'What if he touched her elsewhere': UP minister Sanjay Nishad triggers controversy with remark on Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's hijab removal row

Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad has stoked a controversy for his crude remarks while defending Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over an incident involving the removal of hijab of a woman at a public event in Patna.

While speaking to local news channel Bharat Samachar, Nishad defended actions of Bihar Chief Minister saying that he only did so to confirm that the appointment letter was being handed over to the correct person.

He then goes on to 'wonder' how the public would have perceived this action had Nitish Kumar "touched" the girl anywhere else.

Laughing loudly, the minister is seen telling the news channel, "Hijab kheench nahi rahe hain, hata rahe hain, yeh jaanchne ke liye ki sahi vyakti ko niyukti patra diya ja raha hai… is par logon ko ho-halla nahi karna chahiye. Arey, woh bhi toh aadmi hain na, peeche nahi padna chahiye… naqab chhoo diya toh itna ho gaya… kahin aur chhoo dete toh kya ho jaata.”

(He is not pulling the hijab, he is removing it to make sure whether the appointment letter is given to the right person. People should not make a fuss over this. He is also a human being after all, one should not hound him. Just touching the veil caused such an uproar what would have happened if something else had been touched?”

Later on, Nishad told the news agency PTI, "My remark was tweaked and twisted, misinterpreted, its spirit lost in cacophony and translation."

"If someone has taken offence, I am willing to take back the words from my side," he said.

Nishad said he belongs to Gorakhpur and the Bhojpuri-speaking belt and expressions and conversational styles differ from region to region.

"In Bhojpuri, this is a common way of urging people not to make too much of any issue and to counsel restraint. I chose to use the same style in Hindi and didn't know it will become such an issue," he said.

Congress' Uttar Pradesh chief Rai termed Nishad's comment "outrageously anti-women" and said it reflects the mindset of the BJP and its allies.

"We seek unconditional apology failing which we will seek minister's dismissal," Rai told PTI.

SP spokesperson Abbas Haider said Nishad's remarks were "condemnable and undignified".

The incident happened on Monday at a function where AYUSH doctors were handed appointment letters.

More than 1,000 AYUSH doctors were handed appointment letters at the function, and 10 of them, including one, Nusrat Parveen, who was wearing a hijab, received theirs from Kumar at the Chief Minister's Secretariat.

Kumar, who was standing on a raised platform, exclaimed upon seeing Nusrat Parveen, "what is this?" and pulled the veil down, exposing her face.

The opposition parties condemned this act with Jammu and Kashmir's National Conference (NC) demanding legal action against Kumar.

"This should not have happened. The NC unequivocally condemns it and demands legal action against Kumar because he has tried to outrage the modesty of a lady, which should be unacceptable in a civilised society.

"We also expect an unconditional public apology from him, and Bihar's BJP-JDU government," NC state spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar told reporters at the party office here.