2018 image of Muslims offering prayers in UP shared as recent from Tamil Nadu - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
2nd May 2020 / 8:34 pm
An image of a group of men, wearing a skull cap, offering namaz is getting shared on social media. It is being shared with the claim that a group of 700 men offered namaz amid the lockdown in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district. Facebook user Vijay Ajay posted the image with the claim in Tamil on April 30. The image is credited to ‘Alamy stock photo’ and ‘Jaya Murgan’.
The text in Tamil reads, “வேலூர் மாவட்டம் திருப்பத்தூர் டவுனில், ஜூம்மா மசூதி தெருவில் கடந்த இரண்டு நாட்களாக, நள்ளிரவு 1 மணிக்கு நடு ரோட்டிலேயே சுமார் 700நபர்கள் தொழுகையில் ஈடுபட்டு வருகின்றனர். காவல்துறையினர் உயரதிகாரிகளின் உத்திரவிற்கு கட்டுப்பட்டு, அவர்களுக்கு எந்த தொந்திரவும்!!!? மற்றும் அங்கு இரவு பணியில் இருக்கும் காவலர்கள் எவரும் தமது தொலைபேசியில் புகைப்படமோ அல்லது வீடியோவை எடுக்கக்கூடாது!?? என்ற உயர் அதிகாரியின் உத்தரவுக்கு கட்டுப்பட்டு கையை பிசைந்து நிற்கின்றனர்..சம்மந்தப்பட்ட காவல்துறையை சேர்ந்த நண்பர் ஒருவரின் மனக்குமுறல்..நன்றி : Jaya Murugan நன்றி : alamy stock photo”.
Another Facebook page with the name Bjp Coimbatore Thondamuthur Assembly posted the image with the same claim.
With a Google reverse image search, Alt News found that the image is from Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad city, now known as Prayagraj. According to the stock photo agency Alamy, the image was shot on May 17, 2018. “Muslims offer night prayers called taraweeh during Ramadan month in Allahabad, Ramadhan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which the Quran was revealed, Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset,” reads the caption. The image is credited to a person named Prabhat Kumar Verma.
Tamil Nadu’s Tirupathur district police also took to Twitter and called out the misinformation circulated on social media. “Picture shot in #allahabad is falsely shared in social media as one taken in #tirupathur district.FIR has been registered against the miscreants,” said the tweet.
caution fake news
picture shot in #allahabad is falsely shared in social media as one taken in #tirupathur district.FIR has been registered against the miscreants
வழக்கு பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது பொய்யான செய்தி பரப்புவர் மீது சட்டநடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்#fakenews #tnpolice pic.twitter.com/9Xkt1O2bAO
— Tirupathur Dist Police (@sp_tirupathur) May 1, 2020
In conclusion, a 2018 image from Uttar Pradesh was falsely shared to claim that Muslims offered namaz in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district despite an ongoing nationwide lockdown. Earlier this week, a video from Mumbai shot on March 23 outside a mosque in Dongri was shared with the false claim that it showed Muslims gathering in Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur area amidst the lockdown.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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