Nitish Kumar hijab row | Had a Muslim lifted veil of Hindu woman..., says Omar Abdullah as controversy escalates

'If it had been a Hindu woman from Rajasthan or Haryana, wearing a veil, and I had removed it, would the BJP have said the same thing?': Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar triggered a row by pulling down the hijab (veil) of a newly recruited doctor while she was receiving the letter of appointment. Many leaders have criticised the Chief Minister.

However, there are many who justified Nitish's act. Union Minister Giriraj Singh said the Bihar Chief Minister did "nothing wrong".

"Nitish Kumar did nothing wrong. If he were distributing appointment letters, would anyone accept one while wearing a hijab?," Singh said. "There is a new trend these days of linking everything to Islam," he added.

Commenting on Giriraj Singh's statement, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the BJP and asked, "If it had been a Hindu woman from Rajasthan or Haryana, wearing a veil, and I had removed it, would the BJP have said the same thing?"

"This is exactly what we can expect from the BJP. Imagine the uproar if a Muslim leader had removed the veil of a Hindu woman. But now, because it was a Muslim woman doctor, the BJP's reaction is different. What else can we expect from them?," he said.

Veteran screenwriter-lyricist Javed Akhtar also commented on this: "Every one who knows me even in the most cursory manner knows how much I am against the traditional concept of Parda, but it doesn’t mean that by any stretch of imagination I can accept what Mr Nitish Kumar has done to a Muslim lady doctor."

"I condemn it in very strong words. Mr Nitish Kumar owes an unconditional apology to the lady," he wrote in a post on X.

Nitish's act has led to protest march in Kolkata. The rallyists, raising slogans and holding placards, asserted that his action hurt the dignity of women.

Meanwhile, the doctor, Nusrat Praveen, whose veil was pulled down by Nitish, has decided not to join the Bihar government job. Her brother told a section of the media that she was thoroughly disgusted and hugely embarrassed over the incident and may not join the Bihar government job.

“We are trying to convince her that it was not her fault, so why should she suffer? Why should she give up her career because of someone else’s actions? But she is under huge mental stress and, most probably, she won’t join the services,” he said.

(With DHNS inputs)