A video of a crowded market in Lahore, Pakistan is being shared with false claims that it is a scene from Delhi's Jaffrabad, with people violating social distancing norms put in place for COVID-19, and shopping for the upcoming festival of Eid.
BOOM found that the viral clip is from a market in Lahore, Pakistan and not from India as being claimed.
The video shows a huge crowd in a market flouting several COVID-19 norms including no social distancing and masking and is being shared with a caption which translates to, "From Zafarabad, New Delhi...Looks like Prime Minister Modi is rallying for Delhi elections right now."
(In Hindi - जाफ़राबाद नई दिल्ली के दृश्य.. लगता है प्रधानमंत्री मोदी दिल्ली चुनावों के लिए अभी से रैली कर रहें है।)
Viral on Facebook
The video is being shared on Facebook with the same false claim
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral clip is from Lahore, Pakistan and not from Jaffrabad market in Delhi as being falsely claimed.
Taking a hint from the Twitter replies stating that the clip is from Pakistan, we searched with the relevant keywords like 'Ichhra bazar lahore'. We also noticed several signboards on the shops seen in the video were written in Urdu.
Several Pakistani Twitter users also mentioned that the video was from Lahore in Pakistan as seen below.
We then ran a search for 'Lahore', 'market' on YouTube and found search results with the same clip uploaded dating back to April 2021. All the videos claimed that the crowded market was Ichhra bazaar in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
According to a hyper-local YouTube channel Raabta TV, in the video uploaded on April 26, 2021, during Eid shopping in Ichhra Bazar, COVID-19 norms were not followed by people.
We also found a local ground report dated April 28, 2021 by a channel SK TV, where the reporter showed how shoppers flocking to the market were not following social distancing norms.
Pakistani news reports dated April 28, 2021, also reported that several shops were sealed in Ichhra Bazaar after locals violated COVID-19 norms.
Assistant Commissioner Model Town Lahore Ibrahim Arbab posted photos on April 27, 2021, stating that police teams visited Ichhra market to ensure dispersement of crowds and to take action against violations.
The Punjab government in Pakistan announced a complete lockdown in the province from May 8, 2021, to May 15, 2021, on May 6, 2021, due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the state.
