A photo of Muslims offering namaz (prayers) on road is being shared on social media with the claim that namaz was offered on road this Ramzan at the Bandra railway station (West) in Mumbai.
The photo is being shared to take a dig at the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra saying that it is allowing namaz on the road but playing the Hanuman Chalisa (prayer verses for Lord Hanuman) on loudspeakers is not allowed in the state.
The claim comes in the backdrop of the ongoing loudspeaker row in the state, where Raj Thackeray, leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party, has threatened to play Hanuman Chalisa in loudspeakers in retaliation of azan being played in loudspeakers in mosques across the state.
However, we found that the photo is from 2012 and is being falsely linked to the ongoing loudspeaker row in the state. Moreover, in 2012, the state was led by Prithviraj Chavan from the Congress Party.
CLAIM
The photo is being shared along with the claim that reads, 'Bandra Railway Station (West) in Mumbai, but Hanuman Chalisa is not allowed. Read the Hanuman Chalisa at your home, because roads are blocked.'
WHAT WE FOUND
We conducted a reverse image search on the photo and a Yandex search result led us to the photo on Getty Images.
The image was created on 17 August 2012 and the caption read, "Indian Muslims offer prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan outside the Bandra railway station in Mumbai on August 17, 2012. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan."
The photo was credited to Punit Paranjpe from AFP.
Moreover, the state was led by Congress' Prithviraj Chavan in 2012 (from 11 November 2010 to 26 September 2014).
Clearly, an old from Mumbai showing Muslims offering namaz on road is being shared on social media linking it to the present context.
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