Netizens have been sharing a video amid this deadly covid situation of a huge mass gathering, claiming it to be from Hyderabad’s Iftar celebration. After fragmenting the viral video and running a reverse image search, a tweet from 17th April was recuperated, which is from the Anjuman Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.
A local reporter in Sambhal confirmed that the viral video indeed shows a gathering at the Anjuman Muainul Islam Madrasa. Although, he added that people had gathered during the funeral procession of Maulana Abdul Momin Nadvi who died on Friday, 16 April. Sambhal Police officials also confirmed that people turned up in large numbers to attend the funeral procession of Maulana Momin despite permission being denied by the cops in light of a surge in COVID cases.
According to the recent restrictions announced due to increasing COVID-19 cases by the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday, it imposed a 35-hour curfew from 8 pm on Saturday till 7 pm on Monday; further the guidelines suggested that for funeral services at cremation or burial grounds not more than 20 persons will be allowed. The same clip was shared by Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut in a now deleted tweet with the caption, “After kumb mela …. Honourable Prime Minister ji please request to stop Ramzan gathering also.”
Zaid Nomani, associated with the madrasa stated, “Maulana Nomani was a very big figure and many people were his admirers. People came from far and wide to attend his funeral. We were constantly appealing to people to maintain social distance. We were also sanitizing the area.” Nomani added, “But it was very difficult for us to manage and control such a crowd. However, we made a chain so that we could reach the cemetery and get the funeral done. We did not get any specific instructions from the police administration. We tried to follow the COVID-19 guidelines but it was not easy to control the crowd.”
Shan, a resident of Sambhal, confirmed that, “The crowd seen in the video belongs to Anjuman Muainul Islam Madrasa located in the Nakhas area of Sambhal.” He further said that “Maulana Abdul Momin Nadvi died in Sambhal yesterday, and people had gathered for his funeral prayer”. Other clips of the procession on Facebook were found, where the Anjuman Muenul Islam madrasa can be seen in the background with a huge crowd gathered.
Evidently, a gathering at the funeral of Maulana Abdul Momin Nadwi in Sambhal is being shared on social media with a false claim that it shows people at an Iftar Party in Hyderabad.
