Fact Check | Rashtriya Ujala denies publishing article claiming Uddhav Thackeray apologised for the 1992 Mumbai riots

A photo (here, here and here) of a newspaper clipping published by Rashtriya Ujala, featuring Uddhav Thackeray, is being widely shared on social media. The article claims that Uddhav Thackeray has apologized to Muslim leaders for Shiv Sena’s role in the 1992 Mumbai riots. The same clipping went viral in the Marathi language as well. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.

Claim: Rashtriya Ujala newspaper article stating that Uddhav Thackeray apologized to Muslim leaders for Shiv Sena’s role in the 1992 Mumbai riots.

Fact: This is a fabricated news clipping. Rashtriya Ujala has clarified that they did not publish any such article, and Shiv Sena has also denounced it as fake. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.

First, we searched the internet to determine whether Uddhav Thackeray had made any such statement but couldn’t find any credible reports confirming it. We then examined the website and social media handles of the news outlet Rashtriya Ujala but found no such article published by them. When the clipping went viral, Rashtriya Ujala issued a clarification (archive) stating that they had not published the article and called it fabricated.

They also mentioned that the writer named in the article, Pranav Dogra, is not associated with their newspaper. Furthermore, the management announced that they are initiating strict legal action against all individuals and entities responsible for creating, disseminating, and propagating this false news, which maligns their newspaper’s name. In an interview with Aaj Tak, Jyoti Narain, the director of Rashtriya Ujala, stated that the newspaper is published exclusively as an e-paper, and its print edition was discontinued long ago.

Additionally, when the same clipping went viral in Marathi, Shiv Sena denounced (here and here) it as fake and fabricated.

To sum up, a fabricated news clipping is being shared, falsely claiming that Uddhav Thackeray apologized for the 1992 Mumbai riots.

This story was originally published by Factly and republished by Deccan Herald as part of the Shakti Collective.