Fact Check: Did West Bengal recently shut down 125 RSS schools? Here's the truth

Hyderabad: A screengrab of a Republic TV broadcast saying that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is shutting down 125 RSS schools in the state is being shared online. It is being claimed that the news is recent.

BJP supporter Sanjay Dixit posted a screenshot of a tweet and wrote, "I love Didi. What a slap in return for a congratulatory message. 125 RSS schools were banned. Cowards deserve every bit of this (sic)."

I love Didi. What a slap in return for congratulatory message. 125 RSS schools banned. Cowards deserve every bit of this.

लाचार केंद्र, मदमस्त बानो,
कौन बलशाली, आप ही जानो! pic.twitter.com/QSXeVfYFXv

— Sanjay Dixit ಸಂಜಯ್ ದೀಕ್ಷಿತ್ संजय दीक्षित (@Sanjay_Dixit) May 5, 2021

The editor-in-chief of Vishwavani Daily, Vishweshwar Bhat, also shared a screengrab of the Republic TV broadcast.

Petty politics started in West Bengal. About 125 schools started and patronised by Sangh Parivar affiliated organisations will be closed soon. #MamataBansRSSSchools pic.twitter.com/cYzqa1pX1x

— Vishweshwar Bhat (@VishweshwarBhat) May 6, 2021

FACT CHECK

A keyword search led us to a Republic TV broadcast about an incident that took place in 2018. The video was titled "Mamata Banerjee Bans RSS Schools In West Bengal".

According to Hindustan Times and First Post, in 2018, West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee said the state government identified and "stopped" 125 schools, allegedly affiliated to the RSS, which were functioning without a no-objection certificate. The minister said the state government received information on about 493 schools that are "inspired by RSS" out of which 125 were running without any no-objection certificate from the government. The schools were told to stop functioning.

Mr. Chatterjee further said the government would take "proper measures" if the RSS-run schools were found imparting training to students with sticks in the disguise of educating them.

The same was reported by many other media organisations.

The shutting down of 125 RSS schools in West Bengal took place in 2018 and not recently. Thus, the tweets are misleading.