Video of bus driver offering Namaz inside the bus is from Dubai.
Claim
Muslim driver offering Namaz in A/C bus. That’s why the passengers are standing outside in the sun. #Jago #Secularism
Rating
Explanation
A video purportedly showing a person offering Namaz inside a bus where the passengers are seen waiting outside bus is viral with the claim that he is a Muslim driver offering Namaz in the A/C bus and that is why the passengers are standing outside in the sun. These posts are shared with the hashtags ‘jago’ and ‘secularism’ in the context that the video is from India. This post was initially shared by Suresh Chavhanke, CMD & Editor-in-Chief of Sudarshan News and is being shared by others.
https://twitter.com/realsurya7/status/1668536892089061376?s=46&t=kIszbQH_arRSG8kPbuGeZw
The posts in Hindi read as “मुस्लिम ड्राइवर A/C बस में नमाज़ पढ़ रहा है| इस लिए पैसेंजर बाहर धुप में खड़े हैं।” Some of the posts with such a claim can be seen here and here.
What is the truth?
When watching the video closely we found the word ‘Dubai’ on the bus. And the LED showing the bus number along with the name of the bus stop is displayed in Arabic first and then in English. ‘Mall of Emirates Bus Stn’ is seen displayed on the LED nameplate which is in Dubai.
With further search, we found a tweet dated 11, June 2023 by a Twitter user named Ujala. The tweet carries the viral video with the caption “Bus driver in Dubai wanted 5 minutes to pray & people had no problem waiting for it. Good gesture. This is how humanity will survive with kindness. Imagine same thing happening in our country & the consequences of it online/offline.”
Greetings. Kindly note that we continuously strive to maintain our service quality, and any kind of behavior from the driver outside his scope of work is subjected to a thorough investigation. We would like to clarify that after investigation, the bus was outside of operational…
— RTA (@rta_dubai) June 12, 2023
The official Twitter account of the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai replied to the above tweet mentioning that any kind of behavior from the driver outside his scope of work is subjected to a thorough investigation. It is further mentioned that after investigation, the bus was outside of operational hours during the time. As per RTA rules and regulations, nobody is allowed to enter the bus before or after the scheduled trip time in order to ensure a safe environment for both the driver and the passengers.
The Twitter user Ujala replied to the above tweet mentioning that the driver dropped the passengers at Dubai Mall after taking permission from them, closed the doors for 4-5 minutes for the prayers, and after his prayer he opened the door & journey started. RTA asked for the exact date and time of the trip for further investigation.
Conclusion
It is found that a video of a bus driver offering Namaz inside the bus is shared in the context that it is from India. But the video is actually from Dubai.
