Fact Check: Shri Ramcharit Manas Not Declared India’s ‘National Book’, Fake Claim Viral

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A post is going viral on social media, claiming that ‘Shri Ramcharit Manas’ will be announced as the  ‘National Book’ and a treason case will be filed against those who condemn it. The way users are sharing this post, it seems as if the central government has made this announcement.

Vishvas News investigated and found the viral claim to be false. The central government did not make any official announcement regarding it. Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Tulsi Peethadhishwar Rambhadracharya in Bihar claimed that ‘Shri Ramcharit Manas’ would be made the ‘National Book’ when the BJP government comes to power.

What is the viral post?

On November 9 2024 Facebook user Bhupendra Singh shared the post (archive link) with the caption,

“Breaking News, Shri Ramcharit Manas will become the national book, A sedition case will be filed against those who criticise it, Hail hail Sita Ram”

Investigation

To verify the viral claim, we conducted a Google search using relevant keywords but did not find any media reports confirming the same. If the central government had made such an official announcement, it would have been reported in the media.

However, our investigation led us to a report published on Dainik Jagran’s website on November 4, 2023. The report states that during the Ram Katha organised in West Champaran, Bihar, Tulsi Peethadhishwar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya had claimed that Shri Ramcharitmanas would become the ‘National Book’.

According to the news published on ABP Live’s website on March 24, 2023, Iqbal Ansari, a litigant in the Babri Masjid case, had called for ‘Shri Ramcharit Manas’ to be declared the  ‘National Book’. He also talked about punishing anyone who disrespects the sacred text of any religion.

Similarly, Dhirendra Shastri has also made a similar demand. This report can be read on TV9’s website.

In our investigation, we discovered reports demanding ‘Shri Ramcharit Manas’ to be declared as the ‘National Book however, we did not find any such report where the Central Government had made any official announcement regarding this.

This claim had gone viral earlier also, at that time Vishvas News reached out to BJP’s national spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri, who confirmed that BJP has neither made any such announcement nor has any such plan. He called the viral claim to be false.

Lastly, we scanned the Facebook profile of the user who made the false claim. The user seems to be influenced by a specific ideology and has more than 5000 followers.

Conclusion: There has been no official announcement from the central government to declare ‘Shri Ramcharit Manas’ as the ‘National Book’. However, Jagadguru Rambhadracharya, Dhirendra Shastri and Iqbal Ansari have demanded to declare it as the ‘National Book’. Story Link:

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• Shri Ramcharit Manas