A letter by the Finance Department of the Government of West Bengal saying that the Governor has declared a holiday from the 12th to the 15th of June, 2018 in order to celebrate Eid has been called out as fake by the Kolkata Police. The letter further mentions that all State Government Offices including educational institutions shall also remain closed. Interestingly, while the Kolkata police busted the fake letter on Sunday morning, a serving IAS officer from Rajasthan Sanjay Dixit took to twitter to share the image and added his own commentary to it. Calling the state "Islamic State of West Bangladesh", he also said its "the longest Eid holiday ever - a full 5 days of free salary and compulsory holiday for the faithful and infidel alike." But later on finding that the state police had threatened action, Dixit deleted the tweet and issued a clarification. His original tweet has been archived and can be accessed here. There were others also who shared the tweet. West Bengal is the place to be if you want to have holidays. The state government has given 4 days vacation to all on the occasion of Eid. 😄😄😄 — Yudhajit Dutta (@YudhajitDutta) June 10, 2018 Earlier on Sunday morning, taking swift action Kolkata Police shared the image of the notice on its Twitter handle, warning that the masterminds will be dealt strictly as per law. A fake notification is doing the rounds in social media about Eid Holidays. It is false. Those who have masterminded this will be strictly dealt with as per law. pic.twitter.com/y5rRAa7QDP — Kolkata Police (@KolkataPolice) June 10, 2018 A PTI report mentioned that the Kolkata Police has begun the investigation into the fake notification issued in the name of the West Bengal government on holidays for the Eid doing rounds on social networking sites. Speaking to BOOM, DK Mahapatra, Special Secretary, Finance Department, Government of West Bengal said, "No such letter has been issued but yes, Rajsekhar Bandyopadhyay is the Additional Secretary of the Finance Department."<doc-sep>Kolkata Mamata Banerjee A fake notification, which claims a holiday has been declared on Eid-ul-Fitr, is doing the rounds on social media, creating a lot of confusion inThe social media post that went viral on Saturday evening states commencement of four Eid holidays, starting from June 12. The notification also bore the name and signature of a government official. A fake government logo was also used there.The notice falsely claims, "In order to celebrate Eid festival, which falls on between June 12 and June 15, in a befitting manner, the Governor is pleased to declare State Government holiday on 12 to 15 June 2018, in addition to 16 June 2018, which has already been notified as a public holiday. "The document further mentions that all state government offices, including educational institutions, rural and urban local bodies, development authorities, boards, corporation and other state government undertakings, shall remain closed.However, the Kolkata Police took to Twitter with a message warning that the notice in circulation on the social media is fake and the guilty would be punished. This fake notification was made viral on social media for the sole purpose of creating confusion among the people.State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said, "A political vindictive campaigning is going on that our Chief Ministeris giving extra favour to the minority section. This fake message is only to establish their demand. We have informed the matter to cyber crime department."<doc-sep>The police said that those who are behind this will be strictly dealt with as per law (Representational) The Kolkata Police today started an investigation into the fake notification issued in the name of West Bengal government on holidays for the Eid doing the rounds on social networking sites. The fake notification that is doing rounds in social media about Eid holidays. "A fake notification is doing the rounds in social media about Eid holidays. It is false. Those who have masterminded this will be strictly dealt with as per law," the Kolkata Police today posted on its Facebook page.The "fake" notification purportedly issued by the state finance department on a letterhead with the Biswa Bangla logo stated that the state government has declared holidays for five days, from June 12 to June 16, to celebrate the Eid festival. "All state government offices including educational institutions, rural and urban local bodies, development authorities, boards, corporations and state government undertakings shall remain closed" on those five days, the fake notification read.<doc-sep>West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday slammed the Centre for scheduling a Niti Aayog meeting on the same day as Eid ul-Fitr, and warned that she will not compromise on the interests of minorities. Although the chief minister had initially declared that she would not attend the meeting of the government think-tank’s governing council on account of the Eid festivities, she reconsidered after it was pushed by a day from June 16 to 17. Banerjee is now expected to reach Delhi on Saturday evening. However, addressing an Eid congregation on Red Road earlier in the day, she spared no barb to target the Centre on its alleged religious insensitivity. “Why do they fix important meetings on Eid? I told them I cannot attend it,” the chief minister said. “They abuse me for loving Muslims. I indeed love them. But in order to love Hindus, do you have to hate Muslims?” The BJP often accuses the Trinamool Congress chief of actively trying to appease Muslims in the state, who form 27.01% of its population (according to the 2011 census). Undeterred, Banerjee and her party colleagues make it a point to join in the Eid festivities every year. “I told them that Eid may not be on their calendar, but it certainly happens to be on mine,” she told the gathering. “We celebrate Eid every year. If it’s not on their (the central government’s) calendar, they should change it. Our Muslim brothers are our own, and I will not leave the celebrations on Red Road and go anywhere on Eid day.” The chief minister said she wouldn’t go anywhere even if there was a puja at her home. “In the same way, it can never be that I do not wish our brothers on Eid.” The previous day, Banerjee had announced her decision to attend the Niti Aayog meeting despite not being very comfortable with the idea. “I have to go tomorrow even though I am not very willing to attend it. I am going because it is possibly the last meeting of NITI Aayog. Also, a number of chief ministers requested me to come because they want to discuss the situation in their states,” she said. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<doc-sep>
Fake news is one of the biggest menaces of the recent time. Not only does it disseminate fast through unverified social media, but sometimes it can even fool the mainstream media sources. Something like that happened recently when a 'notification' went viral on social media. It was about West Bengal government giving five day holiday for Eid. The news was even aired by some regional channels and carried in few papers, thus adding credibility to the 'notification'. The Bengal government was slammed by many for arbitrarily increasing the number of holidays for Eid. It finally took Kolkata Police to clear up the confusion. "A fake notification is doing the rounds in social media about Eid holidays. It is false. Those who have masterminded this will be strictly dealt with as per law," the Kolkata Police posted on its social media handles. A fake notification is doing the rounds in social media about Eid Holidays. It is false. Those who have masterminded this will be strictly dealt with as per law. pic.twitter.com/y5rRAa7QDP June 10, 2018 The fake notification purportedly issued by the state finance department on a letterhead with the Biswa Bangla logo stated that the state government has declared holidays for five days, from June 12 to June 16, to celebrate the Eid festival. "All state government offices including educational institutions, rural and urban local bodies, development authorities, boards, corporations and state government undertakings shall remain closed" on those five days, the fake notification read. The police have started an investigation to find out who is behind the fake notification. With PTI inputs