Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala was today caught spreading fake news that Indian Rupee is weaker than Bangladeshi Taka.
In a badly worded tweet, presumably copied and pasted from WhatsApp forward, which could have originated in Congress IT cell itself, Surjewala tweeted that “Forget US dollor (dollar), Rupee falls below even Bangladeshi Taka, trading at 1 Bangladeshi Taka = ₹ 1.18”
Presumably since it is Friday, Surjewala questioned who is ‘jummewar’ which reads like a cross between Jumma (Friday) and Shukravar (Friday) instead of ‘jimmedaar’ (responsible). He had then concluded his typo-filled forwarded message with a clip from PM Modi before the 2014 elections.
Unfortunately, what Surjewala tweeted isn’t really new. The above tweet has been making rounds since a few weeks. However, it is factually incorrect. On September 3, media outlet NewsX had published an article titled “Forget US Dollar, Indian Rupee loses against Bangladeshi Taka now” claiming that the global slowdown has caused alarm bells as the Indian Rupee weakened against the Bangladeshi Taka.
In the article, NewsX had gone ahead and mentioned that 1 Bangladeshi Taka = 1.18 Indian Rupee, which according to the article meant that 1 Bangladeshi Taka is capable of buying 1.18 Indian Rupees. It further stated that the Bangladeshi Taka performed best against the Indian Rupee before 2004 and after 2014.
These are also the same assertions Surjewala made in his now-deleted tweet. This, however, is grossly misleading. Firstly, it is 1 INR that is equivalent to 1.18 BDT, and not the other way around.
Moreover, when 1INR is equal to 1.18 BDT, it means Indian currency is stronger than the Bangladeshi Taka and one has to shell out 1.18 Taka to get 1 Indian Rupee. Commodities bought for Rs 100 will have to be bought at approximately 118 Bangladeshi Taka. Consider 1 USD=71 INR, this doesn’t mean that the Indian currency is stronger than the USD. In fact, it means one has to spend 71 INR to acquire 1 USD which shows that USD is a stronger currency than the Indian Rupee. Historically, the Indian currency has always been stronger than the Bangladeshi Taka.
The Indian Rupee has certainly taken a hit in the recent days but it has never gone down below the Bangladeshi Taka. Furthermore, these swings in currency are cyclical and are dependent on multiple economic factors. Only obtuse minds will fall for this trope that since 1 INR is equal to 1.18 Bangladeshi Taka, the Indian currency is cheaper than the Bangladeshi Taka.
