Photo of people offering namaz outside Bandra Railway Station is from 2012

An image that shows people offering namaz outside the Bandra Railway Station in Mumbai has gone viral amid the ongoing Hanuman Chalisa row and on the occasion of Ramadan.

The image has been shared by several users on Twitter.

This is outside Bandra Railway station (can’t miss the famous stone entry gate). Image available in public domain. Can do a reverse lookup through Google Lens. pic.twitter.com/0OlhMJVage

— Jambudweep Moolnivasi (@ShwetankSeeks) April 24, 2022

Bandra Railway Station (west) in Mumbai
But हनुमान चालीसा not allowed.

हनुमान चालीसा घर पर पढ़ें क्यूँ कि सड़क जाम है…
ठाकरे सरकार pic.twitter.com/t5jtfWWdgQ

— 🥀 राष्ट्रवादी विनीत मिश्रा (बीजेपी) 🇮🇳 (@vinit_pandit243) April 28, 2022

Alt News also received several fact-check requests on WhatsApp about the image.

Fact-check

Through a reverse image search of the image in circulation, Alt News found it on Getty Images and it is dated August 17, 2012. It was taken during the month of Ramadan in 2012 outside the Bandra Railway Station.

An article dated August 17, 2012, published by The Atlantic had also used the image.

It must be noted that in 2012, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra was Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan. The image is thus being falsely linked to the ongoing Hanuman Chalisa row in Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra.

‘Hanuman Chalisa’ Row

Politician Raj Thackeray’s public ‘ultimatum’ to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to remove loudspeakers from mosques sparked a controversy in the state. Raj Thackeray warned the government to remove the loudspeakers by May 3 or his party would play Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques.

This was supported by MP-MLA couple Navneet Kaur Rana and Ravi Rana who then publicly announced that they would chant Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav Thackeray’s residence, Matoshree. This was met with a lot of protests by Shiv Sena workers who even flocked outside the couple’s residence to prevent them from going out. The couple later withdrew their plan but an FIR was filed against them, and they were arrested on April 23 under multiple IPC sections, including sedition and charges of creating enmity between groups.