Demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes has been very secretive and people came to know about it only when PM Narendra Modi himself addressed the nation on TV and announced that it would come in effect in the next few hours (after midnight). This big, sudden and prompt decision left everyone in a hurly-burly state and some people had to face serious problems on account of it as well. Anyway, what could be done? No one had the idea of this happening otherwise folks would have been well prepared in advance.
But wait! What’s this?
This Saurashtra-based Gujarati newspaper “Akila” wrote about the ban on notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 in the month of April only, which means 7 long months ago? But how was it possible when no one else had the information about the same?
This image is doing rounds on Internet and social media including WhatsApp and as usual, users are ending up in a perplexed state, as we Indians don’t try to look for the authenticity of a pic or news and simply believe it to be true (This statement doesn’t apply to all and sundry).
Well, there’s nothing to worry about or think much, as it was just a fake story on April Fools’ Day! Yes, you read it right and this has been confirmed by no one else but the Managing Editor of that newspaper; even though, quite surprisingly, it turned to be true on 8th November.
The post said that govt. took the decision of removing notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 from circulation. One thing worth noting here is that the news was published on 1st April which is one month before the govt. conceived the plan, i.e., in May, as reported.
This is what Akila Press’ Managing Editor Kirit Ganatra told SabrangIndia,
“The story was printed as a joke on April 1, since it was the April Fools’ Day. Many newspapers from Saurashtra follow the tradition of printing a spoof news report on April 1 and we do it every year. Coincidentally, it turned out to be true this year.”
On the question of similarity between the govt’s decision and the spoof report, he stated,
“People have been discussing and suggesting this move as a solution since quite a long time. This solution seems pretty obvious when one thinks about the possible ways to deal with the black money in the country. That’s why we wrote so in the spoof report. We had no access to any inside information whatsoever.”
Here’s a loose translation of the spoof report published in Akila:
‘Decision to Remove 500-100 Notes from Circulation’
“Whoever has Rs 500 or 1000 notes, should go and change them before June 30. Transactions for higher than Rs 2,000 have to be done through electronic cards, debit cards and electronic means only. Cash more than a certain amount cannot be kept at home. These are some of the moves to stop the flow of black money and corruption, as decided by Narendra Modi on the conclusion of two years of his government.
News of this historic decision has come to light. Use of fake currency for terrorist and anti-social activities will thus be stopped. Notes of these denominations in the possession of people should be surrendered by June 30.
By this move, black money will be cleaned and India will surge forward. The government’s move will have no impact on ordinary people and is only meant to expose the corrupt and those functioning with black money currency.”
A difference between the real news and spoof is that the newspaper article said that the time for returning currency is of three months while the PM scrapped the currency overnight in addition to introducing new notes of Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 500. However, the intention of this step is amazingly similar in both.
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