Fake Notice About Former King Gyanendra’s Birthday Leads to False News on Nirmal Niwas Opening

 

Kathmandu. A fake statement claiming that Nirmal Niwas would be opened to the public for three hours on July 7 to mark former King Gyanendra Shah’s 80th birthday led several media outlets and social media users to circulate false information on Wednesday.

Online news portals including Ratopati and Nepal Press published reports stating that Nirmal Niwas would be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 7, citing a statement allegedly issued by former King Shah’s dialogue secretary, Phani Raj Pathak. The same claim was also widely shared across social media platforms.

However, the claim was later refuted after Pathak denied issuing any such statement. Following his clarification, the media outlets acknowledged that they had relied on a fake document and subsequently corrected their reports. However, some social media pages had not removed the misleading content as of the time this report was prepared. 

What was the claim?

Ratopati published a news report at 12:19 p.m. on Wednesday under the headline “Nirmal Niwas to Be Open for 3 Hours on July 7 for Former King Gyanendra's Birthday Celebration.” 

The article quoted what it described as a statement from Phani Raj Pathak, saying: “According to public demand, there will be a program at Nirmal Niwas where well-wishers can offer their congratulations and greetings. The residence will be open for all well-wishers, the public, organizations, and general citizens from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 7.”

Check out the archive link and screenshot.

The same news was also shared through Ratopati’s verified Facebook page. The post has since been deleted. Check out the Facebook post link and screenshot.

Similarly, Nepal Press published a report at 12:54 p.m. carrying the same claim. It stated that former King Shah would celebrate his birthday at Nirmal Niwas and that the event would be open to the public for three hours “as per public demand.”

Check out the archive link and screenshot.

Likewise, the Facebook page ‘Insurance Khabar’ shared a post claiming that Nirmal Niwas would be open to the public for three hours on July 7 to celebrate the birthday of former King Gyanendra Shah. 

Check out the original post, archive link, and screenshot.

What is the reality?

An examination of the press release cited by media outlets revealed multiple inconsistencies. The font used for the phrase referring to “former King Gyanendra Bikram Shah Dev’s 80th birthday” differed from the rest of the document. Visible black smudges and signs of editing were also found behind the text, indicating that portions of the document had been altered. These signs suggested that the press release was fabricated.

Further verification found a statement published by the verified Facebook page ‘The Royal Family Nepal,’ which described the circulating document as fake.

The statement read: “The Dialogue Secretariat has taken serious notice of the false information spreading on social media claiming to be a statement issued by the Dialogue Secretariat regarding His Majesty the former King’s auspicious birthday celebration. We also inform everyone that no information has currently been issued by the Dialogue Secretariat of any kind. – Dr. Phani Raj Pathak.”

Check out the post and screenshot.

The Techpana Fact-Check Desk also contacted former King Gyanendra Shah’s dialogue secretary, Phani Raj Pathak. Pathak stated that while Nirmal Niwas had been opened to the public during previous birthday celebrations, no such public notice had been issued for this year.

“I have not issued any statement saying Nirmal Niwas will be open for this year’s birthday celebration. The news circulating about this is false,” Pathak told the Techpana Fact-Check Desk.

News corrected after mistake identified

After learning that the statement was fake, both Ratopati and Nepal Press corrected their reports.

Ratopati updated its story under the headline “Information About Former King’s Birthday Is Wrong: Pathak.” The outlet added an editor’s note stating that the earlier report had been corrected due to inconsistencies in the information.

Check out the corrected report and screenshot.

Nepal Press also removed its original report and issued an apology. A notice displayed on the article link states: “The press release issued in the name of the former king's communication secretariat has been found to be fake, so this news has been removed. We apologize for the inconvenience to our readers.”

The outlet later published a separate report titled “Statement About Former King Birthday Celebration Is ‘Fake’: Phani Raj Pathak.” The article noted that several media organizations, including Nepal Press, had published news after receiving the forged press release and that Pathak had subsequently confirmed it was fake. Check out the news.

However, as of the time this news was prepared, Insurance Khabar has not removed the social media post based on the fabricated statement. 

पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: असार ३, २०८३ १७:२२

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