Old video from East Timor viral as show of strength by Muslims in Mumbai

A viral video on social media shows a massive crowd gathered on a road, with a convoy of vehicles passing through it. The message accompanying the video claims that Muslims in Mumbai have taken to the streets to demonstrate their strength.

Deepak Sharma, a verified X handle who regularly amplifies communal misinformation on several occasions, shared the video. He posted, “This is not Pakistan or Bangladesh, nor is it Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan. This is our Mumbai, where Muslims have taken to the streets to show their strength. Keep sleeping, Hindus.” (Archived link)

ये पाकिस्तान या बांग्लादेश नहीं है

ये इराक ईरान या अफगानिस्तान भी नहीं है

अपना मुंबई है
जहाँ मुसलमान अपनी ताकत दिखाने को
सड़कों पे निकला है

सोते रहो हिन्दुओं 🖐️ pic.twitter.com/IiFZeLO98s

— Deepak Sharma (@SonOfBharat7) September 23, 2024

Another X user, Taufiq Khan, shared the same video with the caption, “This is said to be one of the biggest rallies in India’s history, with over 10,000 cars participating.” The user tagged AIMIM Maharashtra president Imtiaz Jaleel and included the hashtags #AIMIM and #Chalo_Mumbai. He later deleted the tweet. (Archived link)

It is worth noting that these posts were shared against the backdrop of a rally convened by AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel. The Mumbai Chalo rally was held on September 23 to demand action against BJP leader Nitesh Rane and Hindutva ‘seer’ Ramgiri Maharaj for their alleged derogatory remarks about Islam and Prophet Mohammad.

On September 24, Nitesh Rane tweeted a screenshot from the viral video, ridiculing the rally. He compared the crowd to a popular Indian snack, writing, “We eat this much poha for breakfast every day.”

Amar Ujala also uploaded a video on YouTube with the title, “Asaduddin Owaisi’s strength seen on the streets of Mumbai.” The viral video appears after the 7-second mark in this report. (Archived link)

Fact Check

While some users commented that the video might be related to Pope Francis, to confirm the same, Alt News conducted a reverse image search of a frame from the viral video. Using a VPN, we found that the video had been posted on TikTok by a user named rey.marques on September 11, 2024.

The post included hashtags like #timor, #katolikroma, #katolikku keren, #tasizdilitimorlestern, #pausfransiskus, and #timorlester, indicating that the video was not from the AIMIM rally in Mumbai but was linked to a religious event in Timor-Leste.(Archived link)

A further keyword search led to a live stream posted on TVET Entertainment Official’s Facebook page on September 10. The caption says, “Tasi Tolu – Dili, after attending the Holy Mass, Christians return home filled with peace and tranquility.” The video, after the 44-minute mark, shows a convoy similar to that in the viral clip. (Archived link)

Alt News also conducted a geolocation analysis of the video. We compared Street View imagery of the location with frames from the viral video and identified the spot as near Tasi-Tolu Rai-Kuak in Dili, the capital city of Timor-Leste.

In the graphic below, the left side shows a screenshot from the viral video, while the right side features a Street View image.

Using a keyword search, we also found a BBC News report from September 10, 2024, which further corroborates this. The report states that around 600,000 people gathered in a field outside Dili for one of the largest ceremonies ever attended by Pope Francis. 

This open-air event represented nearly half the population of Timor-Leste, a predominantly Roman Catholic country and the only Catholic-majority nation in Southeast Asia. (Archived link)

To sum it up, the viral video claimed to be a large Muslim gathering in Mumbai for an AIMIM rally is actually footage from a religious event in Timor-Leste during a visit by Pope Francis.

Pawan Kumar is an intern at Alt News.