBI. However, he is the former Governor of the RBI, while the position of Chairman does not exist in the institution.
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An excerpt from the viral quote states, "In fact, "Modiji" has taken India back by 40 years in four years." Since the Modi-led administration has been in power for over nine years already, it would suggest that the message is an old forward, which has been revived.
We also reached out to Rajan over email, who told us that he did not make such a statement.
