On September 1, 2022, The Wire shared an article with a caption “In Dhaka, Modi was quoted as saying: “I must have been 20-22 years of age when I along with several of my colleagues offered a satyagraha in support of Bangladesh’s struggle for Independence. I courted arrest and went to jail”. According to The Wire’s report “The PMO Has No Record of Modi’s Claim that he was jailed due to the Satyagraha for Bangladesh’s Independence.”
Furthermore, the Tamil News channel Sun News from Sun TV Network posted an infographic, “There is no document that PM Modi went to jail from satyagraha in support of Bangladesh Liberation War – PM Office reply to RTI query! Prime Minister Modi, who participated in the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Bangladesh’s Independence Day last year, written a visitor note stating that he had gone to jail during satyagraha.”
We conducted research to establish the accuracy of the claim because it appeared suspicious. With the help of keyword search ‘PM Modi’s address during National Day Programme in Bangladesh’ on YouTube, we came across a video of PM Narendra Modi participating in the ceremony of Bangladesh’s National Day in Dhaka on March 26, 2021. PM Modi stated that he was privileged to have taken part in the 1971 War of Satyagraha in the video beginning at 6 minutes and 46 seconds.
After digging more into it, we came across the book ‘Narendra Modi; A Political Biography’, by the British author Andy Marino which was published in 2014. The book contains details of PM Modi’s arrest for participating in the Satyagraha during the 1971 War. According, to the book’s chapter three, page number 30 the RSS was staging sit-down protests in support of the Bangladesh solidarity movement practicing Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful protest strategy, “satyagraha.” Although, at that time Narendra Modi was not formally tied to RSS, but he travelled to Delhi to take part in one such protest. Where, he along with RSS was protesting to join Army to take part in war, for which later he was sent to jail.
The author Nilanjan Mukhopadhy wrote biography of Narendra Modi titled ‘Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times‘ it discusses the episode of the 1971 Satyagraha movement. On page 101 of the book’s chapter 6, it is mentioned that L. k. Advani said “Around this time (in the first few months of 1971), I once led a vehement Jana Sangh worker rally in front of the US Embassy in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, to protest the American arms aid to Pakistan. At this pivotal juncture, the Jana Sangh was at the forefront of the Indian people’s solidarity with the struggle of the Bangladeshis for national liberation.”
Further, talking in context of Narendra Modi, Advani said “One such young man who was yet to turn twenty – one and thereby secure voting rights, attended these meetings – including the ones addressed by Advani – and courted arrest.”
On the same page Modi affirmed, recalling that “There was a Satyagraha going on for some time – and I also went and joined the Satyagraha to go and join the war there. But instead of sending us to the warfront the government arrested us and sent us to Tihar Jail.”
As stated by The Wire, that the PMO has no record of PM Modi being arrested for the Satyagraha. We investigated it thoroughly and discovered a piece written by The Business Standards. The PMO’s answer to the RTI is given as follows in that report: “The information as available on records may be accessed on the PMO website under the hyperlink “PM’s Speeches”.” Additionally, the PMO stated that it only maintains official documents of Shri Narendra Modi since he took office as Prime Minister of India in 2014.
The aforementioned information shows that The Wire and Sun News’s assertion that PM Modi did not take part in the 1971 War of Satyagraha was false and intended to mislead the public.
| Claim | Prime Minister Modi was not arrested for participating in a Satyagraha during the Bangladesh War of 1971 | |
| Claimed by | The Wire, The Tamil News Channel Sun News from Sun TV Network | |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
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