Congress leader and former MP from Mumbai south constituency Milind Deora tweeted a video of commuters rushing into a bus, disregarding social distancing norms. He claimed that the video is from Mumbai and tagged the public body BEST. He later took down his tweet but an archived version can be accessed here.
The same video has been shared by several other users.
Life really is a struggle during #MissionBeginAgain
Don’t know whether this is Mumbai, but it’s India…. Really saddens how people struggle & risk life to get into a bus to earn livelihood…Literally falling on each other. How can we have #SocialDistancing ?@RoadsOfMumbai pic.twitter.com/iygC0G0IWR— मुंबई Matters™✳️ (@mumbaimatterz) June 8, 2020
The clip has been uploaded with a caption in Urdu as well. It has also found its way on YouTube and Facebook.
Go Corona Go🤔
Riding at BEST Bus in Mumbai👿😥کورونا بھگانے کا نرالا انداز!
ممبئی شہر میں مسافرین سرکاری BEST بس میں سواری کرتے ہوئے!#Covid_19#MumbaiBEST pic.twitter.com/h8M7qoVOR1— Nadeem Faisal ندیم فیصل (@nadeemfaisal117) June 9, 2020
Fact-check
In the background, the conductor of the bus can be heard saying in Bengali, “আসতে আসতে আসতে উঠোন আসতে উঠোন (Slowly, slowly, slowly, get up slowly).” This is the first hint that the video is not from Maharashtra where Marathi would be used on a local bus. In fact, everyone in the background can only be heard conversing in Bengali.
The earliest tweet which had shared the video was by the handle @nv3sh. “See the situation of Kolkata’s bus on 8th June 2020 for yourself. Video by a friend. 2/2,” he wrote.
See the situation of Kolkata’s bus on 8th June 2020 for yourself.
Video by a friend. 2/2#COVIDー19 #COVID19India #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/kdsTgfY4Oa
— anv# (@nv3sh) June 8, 2020
Speaking with Alt News, Anvesh (@nv3sh), informed that he does not know who shot the video. However, he had tweeted another video of the same bus before people started to pour in. Commuters can be seen banging on the door of the bus, eager to get in. At 17 seconds in the clip, one can hear the conductor say, “টিটাগড় অব্দি যাবে, থানায় গাড়ি ঢুকিয়ে দেব (The bus will go till Titagarh, will take it to the police station.)” Titagarh is a city in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. It is close to the state capital Kolkata.
See the situation of Kolkata’s bus on 8th June 2020 for yourself.
Video by a friend. 1/2#COVIDー19 #COVID19India #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/hj2zCsU5VD
— anv# (@nv3sh) June 8, 2020
A video of people rushing into a bus in West Bengal was therefore shared with the false claim that it is from Mumbai.
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Pooja Chaudhuri | Radio Free (2020-06-10T08:46:31+00:00) Video from West Bengal shared as people disregarding social distancing in Mumbai bus. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/06/10/video-from-west-bengal-shared-as-people-disregarding-social-distancing-in-mumbai-bus/
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