Photo of Bangladesh procession went viral as a protest in Mumbai against CAB

This week, pictures of mass protests in the Northeast, especially Assam and other parts of the country, are being shared on social forums after the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed in both the Houses of Parliament. In the above picture that went viral on social media, we can see the gathering of people from a minority community on a road and flyover above it. Sharing this picture, it is being claimed that this picture is from Mohammad Ali Road in Mumbai where people of this community can be seen protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

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At the beginning of the investigation, we took this screen grab of this picture and conducted a Yandex reverse image search. As a result, we found this video available on YouTube on November 10^th, 2019. The title of the video reads, “Allah hamidullah, a crowd of millions of Prophet lovers are celebrating the procession in Chittagong.” Chittagong is a city in Bangladesh, and “Jashne Julus” is a religious gathering.

Below you can see comparison of viral picture on social media and screenshot of video available on YouTube. This shows us that the picture is not from Mohammad Ali Road in Mumbai but from Chittagong Bangladesh.

According to the report published by Dhaka Tribune on October 29^th 2019, Eid-e-Miladunnabi was to be celebrated across Bangladesh on Sunday, November 10^th 2019. On exploring religious ceremonies in Chittagong, we found videos of the same venue from different angles which shows that  Eid-e-Miladunnabi marks the Prophet’s birthday.  

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After that we searched the pictures of this procession by searching for keywords on Facebook, as a result of which we found the photos published by a Facebook user named Ahmad Qadri. In the title it is written, World’s Biggest Jashne Juluse Eid e Milad Un-Nabi Celebrated in Chittagong Bangladesh, Leading by Awlad e Rasul, Huzur Kebla, Allama Syed Muhammad Tahir Shah. #Organised_by: Anjuman E Rahmania Ahmadia Sunnia Trust. Chittagong Bangladesh #2k19

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Fact Crescendo contacted Ahmad Qadri, who told us that “these pictures are from Chittagong Bangladesh.” The procession was organized by Anjuman E Rahmania Ahmadia Sunnia Trust. It is the largest traditional festival in Asia that was held on Sunday 10^th November 2019, on the occasion of Eid e Milad Un-Nabi. The procession was led by Allama Syed Muhammad Tahir Shah. This picture has been taken in the same procession. He also provided us with other pictures of this procession.

You can see the pictures sent by Ahmad Qadri in the email below.

We found the location of the pictures (CDI revenue) sent by Ahmad Qadri through Google Maps. The pictures of location available on Google Maps are before the bridge was built, but we can confirm by looking at the building that these pictures are from Chittagong, Bangladesh. Below you can see the similarity of both the pictures. 

Fact Crescendo spoke to PSE Jadhav of Paidhuni Police Station near Mohammad Ali Road. He confirmed to us that there was no such protest at Mohammad Ali Road. He also told us that there is no news of any demonstration in this area, the situation in this area is normal.

Conclusion: We found the above post to be wrong after checking the facts. This picture is not of the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Mohammad Ali Road, Mumbai, but this photo of the procession taken out on the occasion of Eid e Milad Un-Nabi in Chittagong, Bangladesh.