Fact Check: Bihar's BJP minister makes daughters wear Hijab in UAE? No, here’s the truth

Hyderabad: An image showing a man with two women wearing hijab is going viral on social media. Claims circulating alongside the image allege that it shows a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Bihar’s Tourism Minister, who made his daughters wear hijab while visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sharing the image on X, a user wrote, “Meet another BJP Leader Krishna Kumar >The tourism Minister of Bihar >Take vote on the name of hindutva >Visited Dubai with his daughter >made daughters wear Hijab >Hijab is not even a compulsory dress code in UAE. Irony These people preach Hindutva and nationalism on SM” (Archive)

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The image shows actor-turned-politician and BJP Kerala leader Krishna Kumar with his daughters, Diya Krishnan and Ishani, who were dressed in accordance with the dress code while visiting the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

The current minister for Tourism in Bihar is Arun Shankar Prasad. The images of Arun Shankar Prasad available online do not match the person in the viral image.

Using reverse image search, we found the same photograph uploaded to Instagram on March 10, 2022, by Diya Krishna, a social media influencer with over 1.5 million followers. The post is location-tagged at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

We performed keyword searches and found an article about Diya Krishna’s marriage. According to the report published by The Indian Express on September 6, 2024, BJP leader Krishna Kumar is Diya's father, and her siblings are Ahaana Krishna, Ishani, and Hansika.

Krishna Kumar is a Kerala actor-turned-politician who contested the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency as the BJP candidate.

The family photograph shared in the report also shows Krishna Kumar—the same man seen in the viral image.

A report published by OneIndia on March 11, 2022 also carried the viral image. The report stated that the images show the Kerala BJP leader Krishna Kumar with his daughters Diya and Ishani.

On Diya's Instagram account, we found a link to her YouTube channel. On the channel, she had uploaded a video on March 15, 2022, titled “Grand Mosque | Abu Dhabi | Diya Krishna | First time in Abaya.”

In the first minute of the video, she is heard talking about visiting the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Divya explains that the mosque has a dress code, similar to the one followed at the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. “We need to purchase it before visiting the mosque,” she says.

The video further shows them travelling to the Grand Mosque with Krishna Kumar. At the 7:19 mark, the sisters are seen wearing abayas and headscarves in line with the mosque’s dress code.

The official website of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre prescribes the acceptable dress code for visitors. The guidelines state: “Women can select any type of attire, provided it is loose-fitting, reaches the ankles, and has sleeves that extend to the wrists. Full hair coverage is also required, and transparent, tight-fitting, or revealing clothing should be avoided.”

The website also provides images illustrating these guidelines. One such image clearly shows a woman wearing an abaya along with a head covering in the form of a hijab.

Therefore, it is clear that the viral image shows BJP Kerala leader Krishna Kumar with his daughters, Diya Krishna and Ishani, dressed in accordance with the dress code while visiting the Grand Mosque in the UAE. NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.