The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has debunked a fake letter circulating on social media that claimed students of Dev Bhoomi Uttarakhand University (DBUU) were required to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s event in Dehradun to secure 50 internal marks. The letter, which went viral ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, triggered a political storm with opposition parties accusing the ruling BJP of coercing students.
According to the fabricated document, students of B.Tech CSE (2nd Year) and BCA (2nd Year) were allegedly instructed to attend the Prime Minister’s event at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) on Sunday. It further stated that their attendance would be counted under the Bharatiya Gyan Parampara (Indian Knowledge System) course and that each participant would be awarded 50 internal marks.
The fake post was widely shared by several political figures and activists. Among them, lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan posted the letter on social media with a sarcastic caption, “Dev Bhumi Uttarakhand University to award 50 marks for attending Modi’s rally! And how many for shouting Modi Modi?”
Similarly, Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni alleged that the BJP was pressuring students to attend the rally by “luring them with marks” to achieve its target of one lakh attendees. “This shows the BJP has run out of workers and leaders,” she claimed in her post.
However, the PIB intervened, terming the viral letter as fake. “A letter claiming that students of Dev Bhoomi Uttarakhand University must compulsorily attend the Prime Minister’s event to receive internal marks is fake. Please do not fall for such misinformation. Rely only on information obtained from authentic and verified sources,” the bureau stated in its official clarification.
A letter allegedly issued by Devbhoomi Uttarakhand University is being circulated on social media, claiming that students’ attendance at Prime Minister @narendramodi‘s programme has been made mandatory and that internal examination marks will be given for it.#PIBFactCheck
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) November 8, 2025
In a similar statement, the Dev Bhoomi Uttarakhand University dismissed the claims as baseless and fabricated.
“It has come to our attention that a fake notice has been circulated in the name of DBUU regarding marks for the upcoming visit to FRI on 09 November 2025,” the university said in a press release.
“We would like to clarify that the notice is completely false and not issued or approved by the university. It bears no official signature, reference number, or authorisation. Please rely only on official DBUU communication channels for accurate information,” it added.
Registrar of DBUU also issued a strong rebuttal, asserting that the university “completely dissociates itself from any such notice.”
The controversy emerged just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Dehradun on Sunday, where he is set to participate in a programme marking the Silver Jubilee celebration of Uttarakhand’s formation. During the event, the Prime Minister will launch a commemorative postal stamp and inaugurate or lay foundation stones for development projects worth over Rs 8,140 crore, including Rs 930 crore worth of completed projects and Rs 7,210 crore of new initiatives, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
While the viral post sought to stir controversy, the timely clarification from both the PIB and the university has helped contain misinformation surrounding the Prime Minister’s visit. The incident also underscores the growing challenge of combating politically motivated fake news in the digital age.
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