No, This ‘Namaz in Kerala Train’ Photo Is from Uttar Pradesh

Following the directive of Kerala’s Minister for General Education and Labour to probe the incident in which school students sang the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ‘Gana Geetham’ on board the Ernakulam–Bengaluru Vande Bharat during its inaugural run on November 8, 2025, several social media handles began circulating an image claiming that people were performing namaz inside a train in Kerala, mocking the state government’s response. 

However, fact-checks reveal that the photograph is from October 2022 and was taken in Uttar Pradesh, not Kerala. The viral claim is, therefore, false.

Claim:

On November 9, 2025, a Facebook page in the name of the chief patron of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, K.P. Sasikala, posted a photo with a Malayalam caption roughly translating to, “Comrade, inquiry, response, protest — is there any?” The post, which implies that the image depicts a recent incident in Kerala, has so far garnered 1,500 reactions, 372 shares, and 241 comments.

Other users from Facebook and X(formerly Twitter) have also shared the image with a similar caption.

Here are the facts:

A reverse image search of the viral photo traced it to an NDTV report published on October 23, 2022, which featured a video of the same event. A keyframe comparison confirmed that the visuals in the video matched those in the viral image.  

The report suggests that the incident is from Uttar Pradesh (UP). 

A keyword search using relevant keywords such as “Namaz,” “Uttar Pradesh,” and “train” led us to a News18 report from October 23, 2022. The incident reportedly occurred on October 20 in Train Number 15273, Satyagrah Express, during a halt at Khadda Railway Station in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. The video of the namaz went viral online, resulting in an online outrage with many calling it a public nuisance. Following the outrage, the UP police also initiated a probe into the incident.

The analysis of the viral photo dates back to October 2022 and shows individuals performing namaz inside a train in Uttar Pradesh. 

The viral claim that the incident occurred in Kerala is false.