No, Shiv Sena Govt Didn't Remove the Reference to 'Hindu Religion' in Exam Forms

We could find the same form uploaded on the official government website in 2017, when BJP was in power.

The form has had the words 'non-minority' since at least 2017.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A screenshot of an application form for admissions to Secondary and Higher Secondary classes is being shared with the claim the Maha Vikas Aghadi, led by the Shiv Sena, has removed 'Hindu' as the religion on the form and replaced it with 'non minority'.

The screenshot — which shows the column as 'minority religion' lists Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Parsi, Jain and non minority as an option.

However, we found the same form uploaded on the official website of Maharashtra State Board in 2017 with the words 'non-minority' under 'minority religion'.

It is important to note that the current Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra was formed in November 2019 which succeeded former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' BJP government.

CLAIM

The claim is being shared with the claim, "In Maharashtra, the Secondary and Higher Secondary school admission forms have been modified by Congress, NCP & SHIV SENA by removing the Word HINDU from RELIGION Column, and introduced NON-MINORITY."

An archived version of this post can be accessed here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Other archived versions of posts with the same claim on social media can be seen here, here and here.

SAME CLAIM WAS CIRCULATED IN 2020

The same claim was made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Atul Bhatkalkar from Mumbai in 2020, who said that the "Thackeray government has left Hindutva" in a video, criticising the government for replacing the word 'Hindu' with 'non-minority'.

An archive of this tweet can be seen here.

(Source:Twitter/Screenshot)

The website of English news channel Times Now too carried a story on it.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

To find out the truth about this claim, we first looked at the official website of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. On the website, we found a form named 'HSC SAMPLE APPLICATION FORM FEB 2018' which was uploaded to the website on 21 September 2017.

The website shows that the form was dated 21 September, 2017.

(Source: MahaSSCBoard/Altered by The Quint)

In this document, the form read 'Non-minority' under the 'Minority Religion' section and did not have 'Hindu' anywhere on it.

(Source: Maharashtra State Board/Altered by The Quint)

It is important to remember that in 2017 Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was in power.

So, clearly the form has not been amended under Shiv Sena.

BUT SINCE WHEN HAS THIS FORM BEEN IN USE?

We looked for details regarding the form's change and found a report by The Times of India, which quoted Maharashtra's school Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad saying that the form had been in use since 2013.

Speaking to the daily, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education chairperson Shakuntala Kale had said that the form had been drafted in 2013 and was being used since the 2014 exams.

"The purpose of the column is in line with requirements of the Central and state minorities department. Hence, the column lists minorities which are notified by the state government," Kale told TOI.

We then looked for news reports from 2013 and came across another article in The Times of India published on 3 September 2013 which mentioned that the decision to include minority as a category on the form was taken.

In 2013, the chief minister of Maharashtra was Congress' Prithviraj Chavan. After which Fadnavis came to power, who was then succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray.

Speaking to The Quint, Dr Ashok Bhosale, Secretary of Maharashtra's Eduction board confirmed that the form was amended in 2013. He added that the decision to add 'Non-minority' in the form was taken following a notification from the Centre.

(Update: The story has been updated to include comments from the secretary of Maharashtra’s state board.)

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