Fake quote of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy praising PM Modi viral on social media

Impersonation of celebrities or world leaders via fake quotes is an oft-used strategy by supporters of PM Modi to prop-up his image. On Alt News, we have written multiple articles exposing such fake quotes that are circulated on social media. Yet another quote is being shared on social media and this time it is attributed to Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy. The quote that is circulating has the following text:

“Shri N.R. Narayana Murthy —
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time i watched PM’s speech other than that on 15th august
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its th-e first time i know my country is safe
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time 20k indians gathered in for a politicians speech on a foreign land
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time every NRI is proud
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time 80 countries are listening to indian pm
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time when pakistan is totaly screwd up and china is scared
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time USA knows it not the sole power
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time Obama realised, he is not the most famous politician
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time INDIA seems a superpower
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time The World Knows WHY WE ARE THE WORLDS LARGEST DEMOCRACY
I don’t say Modi is the best pm, but its the first time I know I AM A PROUD INDIAN !!!”

The above text is currently being shared multiple times on Facebook and WhatsApp.

Alt News got in touch with Mr Narayana Murthy through his secretary AG Panduranga to ascertain the veracity of the quote. In his response, Mr Murthy stated, “While I have tremendous respect for our PM, I must say that these are not my words.”

A quote which screams fake has been shared thousands of times on social media and continues to be shared for over 3 years. A post by a Facebook user Ashish Kumar Sharma posted on 5 December, 2015, has been shared close to 50,000 times.

Alt News tried to ascertain the origins of this message. What we found is that identical messages were circulated on social media after PM Modi’s speech at Madison Square Garden in New York on September 28, 2014. Back then, the messages were not attributed to Mr Murthy but posted by individuals in support of the PM.

Sometime in November 2015, the messages that were circulated after PM’s Madison Square Garden extravaganza were circulated again, but this time attributing it to Mr Murthy. One of the Twitter users Manisha who shared these messages while attributed them to Mr Murthy is followed by the PM himself on Twitter.

Ever since then, every few months, this fake quote is recirculated on social media. The following tweet in November 2016 is by a Twitter user Renuka Jain who is also followed by the PM on Twitter.

I don’t say @narendramodi is the best PM. But some facts contradict my own thoughts. I can’t fight with facts. Can you ? @narayanmurthy10 pic.twitter.com/zrHhS82R69

— #RenukaJain, FCA 🇮🇳 (@RenukaJain6) November 26, 2016

The menace of fake quotes is never-ending. Social media users are strongly advised to verify any quote attributed to a celebrity that they make come across. Statements and speeches by celebrities and world leaders are always reported by at least a section of the media and verifying whether a person indeed stated something that is being claimed is just a Google Search away. Be a good netizen!