Fake News: Netherlands Did Not Issue Stamps Honouring RSS, BJP's Claim is False
A graphic featuring a postage stamp and a representative image of the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS) is viral. It also has the following words written: “100 years of selfless service.” It is being shared with the claim that a commemorative stamp was released by the Netherlands government to pay tribute to the RSS on completing 100 years.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP’s) official X handle (@BJP4India) posted the above-mentioned graphic on October 10 and stated in the caption that “the Netherlands has released a commemorative stamp to mark 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)…”
The Netherlands has released a commemorative stamp to mark 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
A significant gesture of international recognition for one of India’s most influential social organisations. #RSS100Years pic.twitter.com/PtTgbMzxiB
— BJP (@BJP4India) October 10, 2025
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya), who has been found spreading misinformation several times in the past, posted the same graphic with the same caption.
The Netherlands has released a commemorative stamp to mark 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). A significant gesture of international recognition for one of India’s most influential social organisations. pic.twitter.com/jnRnGePY3f
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) October 10, 2025
News outlet Times Now published a video report on their YouTube channel on October 10, where they, too, reported that the Netherlands released commemorative stamps to mark 100 years of RSS.
Several other users and BJP leaders, such as Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi),) Prakash Javdekar (@PrakashJavdekar) and Ramesh Naidu Nagothu (@RNagothu) shared the viral graphic claiming that a stamp had been released by the Netherlands government acknowledging RSS’ work.
Fact check
To verify the authenticity of the claim, we began with running a keyword search to look for news reports about the Netherlands government releasing RSS stamps, but we couldn’t find any.
On careful inspection, we noticed that a bank account name was mentioned in the viral graphic: “Stichting Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh”. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) is an international wing of the RSS, which has branches in several countries, such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, etc.
The word “Stichting” stands for ‘founding/foundation’ in Dutch. And, in the spherical block within the graphic details of how to place an order and shipping charges are given along with the email id: hssnetherlands@gmail.com.
Taking a cue from all of this, we ran a relevant keyword search and found a report by the Organiser, a weekly magazine affiliated with the RSS. The title of the report reads: “RSS at 100: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Nederland launches special commemorative stamp to honour centenary of Sangh,” and it carried the same two stamps that are in the viral graphic.
The report stated, “To honour this monumental milestone, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Nederland. (HSS NL) proudly launched on World Postal day a special commemorative postal stamp – a symbol of one hundred years of unity, discipline, and devotion to the world’s universal Dharma”. (sic)
Additionally, we found that the Netherlands postal service called ‘PostNl' allowed one to create personalised stamps by uploading any image.
This article was originally published on AltNews.
This article went live on October nineteenth, two thousand twenty five, at fifty-one minutes past two in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
