Fact Check: No, US Has Not Declared 'World Chhatrapati Day' To Commemorate Shivaji
Writer: Yusha Rahman
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India, 12 Dec 2020 1:32 PM GMT
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A fake US Currency with the photo of Shivaji Maharaj is rife on social media with a claim that the US has declared Shivaji's birth anniversary as 'World Chhatrapati Day'.
An image of a United States currency note having a photo of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is being circulated online with the claim that the United States has declared the birthday of Chhatrapati Shivaji as 'World Chhatrapati Day'.
The image is being shared with a caption, "ब्रेकिंग न्यूज़ सर्वात मोठी आनंदाची बातमी भारतासाठी एक आनंदाची आणि अभिमानाची बातमी आहे, अमेरिकेने घोषित केले की १९ फेब्रुवारी हा दिवस जागतिक "छत्रपती दिन" म्हणून पाळला जावा कारण या दिवशी जगत विख्यात छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज यांचा जन्म झाला आहे. या बद्दल अमेरिकेचे विशेष आभार. हा संदेश आपणास जेवढा पसरविता येईल तेवढा पसरवा. भारताला मिळालेला हा शिवराय यांच्यामुळे आणखी एक मोठा सम्मान आहे. जय जिजाऊ जय शिवराय." (Which translates in English as, "The greatest good news. There is good news and pride for India, The United States has declared February 19 as World Chhatrapati Shivaji Day, marking the birth of the world-famous Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Special thanks to America for this. Spread this message as far as you can. This is another great honor given to India by Shivrai. Jai Jijau Jai Shivrai."
Many people are sharing the claim on Facebook.
Claim:
America has declared February 19 as 'World Chhatrapati Day' and has Shivaji's photo printed on its currency note.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian found that apps like Photofunia, Fivesquid and Photolab that uses currency notes as photo frames. All these images have the same sequence of currency note as present on Shivaji Maharaj's note, 'CL 01985909BL12'.
We also searched in the list of US Currency notes on website US Currency.gov and found no image of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj but the image of Benjamin Franklin. Since 1914, the US currency note has been changed four times but every time it had the image of Benjamin Franklin's photo on it.
On scanning through the list of Commemorative Days observed in the United States, no such day like World Chhatrapati Day was mentioned in the list.
We were also not able to find any media report on same.
Hence, the claim of Shivaji's image printed on the currency note of the US is fake and no such day as 'World Chhatrapati Day' has been recognised by the US.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.