Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to citizens not to buy gold for a year, following which the opposition raised questions regarding the country’s economy. Meanwhile, a news clipping of the front page of the English newspaper The Hindu has gone viral on social media. The clipping is claimed to be from June 6, 1967, and users are alleging that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had also appealed to people not to buy gold.
Sharing the clipping, a user named Ocean Jain wrote, “That was the era of the Iron Lady Indira. When Modi Ji’s appeal not to buy gold was printed in the newspapers of that time.”
Another user, Dilip Kumar Singh, shared the clipping and wrote, “Read the news from The Hindu, Madras, Tuesday, June 6, 1967. Fact: On June 5–6, 1966, Indira Gandhi devalued the rupee by 57.4% — the dollar went from ₹4.76 to ₹7.50. After the devaluation, the condition of the foreign exchange reserves was very poor. Read Indira Gandhi’s address to the nation. #GoldPurchase”
Fact Check:
The DFRAC team carefully examined the viral clipping of The Hindu and found several inconsistencies. For instance, while the publication date on the newspaper is June 6, 1967, the story’s dateline mentions June 5. Additionally, the logo appearing in the viral clipping differs from the original logo of The Hindu. Furthermore, the viral clipping states “Indian National Newspaper,” whereas The Hindu actually uses the tagline “India’s National Newspaper Since 1878.” All these discrepancies can be seen in the graphics provided here.
For further investigation, we checked The Hindu’s official X handle and found a clarification regarding the viral clipping. The statement posted by The Hindu reads: “A digitally altered image masquerading as the front page of The Hindu dated June 6, 1967, is currently circulating on social media. We would like to clarify that this is not a genuine page from our archives. The Hindu urges its readers to exercise caution and verify authenticity before sharing.”
In addition, we found posts by Nistula Hebbar and B. Kolappan regarding the same issue. Both journalists declared the clipping fake and shared the original front page of The Hindu published on June 6, 1967. Nistula Hebbar wrote: “The image of @the_hindu’s front page from June 6, 1967, being circulated on social media regarding Gold Controls is fake and was probably created using AI. The real front page of that day was filled with news related to the Arab-Israeli war. Both pages are shared below. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
Meanwhile, B. Kolappan shared the post and informed: “The first one is a digitally altered page being falsely presented as the front page of The Hindu on June 6, 1967. The second is the actual front page published that day. This shows what social media is capable of, even altering the front page of India’s national English daily.”
We also contacted senior journalist Prashant Tandon regarding the matter. He said: “I am surprised that such responsible people shared a fake statement attributed to Indira Gandhi, allegedly printed on the front page of The Hindu. Later, The Hindu itself clarified that it had never published such a report in 1967. This appears to have been circulated by BJP supporters and leaders to justify Prime Minister Modi’s appeal asking people not to buy gold.”
Conclusion:
DFRAC’s fact check clearly establishes that the newspaper clipping of The Hindu being circulated on social media is fake. The Hindu and senior journalists associated with the newspaper have publicly clarified that the clipping is not genuine.
