No, Uddhav Thackeray Didn't Demand Urdu to be Given 'Classical Language' Status

A fake quote has been attributed to Uddhav Thackeray.

A quote is being attributed to former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray which states that he demanded Urdu to be given the status of a classical language.

The viral image also shows ABP Majha's logo on the top-right corner.

• This comes after the Union Cabinet recently granted classical language status to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali.

• This increased the number of classical languages to a total of 11.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This is not true, no such statement or demand has been made by Thackeray.

• An original image shared by ABP Majha has been edited to make this claim.

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How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search on Google but found no credible report supporting this claim.

• We also checked Thackeray's social media accounts but found such statement being made.

• We also checked reports about new languages being granted the status of classical languages and it included Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali.

• The list did not include Urdu.

Original image: Next, we checked the Facebook page of ABP Majha but found no such post about Thackeray making this statement about the Urdu language.

• We found an old post from 6 September 2022 which matched the design of the viral image.

• The image also carried a cutout of Thackeray, which was a photo from 2022.

• The quote here, in Marathi, says, "Saw Mangalmurti and 'Amangalmurti' in Mumbai yesterday. Show the sky to those who talk about showing land."

• Here's another post shared by ABP Majha on 18 May which carries the same template.

• The quote here says in Marathi, "They are not satisfied by gathering all such characterless, corrupt, traitors. So someone wants a last name, so he rents it."

सगळे असे चारित्र्यहिन, भ्रष्टाचारी, गद्दार जमवून त्यांना पूर्ण पडत नाहीत. म्हणून कोणीतरी एक आडनावाचा पाहिजे म्हणून तोही घेतलाय भाड्याने, बाबा.. दुपार झालीय आता उठले असतील आणि सुपारी चघळत असतील, तरी असे सुपारीबाज नको, खोकेबाज नको... : उद्धव ठाकरे #UddhavThackarey pic.twitter.com/JExbZb8oSW

— ABP माझा (@abpmajhatv) May 18, 2024

Conclusion: An altered image is being shared to claim that Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the Urdu language receive the status of a classical language like Marathi.

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