Rating
Claim
Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has got his head tonsured for his mother as per Hindu custom;
Blessed is this Karmayogi 🙏🙏 #PMModiji
Emotional tribute to Mataji Heeraba 🌹🌹😭😭
#HirabenModi #omshanti
Explanation
A photo of PM Modi with tonsured head is being circulated widely on social media with a claim that he shaved his head for his mother after her death as per Hindu customs. It is mentioned as an emotional tribute to Modi’s mother Heeraben in the posts shared. Such posts can be seen here, here, here, and here.
What is the truth?
When searching for the news about Modi tonsuring his head as a tribute to his mother after her death, we could not find any news related to it. If he had shaved his head as mentioned in the claim it would have been covered by news media outlets for sure. But no such information is found published on any of the news media channels.
When searching for the image shared in the viral post, the Times of India article dated 18, December 2017 is found carrying the original version of the viral image.
A similar image of Modi in the same outfit is found in the Money Control article dated 18, December 2017.
Several other news articles including Outlook India, Zee News, and Zee Business are found carrying the same and similar images on different dates but for representational purposes and have given image credits to PTI.
When searching for Modi’s recent picture, we found a post on Narendra Modi’s Twitter page dated 2, January 2023 mentioning that he chaired the Annual General Meeting of NMML Society. And he seems to be with an unshaved head in the photo.
Conclusion
The image of Modi with a tonsured head shared with the claim that he shaved his head for his mother following her demise as an emotional tribute is found to be edited and photoshopped. An old image of Modi is edited and is being shared with a false claim.
