Giriraj Singh's 'jahannum mein jaye' remarks on woman at centre of 'naqab row' triggers backlash

New Delhi: Amid the Nitish Kumar 'naqab' controversy, Union minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday created a fresh row when he said that it is up to the woman concerned to refuse appointment to the government job or "go to hell", drawing flak from many opposition leaders.

Singh was responding to Monday's incident in Patna where the Bihar chief minister pulled the 'naqab' (veil) off the face of the newly-recruited AYUSH doctor while she was receiving her letter of appointment.

Several Opposition leaders had called Kumar's act "shameful".

Singh defended Nitish Kumar saying he has "not done anything wrong".

"If someone is going to collect an appointment letter, should they not show their face? Is this some Islamic country? Nitish Kumar acted as a guardian," he argued.

"If you are going to get a passport, do you not show your face? When you go to the airport, do you not show your face? People talk about Pakistan and Englishtan, but this is India. In India, the rule of law prevails," Singh said and added that Kumar did the right thing.

On reports that the woman has refused to take up the job following the incident, he said, "Whether she refuses the job or goes to hell, that's her choice (Woh refuse kare ya jahannum mein jaye)."

Congress MP from Bihar's Katihar Tariq Anwar slammed Giriraj Singh for his remarks and said he was a person with a "cheap mentality".

"These are third-rate people, they have a cheap mindset. They dont understand that our country is secular. Everyone is free to practice their religion. What Nitish Kumar has done is shameful and saddening," Anwar said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti also lashed out at Singh.

"Only phenyl will work to clean this man's filthy mouth. You dare not touch the hijabs & naqabs of our Muslim mothers and sisters. Otherwise we Muslim women will set you right by teaching you a lesson you and your ilk will remember for all times to come," she said on X.

NCP (SP) MP Fauzia Khan also hit out Kumar and Singh.

"It is very saddening that responsible people do such acts, this will send a wrong message in the world. It is a personal decision of a woman as to how much she covers up and removing the veil is akin to disrobing a woman. He (Kumar) should have given a pubic apology but instead of that they are saying that what happened was right," she said.

Asked about Singh's remarks, Congress MP Imran Masood said, "He needs treatment for mental sickness."